Projects

Edgar Esparza with unfinished plate

Finished plate

For the past decade, ARTsmart has been instrumental in making art a viable addition to the lives of Santa Fe’s youth. ARTsmart funding makes the following art experiences possible.

ART BUILDS SELF-ESTEEM
ARTsmart donates money to the Santa Fe Public School system earmarked to purchase art supplies for 7,800 kids in the Elementary Art Program. In 2008, the ARTsmart’s donation of $50,000 doubled the SFPS budget.

SMALL DIFFERENCES, LARGE EFFECTS
SFPS art teachers design special projects for their students and submit them to an ARTsmart panel for review. In the 2008-2009 school year, ARTsmart will disperse up to $10,000 to purchase materials for these projects.

ART DEVELOPS THE WHOLE CHILD
Working with the art teachers in the SFPS system, ARTsmart funds the following projects, which are showcased throughout ARTfeast weekend and thereafter.

• I Made It! Plates & Placemats. At the start of the school year, materials are supplied by ARTsmart to school teachers working with fifth and sixth grade students. The students create art in a circular format. The artworks are judged by an ARTsmart panel, and approximately 50 are selected to be redesigned by the children on two ceramic plates, fired at The Painted Dish. One dish is kept by the child; the second dish is auctioned at the Gourmet Dinner, the funds of which become a part of the following year’s ARTsmart donation. The remaining designs are laminated, becoming placemats used in ARTfeast events and sold to fund ARTsmart projects.
• Art Talks Acrylic Paintings. ARTsmart supplies canvases along with an acrylic paint kits to art teachers, who select 40 students to create paintings that are sold at various locations during the ARTfeast event. Proceeds become a part of the next year’s donation.
• Sharing Joy Greeting Cards. ARTsmart supplies more than 1,000 greeting cards on heavy stock with a deckled edge to elementary art teachers who work with the children in creating original artworks on the cards. The cards are sold during ARTfeast weekend and throughout the year, the funds from which go into the following year’s donation.
• Many Perspectives Metal Sculptures. Working with Santa Fe High School instructor Al Trujillo, ARTsmart donates funds to purchase materials for high school students to create metal sculptures, which are auctioned at the Gourmet Dinner. Student sculptors receive 50 percent of the auction sale. Remaining funds become a part of the next year’s donation.

• Art Colors My View. Stained glass jewelry boxes and fused glass masks are auctioned at the Luncheon & Fashion Show. Capital High School students were taught stained glass skills by Joseph Salazar. Artist Paul White mentored students from De Vargas Middle School in making the fused glass masks.

• Art Helps Me Explore and Imagine. Acrylic paintings created by Capital and Santa Fe High School students mentored by Honorary Artist Fran Larsen are auctioned at the Gourmet Dinner.

• Inspired Innovations. Functional and sculptural ceramics by Sally Dinwidde's Santa Fe High School students are auctioned at the Artists' Brunch.

ART OUTREACH PROGRAMS
Every year ARTsmart evaluates art programs in the community, looking for excellence and rewarding it. In the past several years, ARTsmart has chosen to contribute to the outstanding Fine Art for Children and Teens program, which services 1,400 children on an annual basis. In 2008, ARTsmart donated to $10,000 to FACT.