Saturday Morning Art Research Paper

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Saturday Morning Art was a meaningful community service engagement project. The program increased my awareness of some of the needs and issues in my community regarding art programs inside and outside of schools. The project gave me the opportunity to self-reflect and understand that art is not always a common subject in Education.
Saturday Morning Art is located at the University of St. Francis in the downstairs of the Mimi & Ian Rolland Art & Visual Communication Center. The program houses 6 different grade levels where art lessons are taught and prepared by students a part of the School of Creative Arts (SOCA) K-12 Visual Arts Education & Pre-Art Therapy programs. My first connection to the program was through my academic advisor, Jody Nix. Jody is an Assistant Professor, Program Director of Art Education & Pre-Art Therapy, and teaches other art courses at USF. She mentioned she was in need of volunteers on Saturdays and I was adamant on attending.
Art Education is my major and my passion. Saturday Morning Art was a wonderful opportunity that combined something I love with a learning experience. Art, music, and dance are all programs being cut from schools. Thousands of students are left without an art class due to academic subjects with standardized tests. Schools with art
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I now appreciate the art programs and focus on art in my education growing up. I always had art at least twice a week in elementary school and I had a class every year in high school. It is simple to take something so accessible to me, like art, for granite. Because of my exposure to this subject, I fell in love with it. I realize that with art comes expression and that can be so powerful in a society that is influential. This project helped me grasp the idea that art lessons outside of a school setting is needed. Students need a form of art whether it be music, art, or writing to express feelings that are not so easily

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