Founders Story – Art Integration Education

Manifestation is the process or evolution of bringing desires to life. My manifestation with the arts began in my childhood at the age of 8. Like many creatives, hearing disparaging remarks about supporting myself with the Arts was a powerful temporary deterrent. Although I did not pursue the arts in a traditional sense, I have relied on my innate creative abilities throughout my professional and personal growth.

When it came time to apply for college, I participated in the requisite “interest questionnaire” administered at community colleges. None of the suggestions resonated with me. Life unfolded with marriage, work, and family. Then an unanticipated sabbatical from work to care for a loved one dealing with Leukemia put life on hold.

Opportunity & Purpose

Being a stay-at-home mother was one of the most difficult roles I have ever had, compounded by witnessing your child battle Leukemia for three years. Those three years were a lesson in patience, faith, self-reflection, and reconnecting with what brings me fulfillment, aside from being a mother. Little did I know my reconnecting with my passion for art would spark creativity in my two children as we spent many afternoons drawing and painting, resulting with my son asking for his very own Art Exhibit. You can imagine my excitement in making that dream come true! complete with program lovingly crafted by Dad, catering (potluck), and framing of artwork ala our wonderful family friend Linda Pardew. The guest list of family, neighbors, and clinical staff were blown away by the exceptional pieces and how enthusiastic our son was in talking about his artwork. Magic!

The self-reflection and self-discovery moments invited deeper thinking about my purpose. Ensuring my children received a quality education was paramount, which brought me to the question…what is a quality education? That timeless adage “Education is the key to your future” is a phrase that many of us have heard, yet we haven’t scrutinized the disparity in education between social classes. Historically, compulsory public education was structured for certain learning styles that did not accommodate visual or kinesthetic learners, which unfortunately contributed to missed opportunities and a faltering public education contributing to a decline in academic performance nationally. This is seen and felt more by children in under-sourced communities. What I learned as a psychology major conducting research on the arts and their place in education, is that standardized testing or intelligence tests do not identify gifted children with creative talents. Creative giftedness is considered as important if not more than intelligence tests as explained by researchers Edith Cobb and E. Paul Torrance, to name a few.

Community Involvement Leads to Renewed Purpose

I know I was fortunate to be a part of my children’s live’s, including becoming involved in the Parent-Teacher Club. While I chaired my share of programs, there was one opportunity that allowed me to leverage my professional background in drafting, computer graphics, desktop publishing, and art. Creating leadership opportunities for children in 4th and 5th grades as they assumed the roles of journalist, photographer, editor, and graphic artist, to creating an award winning art curriculum for elementary grade students as the Fine Arts Program Director. The Fine Arts program was realized through an army of parents, collaborative administration, and community business members who collectively made the program into a legacy program. At the time, then Principal, Ms. Denise Hohn did something bold, she asked a parent without a teaching credential to represent her school at the Castro Valley Unified School District’s Visual Arts Performing Arts (VAPA) initiative, a three year long – grant funded program, with teachers from each of the nine elementary schools receiving art training from a professional artist to then take back to their respective campuses. This initiative was instrumental in establishing a comprehensive education for Castro Valley Unified School District children. However, after approximately five months into the school district VAPA program, our campus diverged from the canned program the school district adopted. Fortunately for the families of Palomares Elementary, their Principal, Ms. Hohn allowed me to forge a program that would go on to become truly interdisciplinary and inclusive of all artists, both classical and contemporary. Palomares was the only elementary school out of nine who garnered the California Distinguished School and National Blue Ribbon Award. As a researcher, I’m left wondering, was our unique art curriculum the variable contributing to success? The years that I spent working with the students, administration, teachers, and parents were the happiest I’d been in my professional life. This was my purpose!

Fast Forward to the Future

When I was finally able to wrap my mind around envisioning an art program with impact, I had to think long and hard about the path I would take. I decided on Psychology as it married two of my loves – science and understanding the human condition. I am so glad I chose Psychology! understanding how a child is molded biologically and environmentally was profound as a mother and educator. The material, hands-on experiments, and research into the benefits of the arts and how children learn best to prepare them for the 21st Century provided a glimpse into perspective from the child, parent, and stakeholders, to proper design of programming that meets core standards and measurement outcomes. The Arts are the perfect non-threatening, effective, and practical way of learning about self, culture, history, geography, science, and nature. Research has revealed that the Arts in all modalities are one of the most powerful positive interventions that is a human necessity and thriving nation. I’m blessed to do what I love! More importantly, share my passion for the arts with brilliant scholars eager to learn the building blocks to expressing their own creative ideas.

Testimonials

“Ginny (Virginia) has been instrumental in the development of a school wide Fine Arts program. She re-energized the FAME program by organizing training for parent volunteers, coordinating the Fine Arts schedule for classroom lessons, and worked with staff to create lessons in addition to the FAME lessons that taught a variety of artists and composers. Ginny also represents Palomares on the VAPA committee and coordinated the Spotlight on the Arts. Ginny’s efforts extended into the business community. She developed several partnerships that support the Fine Arts program at Palomares by either a donation of materials and/or monies. Ginny developed the Palomares Website that is used as a communication tool for our parent community as well as prospective families. The school has received numerous compliments about the appeal and clarity of the website.”

Ms. Denise Hohn

Principal, Palomares Elementary

“Virginia’s efforts to bring the arts to life for the Palomares Elementary School students directly and positively impacted their understanding in other subjects from math to science and beyond. It was a joy to witness the children’s excited anticipation for their monthly art lessons, all of which were conducted during regular curriculum hours and tied to state instruction guidelines and in collaboration with our teachers. I have no doubt that this excellent program contributed to an improved performance in our student’s academic achievements and the school being recognized as a California Distinguished school in 2004, and National Blue Ribbon School in 2005.”

Melodie Huynh (Stibich)

Principal, Palomares Elementary

Castro Valley Unified School District

“WOW! Your legacy lives on at Palomares…thank you for all you did for our students and school during your time here.”

Ms. Jennifer Tomita

Palomares Principal

“I had the pleasure of meeting and working with Virginia when she hired me to conduct painting workshops for students at Palomares Elementary School in Castro Valley…Working with Virginia was a pleasant and seamless experience. She organized the funding, materials, and all the support needed to execute an effective workshop…all I had to do was show up and teach! The students’ enjoyed the experience, learned a lot about how art is made, and was abundantly clear that both students and staff greatly respected Virginia’s leadership. The work from the workshop was later displayed for students and parents, declaring its importance in the classroom at equal level with other studies. Virginia is passionate about the arts and their necessary place in education of the whole person. It is clear that she is able to translate that passion into action.”

Ms. Jen Norton

Professional Fine Artist & Illustrator

“Ms. Lambert is a resourceful, creative, and solution-oriented person who was frequently able to come up with new and innovative approaches to her projects. Without Virginia’s vision, the Fine Arts Program would not be the phenomenal learning opportunity for our students that it is today.”

Ms. Nancy Tavares

Palomares Secretary

“Virginia’s vision to provide periodic fine art lessons to all students of Palomares Elementary led her to single-handedly form the Fine Arts Committee, gain funding for it, and operate it with parent docents. In addition, it was her passion for the arts that prompted her to gain approval from the school administration to have one day devoted to the teaching of art to the students. This day became known as the Annual Fine Arts Festival. The success of her endeavors are largely due to her positive and motivating influence on those around her as well as her ability to lead by example. She is a team player who is an excellent communicator, listener, and collaborator. Virginia’s pleasant demeanor combined with her creative focus are among her many assets.”

Ms. Noriko G. Kong

Palomares Fine Arts Co-Chair

Virginia’s Art Portfolio (sample)

I’ve exhibited at the Adobe Art Gallery in Castro Valley, CA., and my Starry Sky Constellation has been used by the Cognitive Development (CODE) Laboratory at California State University, East Bay in their National Science Foundation (NSF) funded research on Bias.