I teach art to students in grades 9-12 at a small high school near the coast in South Carolina. Our school is listed as high poverty and is a Title I location.
Our district has recently made drastic budget cuts. My class is able to operate on roughly $500 each year. But I fear that amount has even been changed.
My students love to use Prismacolor colored pencils because they have a much greater blending quality and are more in line with what professional artists use. The problem however is that these pencils are expensive and are just not something that I can ask for with our modest budget. One of the most rewarding projects we create with the Prismacolor pencils is a self-portrait. The pencils are great for blending skin tones and hair textures.
We are also experiencing some technical difficulties with our kiln and have to use Air Dry clay if we wish to create any clay sculpture. This is also an expensive item and quickly eats up money from our budget. This year we quickly went through 25 pounds with one class creating Oaxacan Animal Sculptures. Since the clay isn't glaze quality it is perfect for this project because we paint them using bright colors and patterns.
The last item that I would like to ask for is a sturdy rack that stores our prints and posters that are not hanging up. I have many prints that we use throughout the year that we simply don't have room for on the wall. This rack would be the solution to all our troubles. It would be a place students would know to go to, to find inspiration, and see a bit of history through artist’s eyes.
With your help these few items would really make a difference in my art room. You will make it possible for me to use the money in our budget for more staple goods like paint, paper, markers, and glue. My students will still get the thrill of using good quality art materials without suffering from the budget cuts we adults are having to deal with everyday.
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