GIG HARBOR, Wash. — Fifteen years ago Marla Morgan was a mom who wanted her own kids to have more art in school. Today, she leads Peninsula Hands On Art, a nonprofit that provides art instruction to more than 4,000 students in Pierce County each year.
Reaching every elementary student in the Peninsula School District, it is the program's foundational belief that students across all socioeconomic backgrounds should have the same educational opportunity and ability to access artist quality materials and art education.
Here is how it works: Students get four art projects a year taught by local artists (via film) and presented in the classroom by trained parent volunteers. The art lessons happen during the school day as opposed to after school.
"If you fund an art program that's provided as an after-school program, you typically get kids who already have an interest in art. And their parents have the ability to pick them up from school. Art needs to be accessible to all students. So when we are given classroom time, getting those kids who may never get to a museum or hear the word Picasso – they're the ones we're after," Morgan said.
Peninsula Hands on Art provides all the art supplies and training materials at no cost to the schools, thanks to donations from organizations, businesses, and others in the community.
Afterward, students get to take home an original piece of art and a greater understanding of visual arts in culture and history.