Local artists give Tahoe Valley students a special day of art

Kids reached their inner Vincent Van Gogh and Jackson Pollock this week at Tahoe Valley Elementary School during special day of BATS, Bringing Art to Schools.

Third, fourth and fifth graders were given a treat by three local artists who gave their time to help the kids get created through paint and mosaics.

Coco Foy is a South Lake Tahoe artist who has a studio in her home. She specializes in mixed media, painting and sculpture. Her students created a mural by using pine needles dipped in paint and splattering it over a poster. Letters spelling the words "Tahoe" and "Fun" were placed on the paper, then the splattering went all over the surface, revealing the words once the letters were lifted off the paper.

Charlette Castillo, a 2003 South Tahoe High graduate, taught her students how to create wearable art with ocean inspired stencils. Castillo has a local painting studio and specializes in oils.

Ashley Pfister works at LTCC in the ceramics department. While she specializes in sculpting she also enjoys painting. Pfister's group created hanging mosaic art by gluing different types of dried beans onto clear plastic plates.

The art program was at the school because of funding through Soroptimists of Tahoe Sierra, Tahoe Valley PTA and through a BATS grants.

"This is an amazing opportunity for our students," said Principal Christina Grubbs. "They are being mentored by community artists who are sharing the joy of art."

According to BATS volunteer Sally Thiele, Soroptimists started the student's program years ago because of the lack of art education in local schools. She wrote a grant with Joy Rogers to fund the day's program. They were joined by several Soroptimist club members who helped the kids with their art projects.