Publication Date: Friday, December 02, 2005
'Master' class
'Master' class
(December 02, 2005)@12subhead:Volunteer docents teach kids about the greats of art -- and also educate themselves
by Terry Tang
How do you get people to understand, much less care about, the differences between a Cezanne and a Matisse? Well, if you're teaching in Palo Alto, you get them while they're young.
For more than 25 years, the Art Education Office at the Palo Alto Unified School District has maintained the Meet the Masters Art Heritage Program. The volunteer-driven program consists of docents going to classrooms in grades kindergarten through fifth to hold interactive discussions on widely known artists.
Each lesson consists of two visits to a class: a biographical lecture on the artist's life and work followed by a relevant art activity. Two to three hours of docent training are required for each artist.
Youngsters aren't the only ones who learn from the program. Docents from the community also gain hands-on involvement in arts education, district art coordinator Sharon Ferguson said. Previous docents have been art history graduates, museum lovers and world travelers.
And docents often include parents, who have an opportunity to interact on a different level with their children's schools.
Melissa Baten-Caswell, president of the Palo Alto Council of PTAs, joined Meet the Masters in hopes of becoming more active in the community. She also got some art education of her own.
"It's a fabulous program, and I think it's kind of a well-kept secret," she said. "I learned things about Matisse. ...It was really interesting for me to go in and get trained."
The program is actively seeking new volunteers, and Ferguson said the staff is happy to work around people's schedules.
"Even if you could only do some research at home, don't think it's impossible," she said. "We would custom-tailor it for you."
Art history buffs uncomfortable talking in front of school children are also welcome -- to help do research. As demonstrated by the tall compartments in Ferguson's office holding materials on Vincent Van Gogh, Marc Chagall and other notables, someone who can put together a portfolio on an artist would save the program staff work.
The program would also benefit by encompassing discussions on art from other cultures. For example, Ferguson said, a cultural group could sponsor someone to compile a portfolio on artwork representative of their country.
Someday, she would also like to bring Meet the Masters to middle schools and high schools.
"Art has given me so much," Ferguson said. "I was lucky. I had it in my family. Whatever you get, you give back and more comes your way."
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