press release january 2012
(< Return to Press Releases)CSMA’S Students and Teachers Exhibit Artwork at Mountain View's City Hall
(Mountain View) Students and their CSMA art teachers at schools in Mountain View, Los Altos and other local communities have been hard at work. The result is a teacher/student collaborative exhibition called People Near and Far. The show, which presents a colorful mix of paintings, drawings, sculptures, collages and more, is open to the public from February 7 through March 4th, 2012 at City Hall, Rotunda, 500 Castro St, Mountain View. There will be an opening reception with the students and teachers on Friday, February 10, from 3-6 pm. City Hall is open Monday-Friday, 8 am-5 pm. The free public exhibit is sponsored by the City of Mountain View Visual Arts Committee and the Community School of Music and Arts (CSMA).
On display will be more than 300 pieces of art by students (GR 1-8) and their CSMA art teachers from 19 local schools, including every public Mountain View Whisman District elementary school (Bubb, Castro, Huff, Landels, Monta Loma, Stevenson PACT, Theuerkauf) as well as Springer School (Los Altos School District), Montclaire School and Murdock-Portal (Cupertino School District), Costaño School and Ronald McNair Academy (Ravenswood School District), St. Nicholas School (Los Altos Hills), The Academy (San Jose), Lyndale School (San Jose), Baywood School (San Mateo), Resurrection School (Sunnyvale), Esquela Popular (San Jose), and St. Joseph of Cupertino School(Cupertino). All of the children receive weekly art instruction through CSMA’s in-school program Art4Schools.
People Near and Far invites viewers to explore the world through the faces and customs of people both down the street and across the globe. Students in the Art4Schools program studied diverse cultures and made connections with people and artistic traditions from all over the world in order to create the works in this exhibit. “This annual teacher-student collaborative project culminates in a wonderful community exhibit, but it also represents much more,” said Cullen. “Students come to see their teacher as an ‘artist’ and learn how to draw inspiration from an idea or concept to create art.” Teachers used a piece of their own artwork as inspiration for the lesson.
The Community School of Music and Arts (CSMA) at Finn Center serves more than 7500 children annually through its in-school programs Art4Schools and Music4Schools. Since 1981, these programs, offered as part of the curriculum day in schools in Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties, have engaged youth through an in-depth, sequential curriculum. CSMA’s visual arts and music educators teach weekly, hands-on classes and professional musicians present interactive concerts. Funding is provided by the City of Mountain View, school districts, individual schools, parent organizations, foundations, corporations, California Arts Council, and CSMA donors. In the Mountain View Whisman School District, major funding for CSMA’s art and music programs is provided by the Mountain View Educational Foundation.
Founded in 1968, CSMA is the largest non-profit provider of arts education programs in the region and is among the top 10 schools of its kind in the nation. The school is committed to providing Arts for All, regardless of age, level, background or economic means. CSMA reaches more than 40,000 people annually through: lessons, classes and camps in music, visual and digital arts; arts-in-the-schools programs; after-school art clubs; free family concerts, lectures, exhibits and other community outreach events. In keeping with its mission to make the arts accessible to all, the school’s Financial Aid Program awards approximately $275,000 annually through tuition assistance and program subsidies. In January 2004, CSMA opened its first permanent home at Finn Center, an $11.7 million, state-of-the-art facility located at 230 San Antonio Circle, Mountain View.
For more info about the exhibition People Near and Far (through March 4th, 2012) at City Hall, Rotunda, 500 Castro St., Mountain View, contact Cal Cullen, CSMA Art4Schools Program Coordinator, at 650-917-6800, ext. 308 (ccullen@art4all.org).