Grandview Boulevard Elementary’s first trip to the Center

Craft in America is super excited to have two new schools partner with our Center through our Craft in Schools educational programming. One of the two, Grandview Boulevard Elementary, visited us for the first time on Friday, January 11. It was a rare treat for the Center to host a class of 2nd graders, and we were absolutely thrilled to meet them.

The students arrived with big smiles and loud thoughts that just could not be contained. This group of young people knew that their voices are powerful and they were ready to be heard. The problem was, who would speak first? As I asked questions like, “what do we see with our eyes?” and “what materials are being used?,” several hands rocketed into the air with “oooh, ooohs, me, me” following. We could go on forever describing furniture, baskets, shibori, and other functional craft pieces in our “California: Rooted” exhibition. We had them conversing as a class and then in smaller individual groups so that they could gather opinions by working together. Groups were split into the 5 most common traditional crafts: Team Metal, Glass, Wood, Fibers, and Ceramics. Each team worked together to identify works in the exhibition that used their respective materials.

Grandview Boulevard was our last LAUSD visit before the teachers in the district went on strike. The teacher was eager to bring her students in order for them to get as much supplemental arts education before the strike and it showed us how much these teachers want their students to learn. We admire all of the teachers we work with for going so far beyond what is expected of them.