8602

SENATE RESOLUTION

2001-8602

By Senators Shin, McAuliffe and Costa

WHEREAS, Artistic endeavor is an important way for young people to develop creativity, their minds, and self-esteem; and

WHEREAS, Students from the 4th and 5th grade multiaged classroom of Martha Lake Elementary School demonstrated exceptional artistic development by designing a Washington State flag to celebrate the arts for the Year 2000 Youth Art Month; and

WHEREAS, Martha Lake students were the only elementary entries in the contest, all other entries being from middle and high school art classes; and

WHEREAS, The students worked on the art project for seven hours over a period of a week, creating twelve three foot by five foot sized paper quilts, four of which were chosen to be made into a Washington State flag; and

WHEREAS, The students whose art was chosen included Tamara LaGrandeur, John Ritzman, Katriina Schaefer, and Katherine Shotwell; and

WHEREAS, Instructor Kay Kite demonstrated leadership and devotion by encouraging her students to excel in the arts through structuring class time, artistic exercises, and classroom discussions; and

WHEREAS, Each paper quilt included four separate collages representing the four arts of dance, drama, music, and visual art, for a total of forty-eight collages; and

WHEREAS, The students performed cutting exercises, practiced drawing to music, drawing with their eyes closed, and performed other exercises to loosen up and discover their playful inner artist; and

WHEREAS, The students talked about color choices and how Henri Matisse, when doing his Jazz series of colorful collages and other works, attached significance to the colors he used; and

WHEREAS, The students talked about the importance of keeping the shapes bold and simple as they would be seen by people walking and driving, not by people standing as in a gallery; and

WHEREAS, The students used strong colors so that the work would have good contrast because it would be seen at a distance hanging on poles in front of a building or from a ceiling; and

WHEREAS, The students were confident that their art would be selected; and

WHEREAS, Out of the fifty flags produced nationally, Martha Lake Elementary School's art flag was one of only four that were chosen to go on tour, and flew for the month of March in Washington State, then in April at the National Art Education Association's annual conference and at the National Art Material Trade Association convention in Anaheim, California, and finally was flown at the Smithsonian Institute's Postal Museum to celebrate the importance of the arts in Washington, D.C.;

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the Washington State Senate recognize instructor Kay Kite and all members of the 4th and 5th grade multiaged classroom of Martha Lake Elementary School for demonstrating exceptional artistic development in winning the Washington Art Educators Association's Youth Art Month 2000; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be immediately transmitted by the Secretary of the Senate to Martha Lake Elementary School, to Instructor Kay Kite, and to each member of the 4th and 5th grade multiaged classroom of Martha Lake Elementary School.