Like Putty in Their Hands

Kathy Neprud takes the clay pot she has just finished making, still soft and moist, and tears it apart piece by piece.

Her audience is mesmerized. Some sitting on the floor, some lying down, the 25 first- and second-graders at Blanche Reynolds Elementary School in Ventura form a large circle around Neprud, their eyes fixed on her. The pieces of clay fall on the floor, one by one.

“But the memory of the clay pot is in each of the pieces of clay,” Neprud reassures the youngsters.

Neprud is telling, and acting out, an old Native American story about Old Clay Woman, who brought the art of pottery to an ancient village. Neprud kneads the clay back together into one big lump and hands a small piece to each one of the students.

Now it’s the youngsters’ turn to make their own pots.

Neprud is one of two dozen professional artists beginning the spring sessions of the Artists-in-the-Classroom program throughout Ventura County.

In the joint venture between the Ventura Unified School District and the Ventura County Superintendent of Schools Office, local artists share their skills with elementary and middle school students.

And in many cases, the 270 eight-week sessions in arts--ranging from papermaking to painting, sculpture, mime, batik, music, dance, Japanese calligraphy and sand painting--fill gaps left by the budget-cutting ax.

“Art programs have been slashed,” teacher Lisa Hall said.

Teachers have been forced to learn some art skills, but the result is not the same, Hall said. “I am not an artist. I have gotten to see kids have her [Neprud] as a teacher from kindergarten through second grade and they really learn. She teaches art as a skill.”

Brian Bemel, who runs the program for the Ventura Unified School District, agreed.

“There is so much emphasis on basics and the three Rs--reading, writing and arithmetic,” Bemel said. “Art is a basic skill too. Art is the fourth ‘R.’ ”

During first period at Bernice Curren Elementary School in Oxnard, first-graders sit at low tables, their eyes fixed on the bowls in front of them, each one filled with brightly colored sand--blue, turquoise, red, orange, purple, green, brown and black.

Sand artist Daniel Long--or “Mr. Sandman” as the students prefer to call him--is showing the students how to create a sand landscape in a small glass jar. Pouring brown sand on the sides of the jar, he makes three hills. Next he pours in a layer of blue sand--the sea. Long adds soil in the center of the jar to fix the sand in place. He adds some islands, the sky, some more soil and the lid. Done.

By the end of the period, after some sand spills and some fidgeting, each student in the class has a sand landscape they can call their own.

“This is wonderful for self-esteem,” said teacher Marianne Carl. “How often do you paint with sand? Some of the kids who have trouble with academics had big smiles today.”

Artists-in-the-Classroom, which is funded mainly through PTAs, is in its sixth year, Bemel said. “It keeps growing every year, which is a testament to the need for arts education.”

Five minutes into recess, as Neprud is packing up, 6-year-old Amanda Ramirez is still on the classroom floor, her tiny hands squeezing a ball of clay. On a piece of cloth in front of her three small pots are finished--for now.

Next Monday, Neprud will be back to teach the students how to polish the pots. And the following week, the pots will bake in a driftwood fire.

“The best part of Artists-in-the-Classroom is that it involves people who love what they do and share it with the kids,” Neprud said. “The kids pick up on that.”