ARTS IN SCHOOLS
TC Arts Council’s Arts In Schools Program
Transylvania Community Arts Council (TC Arts) feels that arts programs are essential to the intellectual and personal growth of every young person. Whether in schools or communities, the arts help young people develop self-confidence, higher order thinking skills, discipline, interpersonal skills, academic success, and creativity. We partner with Transylvania County Schools to present Arts In Schools at the nine public schools with Artist in Residence Programs and the Take Art to Heart Program.
Artist In Residence
TC Arts works with Transylvania County Schools to place local and regional artists in the schools for week-long residencies with students, who are given a hands-on, sequential arts experience. The current roster consists of about a dozen artists and encompasses everything from sculpture to drama and pottery, to creative writing and mask-making, visual arts to music, photography and creative movement, to film and much more.
Take Art to Heart
Lead by Cindy Rehm, a lifelong Art Educator, Administrator and Artist, elementary school students create and respond to art through a variety of subject matter, content, and ideas.
The presentations are engaging and interactive incorporating fine artworks, literature and video. There is always an opportunity for students to demonstrate their learning by creating a work of art that is connected to the content.
“Take Art to Heart is a vital program”, says teacher Jennifer Cunniff. “First, it’s wonderful that members of the community care enough to share their time. Our Take Art to Heart instructor is a retired teacher who the students adore. She uses art to teach comparison and contrast, counting and new vocabulary. I hope and pray that this program will always be in the schools.”
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“The art teacher makes art come alive,” says Louise Stroupe of Brevard Elementary. “Students look forward to it. They learn about art and math; the effects of light; the mood of a picture; about artists’ lives, where they lived; where they were in that point of time. They learn a new awareness and perspective on things. It’s a whole new social studies.”
Student Art Show
Every spring TC Arts and Transylvania County Schools, along with their art teachers, present the Transylvania County Student Art Show in order to recognize talented young artists and to allow them the opportunity to participate in the cultural landscape of our community.
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Each year the show features more than 200 works of art by students enrolled in an art class at their school. Kindergarten through senior high school students exhibit an extraordinary and enjoyable variety of work focusing on different subject matter and using many kinds of materials.
​Why Arts Programming is Essential for Young Students
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Art helps students make new connections and think “outside the box.”
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Expression in the arts helps students develop cognitive and physical skills.
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Each art form brings special ways of perceiving the world, utilizing critical thinking and problem solving skills.
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The arts help transform the school environment to one of discovery and learning.
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Art criticism helps students develop observation and analytical skills that can be transferred to other areas of study.
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The arts are essential to an understanding of personal, local, national and global cultures, past and present.
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