Arts in Education

As a followup to my post a while back 'But what's it good for?' the Colorado Council on the Arts has recently put out a study on the importance of the arts in education. The arts being under attack in public schools is hardly a new thing, but I had no idea it was so bad in Colorado, having been cut from $1.2 million in 2002 to $200,000 in 2004.

And ironically, at the same time this is going on, employers are asking for more creative, innovative workers...
http://www.coloarts.org/programs/education/study/index.htm

There's also a great resource at Keep Arts in Schools.
http://www.keepartsinschools.org/

As we go through these tough economic times, we need to remember the importance of the arts to our children who will take us into the future.

Great resource for artists

I discovered this site today during an aimless surfing session. It's for an organization called Self Employment in the Arts

Lots of good info and resources for artists trying to make their way in the business world. They also have conferences several times a year around the country.

Cold weather potters

I read a post over on Deborah Woods' blog about throwing in cold weather and it got me wondering....

She said she uses a crock pot in cold weather to keep her throwing water warm so her hands don't freeze, which I actually think is kinda brilliant.

Are there any others out there that use warm/hot water in cold weather? I guess whats bothering me is that I've actually tried it a few times, sometimes by accident, pushing the lever more toward warm, sometimes on purpose when it was cold. It took me a while to put it together, but I seemed to have a lot of trouble throwing with warm water. When I mentioned it to a more experienced potter, they said 'Oh, yeah, you don't want to throw with warm water, always use cold.'

For you warm water throwers, do you have challenges? Or is it something I'd eventually adjust to? I'd also imagine it's probably dependent on the clay body.

I've got to get back into the studio soon.... WAY too much time to think lately.....

Annual Pullen Art Center Fair

Although I was unable to participate, I was able to get out and see the annual Art and Craft fair at Pullen Art Center on Saturday. It was a gorgeous day, sunny and warm with a nice breeze.
There was jewelry, fabric, paintings, prints, beads, paper arts, and of course pottery.

It was good to see everyone from the center, and all their creations. I find it's always a bit disappointing sometimes to see everyone's work in progress and then miss out seeing the finished work when they pick it up and take it home.

I did go inside to rest at one point and overheard many nice comments about the current Circle of Eight exhibit in the lobby gallery. Beautiful work there. I tried to take some pictures before the accident, but the glass fronted cases made it difficult to get decent images. If you're in the Raleigh area, definitely go check it out.

There's a 'participant's work' show in November, so I hope to get a piece or two of my saggar work into that.