What Goes On Inside the ILES Art Room?
Each week, as ILES artists step foot into the magical space of the Art Room, their imaginations are unleashed. Their creativity comes alive! They are encouraged to create, communicate and express their ideas in an environment where they can explore and experiment with a variety of mediums and techniques to define and develop their authentic selves.
Upon entering the ILES art studio on any given day, students may be engaged in clay play, a plethora of painting, drawing, cutting, glueing, taping, building, printmaking, weaving and the list goes on. All of these explorations serve to develop each learnerʼs creative and critical thinking skills.
In the art room, ILES artists not only discover a variety of ways to create,communicate and express their ideas but they also discover that it is okay to experiment without fear of making mistakes. Inspired by childrenʼs artist and author, Barney Saltzberg, learners instead consider a mistake to be a “Beautiful Oops”. At the very least, these ʻoopsʼ moments will change or expand a young artistʼs idea of what is possible. More often, however, unexpected ʻoopsʼ morph into cherished works of art.
Although, the focus of visual arts education here at ILES is more about the process of creating than simply producing a finished product, the walls are adorned by some amazing artwork nonetheless. When you enter our building, take a “gallery walk” through our halls and discover the pulse, energy and spirit behind each of our young and aspiring artists. This website is yet another avenue to parouse and gain some insight as to what our art program is all about.
“Artists are just children who refuse to put down their crayons.”
~ Al Hirschfeld