Alberton fifth graders explore Missoula museum

ALBERTON – The fifth graders of Alberton Elementary School got a cultural boost last week when they participated in the 27th annual Fifth Grade Art Experience in Missoula.

On Thursday, March 13, the kids went to the Missoula Art Museum to explore the collections inside. According to Jessie Baldwin, the art teacher at Alberton, apart from exploring the artwork, the kids got to meet an artist and get some hands on experience with art forms.

Baldwin said the trip gave the students the opportunity to learn about the museum. She wanted them to see museums as places where they could learn about and appreciate art.

After they finished at the museum the kids went to the Missoula Public Library to get a library card and learn more about the art they saw at the museum. Baldwin felt this part of the trip was a good way to introduce kids to using the library as an educational resource in a fun way.

The museum and library worked with each other to compliment the other’s activities. The librarians selected books about the museum’s theme for the students to read.

The featured collection the kids saw this year was all about prints. In classes leading up to the trip, Baldwin taught the kids about printmaking and helped them make their own print artwork. She liked to expose the kids to the different mediums they will learn about before the trip so they have a frame of reference for what they see in the museum.

Printmaking is an art form where a carving or relief is covered in ink to make pieces of art. She compared the process to using a copy machine to make multiple versions of a document.

“Sometimes you just make one copy, but print making is just an art process,” Baldwin said.

The kids had a great time at the museum. Baldwin said none of them had been to the Missoula Art Museum before. It was exciting because the students got to use a printing press to make their own prints, a resource unavailable to them in Alberton. When the group went to the library, many of the kids checked out books. Baldwin said they were excited by all the options they had.

“The exhibit was fantastic,” Baldwin said. “It was a wonderful class to bring to the museum. They were enthusiastic and really enjoyed themselves.”

The fifth graders were not the only ones who went to the museum. On Wednesday, March 12, Baldwin took a group of high school students to the Teen Open Studio, an attachment of the museum. The kids got to meet a local artist and work with them on their own pieces.

The students met with Patricia Thornton, a Missoula artist, who works with mixed-media collages. Baldwin said the artist was very inspiring to the students and they went home feeling successful about their own artwork.

“It was a really positive experience, going out of the school to make art and see art,” Baldwin said. “So many alternatives to the classroom as a venue for learning and experiencing.”

Baldwin felt the trips were a good experience for the students. She said it broadened their appreciation of the subject and gave them a venue outside the classroom.

“It helps them extend their thinking about where art is and where it fits into our society,” Baldwin said.

She was impressed with the students’ behavior during the trip. Baldwin said they represented the Alberton community and their school well by being well behaved.

The Fifth Grade Art Experience began on Feb. 18 and runs through the end of May. The Experience is put on by the Missoula Art Museum, Missoula Public Library, Missoula County schools and Art Associates of Missoula. According to Baldwin, fifth grade classes from around the area go to the museum throughout the time period.

Baldwin felt the program was very well done. She said the museum had energetic, engaging teachers on hand to teach the kids and answer any questions they had.

By the end, the kids were excited to go back and look around the museum and library more. Baldwin felt it was a positive experience and one she would happily do next year.