This seems to be the questions on everybody's mind today including that of the administrators and the district office. It has been proposed that Fine Arts take the greatest hit, but truth be known, other than band, we are the cheapest programs this district operates. If this district were to completely cut the fine arts as has been proposed prior to the election, then the school would lose their accreditation. I had that confirmed by an administrator today. Besides students are required to have fine arts credit to be accepted into all major universities. I hope that our district really won't put itself into that situation. However....
Does that mean we sit idly by waiting to see what happens? At this point we need to more proactive as staff and students. Here are some steps that we can take.
1. Parents, students, staff need to be attending the board meetings to respectfully express their concerns and questions. These occur the first Tuesday of each month at the CGUHS District Office at 6pm.
2. Letters to the Editor need to be written to make the community aware of what is happening.
3. Organizing student/parent committees to organize petitions, proposals and rally support for the arts.
4.Options need to be seriously looked as by the district as well as the parents and students to create a win-win situation.
Options may include-
The Four Day School Week,
Pay to Play for sports and extra-curricular activities.
Cutting one position in each department as opposed to eliminating the Fine Arts Department.
Reducing the amount of transportation being used for away football games, fieldtrips etc.
Turning off the field lights, auditorium lights, building lights except for when the building is in use for school events only! I'd hate to see their electric bill!
Reducing teacher spending budgets-I don't like that one either, but it may come to that!
Freezing or reducing Salaries-If it keeps our programs, consider it a tax donation!
We have some options before cutting programs!
I can't tell you how shocked, angry and sad I was all at the same time when I found this out! This isn't fair! Let our voices be heard, that we will do what it takes to save these programs. It has already happened where the fine arts have all been cut from the Elementary districts, now its going to happen to the only place where kids can take fine arts classes, I certainly hope not!
If you have any ideas or comments, feel free to post! In fact, this may be one way that we can start protesting any possible fine arts cuts!
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Saturday, November 1, 2008
Art in Everyday Life-The Wedding
We are surrounded by art everyday in our lives, but how often do we take time to appreciate it? Things from the pictures on your walls and the way you decorate, to the clothes we wear. Without art, our lives are bland and colorless and so are we. I promised you all pictures of the wedding I attended on Halloween. Since this is my creative/educational blog, I am going to tie it in with if nothing else art appreciation. Let's begin, shall we???
I've described the amazing dress that my cousin wore. Fashion requires immense artistic ability to work with colors, cuts, design and style right down to the fashions that the bridesmaids and guests wore. At this wedding, there were certainly some artistic statements, although they did confuse me! Examples in the following fashion show.
So now that we've looked at fashion and their artistic value, lets talk about the flowers and decorating. To be able to do this a person must be able to use color and design. The bride's sister, who was the maid of honor, made all of the bouquets, centerpieces and lapel pins. The bride's bouquet was a combination of silk flowers and plastic roses. That's right plastic, made from plastic spoons to be exact. It created a unique look and you know nobody had a bouquet like it! She does sell these "sproses". Look at Phoenix Art Space and type in "Sproses" for more information.
Now music...this is a touchy subject. We requested a country song and the bride did not want any country played at her wedding. What do you define as music? The guests probably would have preferred music to "mosh" to especially because the groom has his own death metal band. Instead, they place classics like Frank Sinatra, Neil Diamond, and some early rap and party songs. So what is appropriate music for dancing too? Walking down the aisle? The bride actually walked down the aisle to Paquelbel's Cannon, a classical piece of music. What artistic ability goes into writing the music and lyrics we listen to everyday? Doesn't that require some artistic ability?
Now the food, especially the cake! You have to have some excellent artistic ability to decorate a cake, especially like this one. The picture really doesn't do it justice. If you want to see the good, bad and ugly cakes, check out cakewrecks.blogspot.com. You can quickly see the artistic and lack of artistic ability. This cake was made by the groom's mom.
So let's look at the overall. Planning a wedding is much like planning a theatrical show. Who are going to be the leads and supporting roles such as the bridal party. What happens when somebody in your "cast" quits at the last minute. You look at the big picture as you begin planning then hone in on the details. The general place and time give way to the details such as what music should we play, when, what happens if something goes wrong at the last minute such as at my wedding when the cake showed up as nothing but a pile of crumbs, or you were so sick at your own wedding you had to make a made dash for the restroom during your first dance with your husband, who covers for you? (Yes it really happened at my wedding!) What order should the grand entrance be in? Who is our audience aka. the wedding guests and what kind of experience do we want to give them? Then you have seating arrangements, general seating-select your table, or reserved, place cards with assigned seating? Then there are lighting decisions, candlelight, disco lights, etc?
We celebrate some of our most memorable events in life with art and even the not so memorable with art and we seldom realize it. Planning a wedding is almost identical to planning a show for our guests and we are the performers. We have drama, love, passion, fun and closure when the bride and groom leave. The wedding is one of the ultimate stage productions we perform in and is one of the most significant events of our lives1
I've described the amazing dress that my cousin wore. Fashion requires immense artistic ability to work with colors, cuts, design and style right down to the fashions that the bridesmaids and guests wore. At this wedding, there were certainly some artistic statements, although they did confuse me! Examples in the following fashion show.
So now that we've looked at fashion and their artistic value, lets talk about the flowers and decorating. To be able to do this a person must be able to use color and design. The bride's sister, who was the maid of honor, made all of the bouquets, centerpieces and lapel pins. The bride's bouquet was a combination of silk flowers and plastic roses. That's right plastic, made from plastic spoons to be exact. It created a unique look and you know nobody had a bouquet like it! She does sell these "sproses". Look at Phoenix Art Space and type in "Sproses" for more information.
Now music...this is a touchy subject. We requested a country song and the bride did not want any country played at her wedding. What do you define as music? The guests probably would have preferred music to "mosh" to especially because the groom has his own death metal band. Instead, they place classics like Frank Sinatra, Neil Diamond, and some early rap and party songs. So what is appropriate music for dancing too? Walking down the aisle? The bride actually walked down the aisle to Paquelbel's Cannon, a classical piece of music. What artistic ability goes into writing the music and lyrics we listen to everyday? Doesn't that require some artistic ability?
Now the food, especially the cake! You have to have some excellent artistic ability to decorate a cake, especially like this one. The picture really doesn't do it justice. If you want to see the good, bad and ugly cakes, check out cakewrecks.blogspot.com. You can quickly see the artistic and lack of artistic ability. This cake was made by the groom's mom.
So let's look at the overall. Planning a wedding is much like planning a theatrical show. Who are going to be the leads and supporting roles such as the bridal party. What happens when somebody in your "cast" quits at the last minute. You look at the big picture as you begin planning then hone in on the details. The general place and time give way to the details such as what music should we play, when, what happens if something goes wrong at the last minute such as at my wedding when the cake showed up as nothing but a pile of crumbs, or you were so sick at your own wedding you had to make a made dash for the restroom during your first dance with your husband, who covers for you? (Yes it really happened at my wedding!) What order should the grand entrance be in? Who is our audience aka. the wedding guests and what kind of experience do we want to give them? Then you have seating arrangements, general seating-select your table, or reserved, place cards with assigned seating? Then there are lighting decisions, candlelight, disco lights, etc?
We celebrate some of our most memorable events in life with art and even the not so memorable with art and we seldom realize it. Planning a wedding is almost identical to planning a show for our guests and we are the performers. We have drama, love, passion, fun and closure when the bride and groom leave. The wedding is one of the ultimate stage productions we perform in and is one of the most significant events of our lives1
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