From left, ArtCart instructors Anna Farson, Kate Hushion, Katelyn Smith, Sarah Hoye, Tara McBride, and Elizabeth Grounds pose with an ArtCart. (Photo Provided)

PARKERSBURG — The ArtCart Program returns this month, maintaining its fifth grade expansion from the past year.

ArtCart will continue teaching in all 15 schools without art instruction in every 4th and 5th grade class, reaching about 2,000 students.

The ArtCart Program was created as a pilot for one school six years ago in hopes of bringing awareness to the importance of arts education providing the opportunity for creativity to underserved elementary schools in the Wood County area.

Director Kate Hushion said the ArtCart team is looking forward to a full year of in-person instruction. Last year’s ArtCart offering only allowed for half a year of in-person teaching while the first semester was delivered through virtual instruction.

Hushion is proud the program persevered and made it work considering the challenging circumstances of the pandemic. She is hopeful this year will bring meaningful and personal interactions with Wood County elementary students. She also believes this year’s art instruction will return joy and inspiration to the elementary students.

An example of an project using construction paper in the ArtCart program. (Photo Provided)

Three new members of the ArtCart instructor team are eager to meet the students and start teaching. ArtCart’s returning teachers are Sarah Hoye and Katelyn Smith with newcomers Anna Farson, Elizabeth Grounds and Tara McBride.

The ArtCart mission remains student-centered, providing elementary kids the chance for creative growth and personal development through the processes of art exploration and education, she said.

The ArtCart Program addition is made possible by donations from the Wood County Board of Education, the Spartan Foundation, the PARS Foundation, Artsbridge, the McDonough Foundation, the Parkersburg Community Foundation, the Parkersburg Women’s Club, the West Virginia Department of Arts, Culture, and History and the National Endowment for the Arts with approval from the state Commission on the Arts.

Elementary students in Wood County will participate in the arts with the ArtCart program. The program continues this year in Wood County where classes start today. (Photo Provided)