Art can be icky; still cool though

By Travina Coleman
Phoenix Staff Writer

Sat, May 17 2008

— Sara Moore of Muskogee said she like to look at anything set up in front of her favorite store, Dillard’s.
“It helps delay the inevitable spending of my husband’s money,” she said with a laugh.
Moore is referring to the more than 140 pieces of art done by students of the Whistle While You Work Art Company’s show that is being displayed today and Saturday in the court in front of Dillard’s and Viva’s in Arrowhead Mall.
“These are really well done,” Moore said. “I didn’t know kids did them at first.”
Gabrielle Little, 12, sixth-grader at Tony Goetz, is a student of Louise Bishop’s Whistle While You Work Art Company’s class for grades kindergarten through sixth.
“I like to draw and get my hands messy,” Little said.
Christian Rowan, 10, fifth-grader at Grant Foreman Elementary and Andy O’Dell, 9, third-grader at Creek Elementary, joined Little at their Monday afternoon art class at Tony Goetz Elementary.
“Gabrielle has been with me for four years so far,” Bishop said.
Bishop said she is bridging the gap left from educational cuts at public schools.
“There is a big demand for art,” she said. “I have so many students, I actually have to turn some away.”
Right now Bishop teaches her daily afternoon class in the cafeteria at Tony Goetz.
“If I had more space to accommodate more students, it would help with the demand,” she said.
Bishop earned her fine arts degree from Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, and has been a resident of Muskogee since she graduated Muskogee High School in 1973.
“I have been teaching for eight years,” Bishop said. “This art show is a good way for parents to see what their children are doing in class, and the kids are real proud of it.”
Bishop’s class is being introduced to the old master artists and new ones that may not be so well-known.
“I want my students to have a broad knowledge of the arts,” she said.
Paintings, drawings, sketches are just some of the mediums students used in the art show.
Bishop also teaches art at The Learning Tree.
“I have always loved art and kids,” she said. “This is perfect for me, I can’t imagine doing anything else.”

Reach Travina Coleman at 684-2901 or tcoleman@muskogeephoenix.com.

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