Alameda Education Foundation (AEF) has announced the addition of three new artists to their popular Art Changes program: poet Shanti Lair-Croom [1] and painters Alex D. da Silva and Bill Jeng.
[2]AEF’s Art Changes [3] program offers an accessible way for elementary school teachers to explore visual and literary art with their students and to expose them to a wide array of multicultural art and artists. Art Changes offers a video demonstration by featured artists and a student project based on each artist’s work.
This year’s theme, “This is My Story,” is interwoven into each of the artist’s videos:
- Shanti Lair-Croom [4] is a poet and coordinator in the AUSD Office of Equity. Her autobiographical poem shines with vivid imaging and positive emotion, inspiring students to tell their own stories through poetry.
- Alex D. da Silva [5]’s abstract painting of Alameda shows our history from the Ohlone to the Navy base and inspires students to paint their own Alameda stories.
- Bill Jeng [6] took strength during the pandemic by creating Lion Dance painting. In his lesson, children learn how to paint masks to show their strengths.
Art Changes supports arts education standards and provides an additional way for students to explore topics through art. It supports social-emotional health and self-empowerment, and provides representation and exposure to multicultural artists.