Local elementary students have a chance to attend after school art classes offered by University of Houston-Clear Lake’s Art School for Children and Young Adults at a free or greatly reduced rate, thanks to a grant from the Kinder Morgan Foundation.
The main goal for the grant funds is to host Art School programs at more area elementary school campuses with a high concentration of low-income students.
“Because we must charge a fee for our classes, the best use of these funds is to subsidize the cost or be able to offer it to children in Title I schools for free,” said Art School Director David Moya.
Schools designated as Title I receive financial assistance from the state because a certain percentage of the students have been identified as low-income and require supplemental funds to reach their educational goals, while the Kinder Morgan Foundation funds programs that promote the academic and artistic interests of young people.
The $5,000 grant has already enabled the funding for an art class at Bay Elementary in the Clear Creek School District.
“We are trying to reach the population of students who can’t afford the cost of the class. These funds pay for the materials and for the teacher’s time.”
The funds have a secondary purpose, Moya said. “With these funds, we can create more paid teaching opportunities for our undergraduate art education students,” he said. “Teaching these classes is a great opportunity to get more experience. When our students are in a class, they’re the teacher. They come up with the plans and they prepare the materials. In addition to the methods classes and the internships, this is one more option we can offer our students to help make them more competitive when they graduate.”
For more information about the Art School for Children and Young Adults, visit www.uhcl.edu/childrens-art-
