Pride in Place' art curriculum connects WFISD and MSU Museum of Art

The Wichita Falls Museum of Art at Midwestern State University and four teachers from the Wichita Falls Independent School District (WFISD) were recognized in a natinal art magazine for a project that integrated a sense of place into the WFISD's curriculum by studying local artists.

The collaborative project was highlighted in the November issue of School Arts magazine with a photo of the four WFISD teachers, Claire Ross, Audra Miller, Pam Day, and Carol Rose, with WFMA program director Mary Helen Maskill, artist Jeannette Heiberger, and Liz Langdon and Nancy Walkup of the University of North Texas.

Based on works in the museum's collection and artists who are grounded in Texas-Oklahoma culture, the teacers developed the "Pride in Place" curriculum guide. The teachers hope that by using local artists who have the common background of Texoma, they can inspire students to discover their own creative expressions. Students can see how artists in an environment much like their own used art to connect to the community. The work was funded by a grant from the Priddy Foundation.

"This is part of our mission - to educate the public," Maskill said. "Place-based education gives students and schools an opportunity to react to and improve their community."

The teachers will present about the curriculum at the annual meeting of the National Art Education Association in San Diego in March.

The collaboration culminated in two all-day teacher workshops led by the four art teachers, and included presentations by a number of the artists who were represented in the curriculum. The artists include Elizabeth Alford, David Bates, Joe Bravo, Marion Coleman, Wanda Ewalt, Quintin Gonzalez, [Jeannette] Heiberger, Luis Jimenez, Robert Rauschenberg, Ralph Stearns, Mary Stephens, and Karl Umlauf.