Artist in Residence Teaches Baxter Elementary Students About Mosaics

This week, Baxter Elementary School has hosted an artist in residence. The students have been spending the week learning about mosaics and working on a collaborative project that will be displayed in the school.

At Baxter Elementary, they believe introducing students to art as early as possible gives those students an advantage.

“[It’s] incredibly beneficial. We love to give kids many different kinds of art experiences,” said third grade teacher Kari Campion. “It uses so many parts of their brain. It helps kids to believe in themselves and to know that they can create.”

Minnesota artist Lisa Arnold came to Baxter Elementary last year to work with third graders, but this year is working with all the students. Her goal is always to share her love of art with the students and inspire them for the rest of their lives.

“It’s the joy of my life,” said Arnold with a laugh. “Yeah, I love – I’ve maybe done 100 or so of these residencies. And my main thing that I love about it is that I think mosaic making is a metaphor for life. If each of the kids – this is what I tell them – if we can come in here and we can be our best selves and put our put our best efforts toward this, we can make a masterpiece that can inspire people for years to come.”

Sometimes art can be intimidating, but finding the right art form for someone can be wonderful motivation.

“I had one student last year and she would constantly say, ‘I’m just not an artist. I don’t, I’m not good at art,'” explained third grade teacher Kim Stolski. “And Lisa was able to work with her last year and just say, ‘You’re amazing! You’re a mosaic artist.’ And she remembered that child. And she came back this year and with just this confidence about art and her ability and just saw herself in a different light.”

And with the amount of empty wall space in the halls and the enthusiasm from the students, Baxter Elementary is hopeful these projects will continue.

“That is the hope, that we would continue to build on this experience, more and more collaborative projects, schoolwide projects that tie kids into art and into our building,” added Campion.

The finishing touches were being placed on the mosaic Friday, and the artwork is set to be put on display this coming Monday.