The Idaho Commission on the Arts in partnership with the Idaho Department of Education annually sponsors a provocative and creative summer professional development institute entitled Arts Powered Schools. The week long event is designed to provide opportunities for Idaho educators to come together with professional artists and leaders from Idaho's cultural organizations to "envision and learn to use the arts as invaluable components of teaching young people." During the week, educators engage with rostered teaching artists to plan school residencies funded by the Idaho Commission on the Arts.
In 2011 artist Amy Nack of Wingtip Press and Boise educator Elisa Pharris brainstormed solutions for integrating art and math for Elisa's fifth and sixth grade students. During their conversation, Elisa expressed concern for a local historic building destined for demolition. Her concern took their conversation to architecture. The school neighborhood, composed of mid-century homes, presented a perfect focus for combining math, art and architecture learning opportunities for an Arts Powered School artist residency.
The two developed a plan to engage students with math and art by creating collagraph prints of neighborhood homes. Geometry concepts and vocabulary were naturally reinforced while students observed shape, volume, angles and intersections as they measured and calculated to produce their printing plates. The historical nature of the architecture provided links to local history and students found connections to their community beyond the borders of their own street and route to school. Math, history, and social studies learning targets were met as students engaged in the process of creating a small edition of prints.
In an Arts Powered Schools residency, Jennifer Mecham of Carey School and Joni Cashman of Woodside Elementary successfully adapted this collagraph project to their schools and learning targets. They presented their results with Idaho Commission on the Arts Teaching Artist and Owner of Wingtip Press, Amy Nack at the National Art Education Association Convention in Fort Worth, Texas in March, 2013.
