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Words by Stacey Bowers / Photography by Alex Kent
- May 8, 2018
- 3 min
The Right Steps: Dance Transforms at Mabelvale Middle
Inside the portable classroom that serves as a dance studio at Mabelvale Magnet Middle School in southwest Little Rock, Kimeka Williams’ advanced dance students buzz with excitement. Today they’re unpacking a new set of jazz shoes that Ms. Williams acquired through Thea’s Art Closet, a program of the Thea Foundation that provides arts materials to classrooms across the state. Energetic, smiling teenagers stretch and move independently in front of the floor-to-ceiling mirrors,

Words by Stacey Bowers / Photography by Alex Kent
- Jan 12, 2018
- 3 min
Creative Chemistry: Sylvan Hills Teachers Mix Science with Art
Under a colorful schoolroom ceiling, with a hand-painted periodic table of elements radiating rainbow overhead, close to three dozen high school students hover in groups around laboratory stations. Mr. Johnson’s chemistry class at Sylvan Hills High School in Sherwood, Ark., normally isn’t this crowded. Today, Ms. Brannen’s art students have joined the science students for a lesson on how art and chemistry collide. “Art interacts with all subject matter,” Brannen says. “For me

Words by Stacey Bowers / Photography by Alex Kent
- Nov 20, 2017
- 4 min
Self-Constructive: Working with Power Tools Builds Confidence in Parkview Students
The stage at Parkview Arts and Science Magnet High School is abuzz two weeks before the opening of the school’s fall play, Arsenic and Old Lace. Stage left, on a French-inspired settee, a student uses a needle and thread to touch up seams in a costume. Stage right, another student brushes gold paint onto a false wall to create the illusion of patterned wallpaper. Near the middle of the stage, a group of young men takes down a large rectangle of wood painted to resemble a wind

Words by Stacey Bowers / Photography by Katie
- Nov 14, 2017
- 3 min
Laying a Foundation: Local Architect Supported Career with Art
As a teen, Caleb Tyson knew exactly what career he wanted. When he graduated from Jacksonville High School in 2009, he planned to go to college and study to be an architect. “Knowing that I wanted to be an architect and knowing the financial baggage that comes with that, I knew it was going to be difficult to pay for it all,” he says. “I knew that I was going to have to take it one year at a time, and that’s what I did… Since I was paying for most of my college out of pocket,

Words by Stacey Bowers / Photography by Mark
- Mar 23, 2017
- 2 min
Not Just Child's Play: Creative Collaboration in the Classroom
A group of third graders huddles around a table at Seventh Street Elementary School, their arms weaving over each other and brows furrowed as they thoughtfully stack Legos. “Who knows how to build a house?” one asks. “I do!” another shouts. They’re collaborating to build a set with the plastic bricks, which they’ll use to film a stop motion animation starring Lego characters in a story the students wrote. Each student wrote his own film, their teacher, Melinda Bissett, says,

Words by Stacey Bowers / Photography by Mark
- Feb 22, 2017
- 2 min
Making School a Magical Place to Be
Take a stroll through White Hall High School, and you’ll see it couldn’t be more aptly named. The walls are stark and bare, unless it’s almost the Chinese New Year and you’re in Mr. Bowman’s wing. Near his art room, the walls come alive with colorful paper dragons, all part of a project funded by Thea’s Art Closet. “I believe it is important to celebrate with other cultures, and it gives my students an opportunity to try a different form of art, “ Bowman said about the appeal

Words by Stacey Bowers / Photography by Kat Wilson
- Sep 1, 2016
- 3 min
Art, The Unifier: Rogers Heritage High School Finds Funds to Further an Arts Program that Draws on A
Together, Nakia Brener and Allen Sullivan, both teachers at Rogers Heritage High School in Rogers, Ark., have posted six projects to DonorsChoose.org appealing for supplies to teach arts-related material to their students. Five of those projects received half of their funding from Thea Foundation through Thea’s Art Closet, whose mission is to fill in the gaps where schools lack or don’t prioritize funding for arts materials. “I am very fortunate to have a school district and
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