Big Stone through the Eyes of an Artist!

The opportunity to have a highly qualified local artist come work with the students at CGB made a huge impact on our students as well as the community.  The community could see the creativity our students portrayed through their art pieces emphasizing what we have in our very own county of Big Stone.  The students each had unique and creative ideas.

Holding an event such as the art show was a great opportunity for all members of the community to come together.  Young and old people  were together visiting with each other.  In rural communities, this gives everyone a great way to support each other.
Our Community / Family art show was held from 3:30-4:30 on March 8th.   It went smoothly, felt upbeat and supportive, and was quite lively with chatter!  Almost every student in our building stayed after school to present their work.  More than 250 parents, grandparents, friends, family and community members attended.  These adults lined the hallways and cafeteria as the students filed into the gym to “take their places” for the show.  It was quite exciting for the students to showcase their work to family, friends and even visitors they didn’t know.  Elizabeth Huselid used our microphone to acknowledge our guests, student artists and artist in residence, Christy Puetz.  She was able to briefly explain the funding source for this project and how our students greatly benefited from the grant money from Southwest Minnesota Arts Council.  After the show, around 20 adults and children helped to clean up the space.  Everyone had a wonderful feeling of accomplishment and pride for our small rural school and the outstanding support of our community members!

Southwest Minnesota Arts Council (SMAC) has awarded CGB Elementary School a $4,000 Arts in the Schools grant this winter to host an artist in residence!  Elizabeth Huselid, Megan Carlson and Kristie Olson wrote and created the vision behind this 10 day unit.  They wanted to bring a skilled artist to the elementary, giving students in grades K-5 an opportunity to learn new skills of artistry while portraying our communities through the lens of an artist!