OCAF has always been in the business of raising money to promote the arts in Orcutt-area schools. This summer the nonprofit decided to take a different approach and use the arts to fund the arts. OCAF will introduce Orcutt Arts Academy as a way to provide students with an advanced art experience while also raising funds to help OCAF bring other arts opportunities to Orcutt schools.
Orcutt Arts Academy is a premier arts program for children entering first through sixth grades and is open to students throughout the Santa Maria Valley. The academy will offer four one-week sessions, giving each student a chance to experience different mediums of art.
Heather Rubalcava, executive director of OCAF, said the academy will go beyond being just a place for children to come and paint and draw. The goal is more than just finishing a project to take home. Instead, the students focus on learning art skills.
“We’re going to be focused on the process not the product. We’re teaching the fundamentals, the basics,” Rubalava said.
Master artists have been contracted through Children’s Creative Project to teach the half-day programs. Artists include Katie Mack-Montenegro, Monique L. Segura, Selyn Barrette, Stephanie Krouse, and Tommy Hacker. They will provide students with a solid understanding of the basics of painting and drawing, dance, 3-D Art, and theater disciplines.
John Hood, who is also on the OCAF board, said the artists are all local, providing another opportunity for OCAF to support the arts.
“I think it’s really awesome that all of the artists are local so we’re able to provide job opportunities to local artists who will be teaching our students, so it’s a win-win,” Hood said.
He said the board hopes to provide the academy year-round.
“Other places have something like this—Santa Barbara, San Luis Obispo—and we thought, why not have a high caliber program here that reaches out to not just Orcutt but the entire Santa Maria Valley,” Hood said.
Orcutt Arts Academy is being offered in collaboration with Children’s Creative Project, Santa Maria Arts Council, Santa Barbara County Education Office, and Campus Connection. The partnership with Campus Connection was especially strategic, Rubalcava said, because Campus Connection will provide the supervision and care for students so the artists can concentrate on teaching.
“So parents can know that their child is safe, yet the artists don’t have to split their time between supervising and teaching. They can concentrate on teaching art,” she said.
To further enhance the learning experience, class sizes will be limited. Every aspect of the academy, which was discussed for about a year, was designed to maximize the child’s understanding of the fundamentals of each artistic genre and establish a genuine interest in the arts.
“The goal is that at the end of the week, the child will say, ‘I want to do this. I want to make this a part of my life’,” Rubalcava said.
OCAF is excited about presenting the opportunity to students and about its role in providing an experience in arts, which is often one of the first things taken away from schools.
“When you listen to the news about education, you hear a lot about budget cuts and things being taken from schools. And here, with this, we’re giving back to the schools,” Rubalcava said.
Arts Editor Shelly Cone can be reached at scone@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in May 19-26, 2011.