Childrens Art Institute returns after 10 years

For three hours every weekday morning from July 30 to August 9, nearly 60 students in first through 12th grade are gathering at Stafford Primary School to hone their artistic skills at a Children’s Art Institute class.

This year’s artist-in-residence and director is Christopher Shotola-Hardt, who teaches fine art at Wilsonville High School.

Shotola-Hardt has a thing for birds and loves painting them. So this year, he has made ornithology, the study of birds, the theme of this summer’s Art Institute curriculum.

“Growing up, I wanted to be an ornithologist,” said Shotola-Hardt. “And I guess I am.”

Former elementary school principal Annie Painter originally developed the Children’s Art Institute 26 years ago. In addition to educating students about art, it also serves as a practicum course for participating teachers.

“It’s interesting for teachers as well as students,” said Cathy Halladin, who teaches first-, second- and third-graders in the primary studio class. “It’s a good opportunity to grow in your work.”

Shotola-Hardt teaches the advanced studio section, in which students in eighth through 12th grade learn painting and composition techniques for two dimensional work, solve technical drawing-based problems and try to get in touch with their personal artistic styles.

On the first day of class, July 30, he had the students testing their basic skills to he could get a baseline of where each student is at. From there, he will challenge them to push their work farther.

Kylie Whittaker, an incoming high school junior, said she signed up for the class to build her portfolio to apply to architecture school. Although the art institute advertised portfolio development as a benefit for older students, in Shotola-Hardt’s opinion, personal fulfillment is just as valuable to an aspiring artist.

“I want them to come up with authentic work that’s their own,” said Shotola-Hardt as his students worked on portraits of a stuffed red-tailed hawk. “They’re all individualized artists; that’s what’s important to me.”

Students in the lower grades, including Shotola-Hardt’s 10-year-old son, Oliver, are learning about such concepts as color theory and patterns.

On the first day, several Stafford classrooms were filled with miniature artists working intently on producing evocative images of birds.

The primary studio class broke into groups and worked together on paintings in which birds were featured prominently.

“I like doing birds,” Shayla Kees, 6, said. “I did a science project about bluebirds.”

“I just want to get better at what I already do, and I love art,” said Nicole Willock, 12.

In addition to learning how to create artistic representations of birds, the students are learning bird names, habitats, diets and other bird facts.

On the first day of lessons, several teachers played recordings of various birdcalls from their phones. Students were calling out names of birds and the teacher would play each bird’s call — from the macaw to the bluebird.

This is the first year since 2002 that the West Linn-Wilsonville School District has participated in the Children’s Art Institute.

Shotola-Hardt is adamant that area schools should continuing stressing the importance of art.

“We live in an increasingly visual world, bombarded with thousands of images,” said Shotola-Hardt. “The arts are such a reflection of who we are.”

At the end of the first day, Shotola-Hardt left many of his students eager to resume their lessons.

“I like his take on it,” said Joree Vosburg, who will start ninth grade this fall. She enjoyed that the students were given freedom to interpret how to create art in whatever means it speaks to them.

Shotola-Hardt’s passion for art is matched only by his sense of humor.

“I rescued a parakeet. I kept it for a while, but I had a cat,” he deadpanned to peels of pubescent laughter.

The Children’s Art Institute will culminate on Thursday, Aug. 9, with an art show open to the public beginning at 6 p.m.