Jefferson Elementary Residency - Boise, ID

The original It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood artist residency, conducted at Jefferson Elementary School, captured the interest of several community and public organizations in Boise. Jefferson Elementary School is part of the Morris Hill Neighborhood Association and located in a geographical area referred to as The Bench. The school is also in close proximity to the Boise State University campus 

The city's newspaper, the Idaho Statesman covered an afternoon of printing in the classroom and students became instant celebrities! Boise State University Art Education students volunteered in the classroom during the printing process, meeting students and educators and gaining classroom experience. 

The success of this school project provided students with an opportunity to display the results of their experience in an exhibition in the Pioneer Gallery at the Idaho State Historical Museum in downtown Boise.  The exhibition, titled Up on the Bench, was open to the public during the City's monthly First Thursday Art Walk.

Exhibition Poster

 Prints at the Idaho Historical Museum

Samples of plates and prints viewed by the public

As a result of the public exhibition of the student work at the Idaho Historical Museum in Boise, the city's Morris Hill Neighborhood Association invited the students to present their prints at their community wide street fair.  During the neighborhood celebration, several local homeowners identified their own residences represented in the prints and became eager to meet the artists and learn more about the process. Arrangements were made for homeowners and student artists to meet in their classroom and at the visiting artist's studio, Wingtip Press. A few lucky students  sold prints from their edition and took the opportunity to share their new knowledge and success by demonstrating the printing process in the studio.

 Artist sharing the collagraph printmaking process with the homeowner

Neighbors and a new friendship!