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The Bakersfield Californian Thursday, January 13, 2011
Eye Street Editor Jennifer Self | Phone 395-7434 | e-mail jself@bakersfield.com
Index Styx . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19 Filming in Kern County . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20 The Empties awards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 Arts Alive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22 Furry Paws and Fuzzy Nights . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 The Lowdown with Matt Munoz . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24 Bakersfield Green Thumb Garden Club . . . . . . . .25 Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27-29
Professor brings art to the kids Institute links CSUB students, schools BY CAMILLE GAVIN Contributing columnist cgavin@bakersfield.com
In these lean times when art instruction in most public schools is as rare as finding a palm tree in Alaska, it’s nice to know that one local teacher is making it happen. Her project is called Children’s Art Institute, or CAI, and it’s a healthy example of what can result when two or more organizations collaborate to achieve similar goals. Dianne Turner, an art professor at Cal State Bakersfield, is the person who got the whole thing going with money from her own pocket. “In 2005 I inherited a little bit of money and donated $10,000 to the university,” she said. “That’s how it got started.” Turner is the founder-director of the institute, which connects CSUB students who plan to become teachers with elementary students in two schools of the Panama-Buena Vista School District. Here’s how CAI works at Ronald Reagan Elementary: Prospective teachers enrolled in specific upper division art courses work with the Reagan students on campus. They also get real world experience by teaching as many as five lessons in classrooms at the elementary school. “It’s a give-and-take situation,” Turner said. “The school buys the materials for the kids and also spends money on equipment and other things.” As an ending point each quarter, the student teachers are required to develop a presentation and organize an exhibition of work done by the children.
‘We feel truly blessed’ One of the reasons it’s worked so well, Turner said, is the cooperation she’s received from Tom Irvin, the principal; Ellen Ansolabehere, the school’s art coordinator; and the Reagan Parent Club, which also helps out with the funding for CAI. Irvin is enthusiastic about Turner’s contributions and noted that the lessons she and her preservice teachers design are appropriate to individual grade levels. “Each lesson is unique,” the principal said. “It isn’t just a canned lesson, it’s not something that’s used over and over, and the
Jillian Frando, 6, works on her oil pastel drawing based on the French Impressionist artist Claude Monet.
students learn about different artists each quarter.” The school district has an artistin-residence, Kathy Minor, who visits Reagan periodically. Irvin said he appreciates the supplemental teaching Turner provides. “We’re very pleased that we have the opportunity to connect with the university,” he said. “We feel truly blessed to have the opportunity — and I really mean that.” Incidentally, examples of the children’s artwork can be seen on the institute’s website at csub.edu/childrensartinstitute. Another aspect of the institute’s programs are art camps, two-hour sessions held over a period of four Saturdays designed for children in first through sixth grades. For the current quarter the theme is “Wild West Art,” focusing on western artists Charles Russell, Alfred Bierstadt, George Catlin and William Tyler Ranney. “Each Saturday (students) will study a different artist,” Turner explained. “They’ll also complete a project each time.”
Can it grow? Turner sees a need for the program throughout the county. She’d like to expand it but is hampered by lack of funds and personnel. As she puts it: “Basically, right now I’m a one-man band.” She was on leave during the fall quarter that just ended and researched ways to develop the program. For part of that time she took a course at the Kennedy Center’s school of arts management in Washington, D.C. “I’m not a trained administrator and I learned a lot from that,” Turner said. “We learned a lot about marketing strategies and what people want from us.” In a sense, her time in the
PHOTOS COURTESY OF DIANNE TURNER
CSUB senior and Children's Art Institute fall assistant Alisa Villalobos works with students Isabel Collins, 8; Toni McCarthy, 8; Lukas Maxwell, 7; and Sahil Vemuri, 6.
nation’s capital was a return home for the professor, who was born there. She came to CSUB in 1989. Last January, after serving 19 years as a faculty member in the school of teacher education, she joined the university’s art department. Turner also spent a week at the Donkey Mill Art Center in Hawaii during her sabbatical. The center was formed in 1994 and has grown over the years to offer an array of arts and cultural opportunities to the surrounding community. “It’s been successful and I went there to observe and to learn what they were doing,” she said. “Basically, the executive director said the No. 1 thing is to work closely with board members and with organizations in the community.”
Looking for funds Meanwhile, the professor has been looking for new ways to get funding for CAI to provide art camp scholarships for underprivileged youngsters and corporate underwriting for specific programs. Turner said potential contributors are more inclined to give when they learn that she receives no salary — by choice, she donates it back to CSUB — for her work with the institute, including workshops and summer camps. She estimates it amounts to about
CSUB Children’s Art Institute director Dianne Turner poses with student Cruz Boschini, 7.
$10,000 a year. Just how unusual it is for a professor to make such a donation is unknown but those who work with Turner, including members of the CAI board, say it’s not surprising because she’s extremely passionate about the work she does with children. Of course, Turner still gets her regular salary for teaching at CSUB.
Recently she got a $2,500 grant from the Target Foundation. It’s being used to set up a day of kids’ art classes May 7 in conjunction with the Bakersfield Jazz Festival. The theme is “America the Beautiful.” “While the parents are listening to the music,” Turner said, “the children are having fun and getting a free art lesson.”