Grant brings Chinese culture to Bartlett students

Arts in Bartlett, Target, the village of Bartlett, Bartlett Elementary School, Color My World Children’s Art Studio, and parent volunteers partnered to share the arts and culture of Bartlett’s Sister City, Miaoli, Taiwan.

A $2,000 Target grant to Arts in Bartlett provided materials and the services of Kathryn Benton, multicultural teaching artist at Color My World Children’s Art Studio at the Bartlett Center for the Arts, to teach 22 workshops for the 600 students at Bartlett Elementary School focusing on Taiwanese and Chinese arts.

Benton used Chinese folk tales, Taiwanese music, and a display of treasures, clothing, and artifacts brought back by the Bartlett International Chorus from their 2010 concert tour in Taiwan to establish Miaoli as Bartlett’s Sister City.

The students’ art project was painting dancing parade dragons. Jim and Mei Lin, members of Arts in Bartlett and the Chinese Fine Arts Society, also visited the school and shared Chinese language lessons and calligraphy demonstrations.

Parent volunteers and others assisted the students.

“My teaching assistant, Morgan Malloy, and volunteers Mary Ann Bilski and Heidi Barker were invaluable in helping prepare for such a large project,” Benton said.

“The Target grant workshop was such a wonderful experience for our students to learn about Bartlett’s Sister City in Taiwan,” said Karen Mink, principal.

“In the busyness of teaching reading, writing and math, it was a welcome break to open our students’ eyes to the world around them.”

The students were also invited to the follow-up Chinese New Year Arty Party for the community in Arts in Bartlett’s Center for the Arts, 118 W. Bartlett Ave. For information on the Color My World Children’s Art Studio, contact Kathryn Benton at Kathryn@colormyworldarts.com or call (224) 208-5707.

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