Project ARTstART, directed by Rich Deely, trains high school students, working with college mentors, to provide exhibit-based art lessons for elementary school students. By bringing high-quality, art appreciation classes and activities to the Claremont school system, we hope to inspire, promote understanding of art and highlight Claremont’s rich artistic history.
Launched in the fall of 2011, Project ARTstART recruits high school and college students as teachers and mentors. These “ARTstARTers” are trained as docents to offer multi-visit arts appreciation lessons to elementary students, in the classroom, and in local museum settings. “ARTstARTers” learn how to plan presentations that employ Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) and interact with art educators, artists, curators, and students from the Claremont Colleges.
ARTstART‘s roster now totals over seventy Claremont High School students and six college-age Community Curator Interns to enable ARTstART to serve 4-6th grade classes at Mountain View, Oakmont, Sumner, Sycamore and Vista del Valle elementary schools with student-planned and presented arts appreciation activities and field trips. In addition, ARTstARTers serve approximately 125 students a month with our AfterARTs Series of art-making workshops for students enrolled in CUSD Aftercare and hundreds more through community festivals and the monthly ARTStation drop in workshops at the museum’s Depot location.
An independent museum consultant with over twenty years’ work in the museum field, Rich Deely has worked as an educator in art, history, and science museums in New York, North Carolina, and California. Originally from New York City, Rich has BA degrees in both history and communications from the University of Notre Dame, and a master’s degree in Museum Education from Bank Street College of Education in Manhattan.
Project ARTstART is produced solely by the Claremont Museum of Art in partnership with the Claremont Unified School District (CUSD) and provides programming for students from eight participating schools — Chaparral, Condit, Mountain View, Oakmont, Sumner, Sycamore, and Vista del Valle Elementary Schools, along with Claremont High School. The program is funded by generous donations from the Los Angeles County Arts Commission; Claremont Lincoln University; the City of Claremont Community-Based Organization (CBO) grant; the Spearman Charitable Foundation; the Claremont Educational Foundation Partnership Grant (CEF); Kiwanis Club of Claremont; Scripps College Fine Arts Foundation; as well as Board members and many dedicated community donors.
ArtStART Photos
2016-17 Photo Gallery | 2015-16 Photo Gallery | 2014-15 Photo Gallery | 2013-14 Photo Gallery
Related Links
- August 2018 – Growing with the Program: ARTstART Veterans Take a Bow
- May 10, 2016 – StART It Up with ART in the Park
- May 12, 2015 – StART It Up with Art in the Park
- March 3, 2014 – Oakmont students experience the sculpture of Betty Davenport Ford with Project ARTstART
- May 29, 2012 – Student Exhibition highlights achievements of Project ARTstART