“Teachers and artists will work together in the classroom to introduce students to new skills and experience in visual arts while enriching the regular curriculum,” said Mildred Dover, Minister of Education. “Students who learn through the arts cultivate valuable life skills such as flexibility, teamwork, discipline, positive self-expression and enhanced self-esteem.”

The schools and projects that have been selected in the first round include:

1) Athena Consolidated School, Summerside - Animal Habitat with Maurice Bernard;

2) Elm Street Elementary School, Summerside - Imaginary Creatures with Rachel Ballum;

3) Hernewood Intermediate School, West Prince - Hernewood Mission Through Space with Janelle Irving, Maurice Bernard, Janet Cameron, Eric MacArthur and John Cousins;

4) Birchwood Intermediate School, Charlottetown - Courir la Chandeleur with Louise Lalonde, Paul Ness, Sylvie Toupin, Murielle MacDonald, Ginette Turgeon, Louise Daigle, and Monique Lafontaine;

5) École française de King-Est, Souris - Notre Patrimoine - La cloche de Rollo Bay with Monique Lafontaine;

6) École St. Augustin, South Rustico - Un nouveau regard with Lennie Gallant, Louise Daigle and Ginette Turgeon;

7) Spring Park Elementary, Charlottetown - Growth through Seasons with Debbie Thompson and Everett Johnston;

8) West Royalty Elementary School - Beacons of Light with Maurice Bernard and Kate Moss.

Elmer MacFadyen, Minister of Community and Cultural Affairs noted that the program has benefits for the cultural community as well as students. “Identifying artists as partners in education is an important signal to students who may have an interest in culture. The arts need to be recognized as valuable to both our cultural and our economic well-being.”

ArtsSmarts is a program of the Canadian Conference of the Arts and is supported by the J. W. McConnell Family Foundation. It is the largest education initiative in Canada dedicated to improving the learning capacity of children and youth by integrating the arts into teaching and learning.

Maurice Bernard, one of the local artists involved in the Program, is pleased to be a participant. “I think it is so important for a program like ArtsSmarts to exist for our Island students,” Bernard said. “I have been volunteering in Island schools for the past 10 years teaching art classes, but with so many schools I can only spend one hour a year with each school. Now, I will have more time to work with students allowing them to open their minds to a more creative way in thinking.”

ArtsSmarts is made possible by a partnership between the Department of Education, Department of Community and Cultural Affairs, PEI Council of the Arts, Confederation Centre of the Arts and the three school boards. A total of 41 projects were submitted and a committee selected the first eight pilot projects. The ArtsSmarts program is a three-year initiative with the possibility of a two-year extension.

For more information on the ArtsSmarts program, please contact Lucille Fontaine at 902 368 6495 or Vicki Allen-Cook at 902 368 4634.