Newspapers / Penland Line (Penland, N.C.) / Oct. 1, 1996, edition 1 / Page 1
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The first day to register for summer classes is January 15. NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION US POSTAGE PAID PENLAND, NC PERMIT #1 I IlPenland Line I I PENLAND SCHOOL OF CRAFTS • PENLAND • NORTH CAROLINA • 28765-0037 Fall 1996 Penland Reaches Out Support for arts education is dwindling at the very time when the arts are being recognized as essential to an integrat ed curriculum,” says Penland director Ken Botnick. “This makes it vital for institutions like Penland to support educa tors. We want our studios to be a resource for local schools, which have very little funding for the arts, and we want to help educators in our region develop new ways of teaching.” While intensive craft classes continue to be the core of Penland’s program, new initiatives, mostly centered around the role of craft in education, are broadening the use of the school’s resources and giving Penland new avenues for reach ing out to the community. An important part of this effort was a special class offered this summer which gave craft instruction directly to school teachers. Resident Artist Meg Peterson has spent years learning to use craft as a medium for teach ing a range of sub jects to children. Her work was the genesis of the class, which she taught with Cindy school ceramics students unloading pots Boughner, who runs an experimen tal high school in Michigan. Participating in the class were ten Mitchell County school teachers as well as oth ers from around the region. For two weeks Penland’s book studio was used not only to teach craft skills but as a forum on the art of teaching. Portions of the class were taught by nationally known educators Bill Daley and Richard Lewis, as well as former Penland Resident Debra Frasier. (See page 3 for more information about this exciting class.) A new program under development will offer craft instruction with a direct tie to other high school curricula. Ken Botnick and Bill Sears, who is assistant superintendent of the Mitchell County Schools, worked with local craftspeo ple and Mitchell High science teachers to devise ways of using craft as part of science education. “We are looking at the prac tical application of scientific concepts, mainly chemistry and physics, in the real world,” said Bill. Ken explains it this way: “These are projects which will allow students to get a sense of how materials behave and then learn to predict what they will do under different conditions; this is basic science and it’s going on all the time in our studios.” Underneath this is the broadening use of Penland’s resources. “Our intention is to strengthen the links between your school and our school and the community,” said Bill. “We’ve had tremendous cooperation and the spirit and enthusiasm has been unbelievable; I think we’re on to something.”The basic plan for this curricu lum is in place, a chemistry class has already vis ited Penland, and the school is exploring funding sources for the project. The long-range goal is to test the concept here and then make it available exciting classJot teachers turned the book studio into a Jorum on art and education. to other schools with access to craft studios. Several programs have brought newcomers into the stu dios this year. An open house at the glass shop gave many of our neighbors a chance to play with this fascinating material, and Dimitri Michaelides opened up his .spring glass class to a bus load of Mitchell County children. In May, eighteen high schoolers from Orlando, FL spent four days at Penland working in the clay studio and visiting local artists. These students attend a public school whose art department includes an amazingly comprehensive clay pro gram. (Core student Michael Hunt is a graduate of this school.) The visit gave these motivated teenagers a look at crafts that would be hard to get anywhere else. “We can make pots at home,” explained their teacher, Mike Lalone, “but Penland is a community of craftspeople. It was so valuable for at the Penland clay studio. “Craft practice entails a myriad oj disciplines and thought processes. These are important tools of growth and learning whether you are a child in school or an adult seeking meaningful work.” 1 t A'" ■■ f J ^ . I 4 i .it- k Dino and Dimitri Michaelides during a demonstration Jor Mitchell County elementary school students. our students to meet the artists around Penland and see people who are making their living this way. It’s important for them to know that places like this exist.” Another educational experiment is directed at low- and middle-income residents of Avery, Mitchell, and Yancey counties. A collaboration between Penland and Mayland Community College, this program offers business classes and craft instruction with an eye toward creating new employ ment opportunities. After a thirty-hour orientation, students are given the opportunity to enroll in Penland classes and in Mayland’s entrepreneurship curriculum, which covers information needed to produce a plan for a small business. The idea is to give people skills which will make them valuable employees in local studios or, if they pursue further training, might lead to self-employment in crafts. Scholarships have been made available through a state/federal grant developed by Handmade in America, which seeks to assist and promote craft-based business in Western North Carolina. After the first ortentation this summer, five students have continued with the program. In addition to the Mayland curriculum, they are enrolled in current or upcom ing concentration classes and several will be working individ ually with Penland artists this winter. Although this project focuses on employment, the trans forming potential of craft work is clearly one of its goals. “Craft practice entails a myriad of disciplines and thought processes,” says Ken. “These are important tools of growth and learning whether you are a child in school or an adult seeking meaningful work.” In addition to programs already planned or under way, the school is exploring several other partnerships which will bring new groups of people to Penland or will use our stu dios as labs for educational innovation. “News of this effort has spread and is catching attention in all sorts of places,” said Ken. “1 expect that this will lead to some extraordinary out- come over the next few years.” )fr>
Penland Line (Penland, N.C.)
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Oct. 1, 1996, edition 1
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