Narwhal statue at SRCSA

Check out this Narwhal statue, created for Santa Rosa Charter School for the Arts by Patrick Amiot and Brigitte Laurent of Patrick Amiot Junk Art. Made from repurposed materials, the statue depicts a Narwhal (the school mascot) juggling various objects related to education and the arts. The title of the book being juggled by the narwhal, All Are Welcome by Alexandra Penfold, was the winner among several nominated titles that were put to a vote.

‘The Music Box’ by Bekezela Broscius

I enjoyed this book, which centers around the experience of a girl, Busi, attending school in Zimbabwe, who’s being bullied by a classmate.

The fact that Busi’s school was putting on a play was of special interest to me, as the school where I work integrates the arts into its teaching of core curriculum and its arts electives include drama. I view children’s books that address performance and other arts as especially well-suited for my school library.

In Busi’s case, the performance was a class-trip fundraiser. Busi submitted an anonymous idea to put on a class play of Cinderella.

Busi later auditioned and won the role of Cinderella, but was overcome by anxiety because Doreen, the school bully, was cast in the role of stepmother.

Throughout reading this book, I really felt for Busi as a character. The book’s themes of bullying and of trying to make new friends could resonate with children everywhere.

I received an Advance copy of this book through BookSirens

National Poetry Month in SRCSA library

This collage, featuring print-outs from the cover-art for various books of poetry, is part of a display honoring National Poetry Month in SRCSA library. With it, I put out books of poetry from the library collection. We serve a Kindergarten through eighth-grade population, so my hope is that there is something for all ages represented among the images and books.

STEAM books in SRCSA library

One of this month’s highlights was a STEAM fair at Santa Rosa Charter School for the Arts. Here’s a display I put out in the library at SRCSA ... a variety of books on the subjects of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math.

‘Art Lab for Kids: Express Yourself!’

This is a book I’d very-much like to add to the shelves at my school library. Like its title suggests, Art Lab for Kids: Express Yourself! presents a series of “Labs,” or projects, in a variety of artistic endeavors: drawing, painting, printmaking, mixed media, and paper-based.

Each project includes a materials list, a description or prompt, and step-by-step instructions.

From its introduction, the book seems written with adults in mind, e.g. parents or educators, who would assemble an artistic space and offer the projects as lessons — but the way the projects themselves are presented, I think that older children could also explore them independently. (Some techniques, like using a cutting tool, are meant to be performed under adult supervision.)

Disclosure of material connection: My taxes support local libraries’ acquisition of this and other resources. I consider the access I enjoy to be a “priceless” return on my investment.

‘Piecing Me Together’ by Renée Watson

Jade has been awarded a place in a program that pairs young Black girls with older mentors.

The program includes a college scholarship if Jade successfully completes the program; this opportunity is the overwhelming factor that convinces Jade to join — because what Jade really wants, what she desperately seeks, is the type of opportunity that allows her to help other people.

“Why am I only seen as someone who needs and not someone who can give?” This question, posed by Jade, is at the heart of Piecing Me Together.

Renée Watson’s book is among recent winners and honorees of the American Library Association’s Youth Media Awards. It was named an Honor Book for the John Newbery Medal, and it was also a recipient of the Coretta Scott King Award.

There’s been an undercurrent involving art among the award winners I’ve been reading. In Piecing Me Together, the artistic medium is collage. As a person who enjoys exploring artistic media, I appreciated this dimension to the story.

Bicycle-themed collage art

Here’s a collage from greeting-card images and from informational brochures gathered during an Earth Day celebration in Santa Rosa’s Courthouse Square. The background is a route map for Santa Rosa City Bus.

‘You’re Welcome, Universe’ by Whitney Gardner

I read this book through the lens of considering myself part of a street-art community, through the admittedly non-permanent medium of yarn-bombing. I appreciated the detail and nuance that went into the protagonist, Julia, assembling supplies, preparing stencils, and applying her art.

One area where I struggled to connect with the main character’s viewpoint was that when another artist modified her piece, she considered it in terms of being “shown up,” of the other artist declaring “war” on her. Another character, YP, even asks Julia, “Why does it have to be war?”

You’re Welcome, Universe was a 2018 recipient of the Schneider Family Book Award, which honors an author or illustrator “for a book that embodies an artistic expression of the disability experience.” I’ve long followed this award, as a person on the autism spectrum. The emphasis on art made this book, in particular, one that I especially wanted to read.

Art reproductions in SRCSA Library

“At Santa Rosa Charter School For The Arts, students benefit from an arts-integrated curriculum.” (SRCSA website). In my role as caretaker of educational resources, I’m responsible for art reproductions in SRCSA Library. The collection reflects a variety of styles, historic periods, and media, and several of the pieces in our collection are supported by teacher’s guides. I hope this collection will be a valuable asset to arts integration in the classroom.

Xian Yeagan, arts council web master, dies

Source of image: Xian Yeagan’s Facebook timeline

Sad loss to the arts community in Lake County, Calif.: Xian Yeagan died at 7 a.m. Tuesday, Aug. 1, in San Francisco (according to posts on his Facebook timeline).

I knew Xian as an artist, and also worked with him through the Lake County Arts Council. He was its web editor, and I edited “ArtNotes,” the arts council’s quarterly members’ newsletter, from 2006 to 2010. I greatly valued his prolific contributions of photos and informative articles.

Sandra Wade, former poet laureate, dies

From 2006: Sandra Wade (center) inaugurated as Lake County Poet Laureate

Sandra Wade, a former Poet Laureate of Lake County, Calif., died Tuesday, July 18. Sandra was a staunch advocate for local culture as Lake County Poet Laureate, so supportive and nurturing of other Lake County writers. I always enjoyed learning about the different places she’d gone to read and represent Lake County to a broader artistic community.

The photo above is from the Summer 2006 ArtNotes, a quarterly newsletter of the Lake County Arts Council. Photographed by Xian Yeagan, the image shows Sandra, center, being inaugurated as Lake County Poet Laureate for 2006-2008. Flanking her are finalists Janet Riehl, left, and Fran Ransley, right.

Sandra’s obituary, published in the Lake County Record-Bee, relates:

“Former poet laureate of Lake County and local radio show host, Sandra Wade, passed away Tuesday, July 18, 2017. Sandra had returned to her native England where she lived in Halisham. She was surrounded by her loving family. She enriched the lives of many with her work as a massage therapist, a yoga teacher and a weaver of words. She is greatly missed.”

Santa Rosa Charter School for the Arts

SRCSA’s ‘Narwhal’ logo

On May 12, 2017, I began work at Santa Rosa Charter School for the Arts. Its mission is to provide K-8 students from Santa Rosa, California and beyond with “an innovative, high quality education that focuses on the arts through a challenging, integrated, standards-based academic program.”

Santa Rosa Charter School for the Arts

I’ve accepted an offer of employment at the Santa Rosa Charter School for the Arts in Sonoma County, Calif. I’m intrigued by the emphasis on the arts at this charter school, having devoted much professional effort toward advocating for the arts.

His and her newsboy hats

His and her newsboy hats are assembled from scraps of Guatemalan cotton, interspersed with panels of black cutwork embroidery (repurposed from a skirt) and solid black linen or wool.

Blue, green and purple newsboy hat

This newsboy-style hat, in panels of blue, green and purple, repurposes fabric from a purple tunic, a blue and green floral-print dress and a green-lace skirt. The hat-band, in green and white stripe, was a remnant of grab-bag fabric.

As with previous creations this hat represents a variant on the Hat People design, with the hat-band my unique addition. I like to add a hat-band because it presents one more opportunity to use a contrasting or complimentary fabric that really pulls the whole design together.

Ashland library ‘Teen Crafternoon’: spool and book poetry

Example of thread spool poetry by Kelli Nina Perkins

“Teen Crafternoon” continues its emphasis on upcycling with spool and book poetry, 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. April 5 in the Ashland Branch Library’s teen department.

At Ephemeral Alchemy, Kelli Nina Perkins offers an explanation and displays several examples of thread spool poetry: “Take a vintage wooden spool and wind it with a strip of colored muslin. Add some collaged text you’ve cut from old books and turned into your random poem. Add some embroidery, a button, and a ribbon and roll it up into a little ‘book.’”

Ashland Branch Library is located at 410 Siskiyou Blvd. For more information about Teen Crafternoon, contact the teen department at 541-774-6985.

Decoupage decorates this water bottle

There was a definite “cat” theme to my selections of comic and magazine art for Saturday’s decoupage in the teen department at Jackson County Library Services’ Ashland branch library.

To the left, a stainless-steel water bottle is decorated with superhero and online gaming characters, all of whom have feline qualities in common.

“Decoupage” involves decorating an item’s surface by applying paper cut-outs and coating it with varnish or lacquer. Check the JCLS online catalog or browse among 745.546 in your branch’s nonfiction stacks to look for books about decoupage.

Teen “Crafternoon” takes place on the first Saturday of each month at the Ashland library, located at 410 Siskiyou Blvd. For more information, call 541-774-6994. Watch for announcements on Facebook. I also post notices to my blog.

Bag from pillowcase, pants leg, tablet-woven straps

This is my most lavish upcycled market bag yet: “Kivrim” trim, created with tablet weaving, forms the straps of this hand-made shopping bag. The upper body of the bag was made from a pillowcase, the lower body was made from a pair of pants. A piece of fabric woven on a rigid-heddle loom is layered onto the bag beneath an appliqued leaf cut out from another piece of fabric.

T-shirt repurposing: ‘I am a librarian’

“I guard your right to privacy. I protect your freedom to read. I support intellectual freedom. I am a librarian.” To create this garment, I took the logo from a T-shirt, and highlighted it with a “frame” of floral fabric. The layered logo-within-frame was then applied to another shirt. Hand-painted leaves were done by the vendor who sold me the shirt.

Signs missing from student exhibit at EcoArts sculpture walk

Unbelievable! Robin Shrive reports Stolen art from the EcoArts: Lake County Sculpture Walk at Middletown County Trailside Park.

In a letter published Aug. 15 on the Lake County Record-Bee website, Shrive explains that her AP English class students “spent countless hours of their own time creating an exhibit celebrating reading.” Unfortunately, the recreations of two street signs, Lake Avenue and Read Street, are gone.

Shrive asks that people who see the signs or are in possession of them to return them to Exhibit 2 or contact EcoArts of Lake County at 928-0323.