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Program provides art instruction in Wood County elementary schools

Photo Provided A student draws with felt tip Crayolas in the ArtCart program at Vienna Elementary School in Wood County. Nine of the 19 elementary schools in the county are in the program. Program officials hope to some day include all elementaries in ArtCart.

PARKERSBURG — A program offering elementary art instruction has doubled each year since it started, organizers said.

ArtCart started in one school three years ago and is in nine elementary schools this year in Wood County, Amanda Stevens, executive director of Artsbridge, the administering agency, said.

The program was created by Kate Esbenshade Hushion, an art teacher at Parkersburg High School. ArtCart is for fourth-grade students.

ArtCart provided art instruction where otherwise there would be none, Hushion said. The program is at Vienna, Criss, Martin, Franklin, Gihon, Lubeck, Greenmont, Emerson and Williamstown elementary schools.

The program, held once a week in the schools from September to April, is led by Hushion with head instructor Kelly Shook and teachers Sarah Hoye and Beth Strobl.

Photo Provided Fourth-graders in the ArtCart program in Wood County Schools create aluminum foil figurines that dance across a shelf in an exhibit at Artsbridge. ArtCart, administered by Artsbridge and created by Kate Esbenshade Hushion, an art teacher at Parkersburg High School, is in its third year.

The program has expanded each year since its creation, Stevens said. From one school in the first year to four in the second and nine this year, she said.

“It’s been our goal to grow the program each year,” Stevens said.

One of the 19 elementaries in the county, Jefferson Center, has an art instructor because it is a Title 1 school, Hushion said.

The ultimate goal is to expand the program in all elementaries, Hushion said.

Hushion said an inspiration for the program, besides from her graduate work in college, was she noticed students lacked knowledge in basic art education, such as what the primary colors are. She researched it further and came up with ArtCart.

Photo Provided An art cart in the ArtCart program at Martin Elementary School. Donations are always accepted for the program and can be made by calling Artsbridge at 304-422-3988.

The problem was solvable, Hushion said.

“The ArtCart’s mission is to offer kids the opportunity for arts education in their curriculum during the school day,” she said. “The creative experiences students get through the ArtCart instruction provides them with a more well-rounded education that emphasizes the problem solving, innovation and cognitive skills they need to be successful in any environment.”

The student artwork is on display at the Grand Central Mall and the PARS Brain and Spine Institute beginning this month through May. Students have been experimenting with different techniques in drawing, sculpture, painting and printmaking.

ArtCart was able to expand this year because of donations from The Spartan Foundation, the PARS Foundation, Artsbridge and the Parkersburg Community Foundation.

Donations are gratefully accepted and donations can be made by calling Artsbridge at 304-428-3988. All donations are used for instructors and supplies.

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