By
Angela Orlando
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Wildcat Art program brings art to Tucson youth
Little kids plus art education majors often equals a big, finger-painting mess - but not always. Such a combination could make for a practical, mutually gratifying experience.
Prior to graduation, art education majors must complete "The Teaching of Art in the Secondary School" - a class in which they staff the Wildcat Art program, a hands-on Saturday art school for youth in grades one through 12.
University students advocate, teach and administer Wildcat Art, and are graded on the quality of their final project - a May 9-12 art show featuring the kids' creations.
Practitioner Lou Garard teaches at Canyon View Elementary school, and also helps guide University of Arizona students through the 10-week duration of the Wildcat Art program
Eight years ago, art education students expressed a desire to participate in a realistic, interactive experience within their major. Professors and students found that Wildcat Art was the solution, Garard said.
Though the teacher-to-student ratio in Wildcat Art is about 15 students per teacher - much lower than in most public education systems- hands-on practice still "gives (UA students) a very real experience," Garard said.
Wildcat Art gives art education majors an opportunity to immerse themselves in an environment comparable to what they might find when teaching professionally.
"There's more to learn about teaching than just how to stand in front of a class and talk," Garard said. "Acquiring community support and mastering the art of professionalism are both factors of learning to teach."
"The benefits of this program are that UA students gain teaching experience and learn how a school runs and how to advocate it within the community," said Elizabeth Garber, chairwoman of the art education division. "(UA students) plan the curriculum and figure out if this is what they want to do as a career."
The only experience art education senior Jeremy Sawyer currently has with children is "wrestling with my nieces and nephews," he said.
He looks forward to the Wildcat Art program with an open mind. Though right now he thinks he'd like to teach high school art, direct exposure to different age groups might change his mind, he said.
"I love little kids. And I know that observing them and teaching them are two pretty different things," Sawyer said.
Considering Sawyer's possible plans to teach at an alternative school, which offers extra help to students with special educational needs, learning to obtain community support could be useful someday.
UA Graduate art education student Marissa McClure agrees.
"I'm really excited about the contributions this (program) makes to the Tucson community," she said.
Occasionally, an art education major will realize through Wildcat Arts that teaching is not their calling.
"Sometimes (UA students) say, 'Oh, my gosh - I had no idea what I'd gotten myself into!'" Garard said.
UA students sometimes approach the course with trepidation.
"They have a lot of anxiety as to how hard they've heard (teaching Wildcat Art) will be," Garber said. "Going to a class is very different from taking control of a class."
In the art school, kids are divided into age groups. Primary students (grades 1-3) explore the art of a specific culture or country. Those in grades 4-7 travel through time and look at the art of prehistory and early civilizations. Older students study a specific medium, learning new artistic techniques, including sculpture, oil painting and watercolor painting, Garard said.
The school begins March 3 with tuition set at $95.
This is another difference between teaching Wildcat Art and teaching in the "real world." Parents pay for their children to attend the art school, so presumably the kids want to be there, Garber said.
