Oakwood Friends' Ceramics & LitMag
Tax deductible
#WeLoveTeachers !
Oakwood Friends School in Poughkeepsie, New York,
has an art program which is a vital resource to its students because of art teacher Elizabeth Phelps Meyer. A professional artist in her own right, "Lizzie" as the students call her, spends countless hours working, discussing, and envisioning with students in her art room which includes a ceramic studio as well as a drawing and painting studio and digital lab. She also connects students to the world of art outside of her art room, taking them to professional wood kiln firings to fire their own ceramic pieces, on visits to local artists' studios, and other experiences which connect to them to the world and practice of art-making. Lizzie has also brought a culture of art appreciation to the school where students do college-level critiques of their work, and have published an annual literary and art magazine which integrates art and creative writing into the publication. In her time off last summer Lizzie took a workshop in which she built a clay 3D printer, which is now part of the school ceramics classroom, so that she could bring this technology to her art students. All of this is in addition to her regular hours of teaching art in the school's studio.
Now in her third year at Oakwood, Lizzie has grown a culture of art-making and critical thinking, and a sacred value of art by students in their own lives.
Lizzie's classes, as well as the time she spends in between classes, provide each student with individualized focus on their craft, as well as a vision for their future. This work has not only enhanced students' academic careers, it has provided them with competitive art portfolios for college applications -- to both art schools as well as liberal arts colleges and universities.
Due to Lizzie's initiative, the art department is now creating a Glaze Lab for Ceramics where they will be testing and mixing their own glazes. For this, they need more raw materials and colorants - mason stains and various ceramic colorants are expensive - as much as $40/lb. They also need other equipment including a heavy duty immersion blender ($150), multiple tongs ($50), scoops ($50), fine mesh sieves/ screens ($100), spray gun bottles ($75) and more. In a Ceramics Glaze Lab students can make their own glazes, which not only integrates the sciences into the arts but also is the practice of most college art departments. She also wishes to obtain an extruder system ($550) for the Ceramics studio.
It should be said that Oakwood Friends School truly lives its service to the community mission, as it has among the highest number of subsidized domestic students who come from challenging situations, providing them with an education to which they would not otherwise have access. This support would not only benefit the school but the young people who gain a supportive community and education, and the opportunity to discover their artistic ability, to work with others, and be part of a conversation about art, the world and their place in it -- when they enter Lizzie's art room.
We would also like to raise funds to print Oakword, the school's annual Literary and Art Magazine (which Lizzie also started back in 2014-2015). To print 50 copies of Oakword in full-color, costs approximately $600 annually.
Once again, through the publishing of the Lit Mag and the launch of the Glaze Lab, Lizzie, is connecting students to the world of the arts.
She will also use any funds donated (or awarded through gofundme #weloveteachers $1,000 grant!) for drawing and painting materials (paper and canvas; sketchbooks for art students; paints: watercolors, oils, acrylics; brushes; conte crayons; graphite; etc... ). Annually, the Art Dept spends close to $2,000 on Drawing and Painting supplies for students.
Any additional funds would go toward other supplies needed for other Art program areas such as Digital Arts classes, Sculpture classes, and so on.
Lizzie has built a community for the students at the school, which has become a critical component for students' well being. She has created a forum where they can process the world around them, as well as a place to take artistic risks and live on the edge in their art form.
We hope you will support this teacher who takes her role in kids' lives with the utmost seriousness and is bringing her creative voice to the craft of teaching and learning.
Please help spread the word!
#WeLoveTeachers !
Oakwood Friends School in Poughkeepsie, New York,
has an art program which is a vital resource to its students because of art teacher Elizabeth Phelps Meyer. A professional artist in her own right, "Lizzie" as the students call her, spends countless hours working, discussing, and envisioning with students in her art room which includes a ceramic studio as well as a drawing and painting studio and digital lab. She also connects students to the world of art outside of her art room, taking them to professional wood kiln firings to fire their own ceramic pieces, on visits to local artists' studios, and other experiences which connect to them to the world and practice of art-making. Lizzie has also brought a culture of art appreciation to the school where students do college-level critiques of their work, and have published an annual literary and art magazine which integrates art and creative writing into the publication. In her time off last summer Lizzie took a workshop in which she built a clay 3D printer, which is now part of the school ceramics classroom, so that she could bring this technology to her art students. All of this is in addition to her regular hours of teaching art in the school's studio.
Now in her third year at Oakwood, Lizzie has grown a culture of art-making and critical thinking, and a sacred value of art by students in their own lives.
Lizzie's classes, as well as the time she spends in between classes, provide each student with individualized focus on their craft, as well as a vision for their future. This work has not only enhanced students' academic careers, it has provided them with competitive art portfolios for college applications -- to both art schools as well as liberal arts colleges and universities.
Due to Lizzie's initiative, the art department is now creating a Glaze Lab for Ceramics where they will be testing and mixing their own glazes. For this, they need more raw materials and colorants - mason stains and various ceramic colorants are expensive - as much as $40/lb. They also need other equipment including a heavy duty immersion blender ($150), multiple tongs ($50), scoops ($50), fine mesh sieves/ screens ($100), spray gun bottles ($75) and more. In a Ceramics Glaze Lab students can make their own glazes, which not only integrates the sciences into the arts but also is the practice of most college art departments. She also wishes to obtain an extruder system ($550) for the Ceramics studio.
It should be said that Oakwood Friends School truly lives its service to the community mission, as it has among the highest number of subsidized domestic students who come from challenging situations, providing them with an education to which they would not otherwise have access. This support would not only benefit the school but the young people who gain a supportive community and education, and the opportunity to discover their artistic ability, to work with others, and be part of a conversation about art, the world and their place in it -- when they enter Lizzie's art room.
We would also like to raise funds to print Oakword, the school's annual Literary and Art Magazine (which Lizzie also started back in 2014-2015). To print 50 copies of Oakword in full-color, costs approximately $600 annually.
Once again, through the publishing of the Lit Mag and the launch of the Glaze Lab, Lizzie, is connecting students to the world of the arts.
She will also use any funds donated (or awarded through gofundme #weloveteachers $1,000 grant!) for drawing and painting materials (paper and canvas; sketchbooks for art students; paints: watercolors, oils, acrylics; brushes; conte crayons; graphite; etc... ). Annually, the Art Dept spends close to $2,000 on Drawing and Painting supplies for students.
Any additional funds would go toward other supplies needed for other Art program areas such as Digital Arts classes, Sculpture classes, and so on.
Lizzie has built a community for the students at the school, which has become a critical component for students' well being. She has created a forum where they can process the world around them, as well as a place to take artistic risks and live on the edge in their art form.
We hope you will support this teacher who takes her role in kids' lives with the utmost seriousness and is bringing her creative voice to the craft of teaching and learning.
Please help spread the word!
#WeLoveTeachers !
Organizer
Amy Rosenfeld Poux
Organizer
Poughkeepsie, NY
Oakwood Friends School
Beneficiary