First County Bank Foundation Supports Silvermine Art Partners

From the Silvermine Art Center: Silvermine Arts Center’s Outreach Education Program, Art Partners, has received a $2,500 grant from First County Bank Foundation, Inc. Art Partners serves 1,000 students in Norwalk and Stamford each year, and the multi-faceted project supported by this grant benefits first graders at Norwalk’s Columbus Magnet School.

“For the past six years, one of our signature programs has been the ‘Garden People’ sculptures at Fodor Farms in Norwalk,” said Silvermine Outreach Education Director Sophia Gevas. “Our Teaching Artist collaborated with classroom teachers, students, the City of Norwalk, and the Fodor Farm Community Garden to create an educational public art installation. While meeting reading and science curriculum requirements, nine 6-foot tall ‘Garden People’ (scarecrows) were painted and installed in and near the community gardens—colorful figures that ‘wore’ the students’ laminated poetry about the plants and vegetables. This tradition includes a public ceremony at Fodor Farm with the Mayor of Norwalk who congratulates the students, as they view their completed, installed works. We are grateful to First County Bank Foundation for their support of this dynamic Art Partners program.”

The program is tightly woven in to the science curriculum as well as the visual and language arts. Students learn about the garden plants and the role of bees, write poems based upon the plants, closely observe, and collaboratively draw and paint on the sculptures. Each component enhances an in-depth exploration of an essential theme developed at Columbus Magnet School: How do plants, animals, and people depend on each other? Students gain knowledge of gardening, farming, and the environment while they experience the joy of creating a public art installation.

This is the third year that this program has been adopted by the Columbus Magnet School’s first grade. Art Partners’ professional Teaching Artists have collaborated with classroom teachers and program directors since 1992 to provide programs for approximately 16,000 under-resourced students.