Su Valley students enjoy week of art

The students of Susitna Valley don't have a regular art program, but that hasn't stopped the students from getting first-class art instruction.

According to Susitna valley teachers, the school doesn't have the funds for a regular art department at the school. So the teachers did something about it -- they created Art Week.

Five years ago the teachers started the week to give students ways to explore a lot of different forms of art during a short time.

This year, Art Week was held March 17-19 at the school, and students took advantage of the many offerings.

Students setting up their schedules for Art Week this year had nearly 50 course offerings to choose from. The titles included a little bit of everything, from conventional art classes like drawing and painting, to the more abstract, like glass fusion and trash sculpting.

There were classes in massage, martial arts, yoga, music, dance and drama. There were crafts classes, too -- in beading, basket weaving, furniture making and more.

Forty artists volunteered their time this year and worked with students in the hands-on classes.

Some instructors are parents or teachers with a unique craft idea to share; most are celebrated artists, musicians, writers and dancers from the communities of Talkeetna, Sunshine, Trapper Creek and Willow.

The list of classes was impressive for a rural school. More impressive was the list of artists teaching them.

During Art Week, students gained appreciation for the creative process that goes into any work of art. Whether that art takes the form of an oil painting, a little willow chair, a great story, or a colorful fishing fly was left entirely up to the student.