Manatee River Artists Guild's donations bring students new opportunities

Carlos E. Haile Middle School students were in awe seeing how science interacted with art during a glass blowing demonstration at the Duncan McClellan Gallery in St. Petersburg. 

At the gallery Oct. 3, students were introduced to the process of blown glass art and how it works and then they created their own etchings. 

"The kids have never really created art with glass, so it was really cool for them to be able to see and do that and actually participate in the art making process up there at the Duncan McClellan Art Gallery," said Joe Gibson, the art teacher at Haile Middle School.

The students were able to go to the Duncan McClellan Art Gallery as a result of the donations from the Manatee River Artists Guild at Waterlefe donations. 

The Manatee River Artists Guild at Waterlefe donates proceeds from its annual art show to Haile Middle and Freedom Elementary School each year giving hundreds of arts students an opportunity to learn new mediums and methods and go on field trips to art museums and galleries. 

The guild's next art and craft show and sale is 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 9 at the Waterlefe River Club. 

Kristen Simpson, the art teacher at Freedom Elementary, said the support of the guild has been wonderful. 

"Without their support, my lessons would be limited, and my students would not have as many opportunities to explore new art mediums and methods," Simpson said. "I am able to provide quality materials for the students to learn about and use. I can explore them to more art making opportunities and allow them to develop their skills."

The guild also donated a mobile art display board to Freedom Elementary to showcase student artwork at school. 

Courtesy image

Haile Middle School students' art experience have gone beyond the classroom.

Besides the art gallery in St. Petersburg, students also took a field trip to the Ringling Museum of Art Oct. 30. 

"A lot of the kids have never been to an art museum before at all, so giving them this enrichment opportunity is pretty significant," Gibson said. "In my eyes, being able to show them some of the amazing work that people have done in history and to be able to do that right in our backyard in Sarasota is very significant."

Gibson said the field trips were an eye opener for his students. He said they were "blown away" by seeing the amount of detail that could be created with blown glass art and to hear science terms being used in an art environment. 

The best moments for Gibson were the "a-ha" moments his students had while walking around and seeing "amazing pieces of work."