Our Founder Reviews Our First Year
If you are reading this, you probably know me, and you love art and teaching art to kids. We know kids that have art in their curriculum do better in all their subjects. It teaches them to be creative thinkers.
How It All Began
The concept of Golden Road Arts began when I taught new graduating teachers a one-night, three-hour art class at a local university for several years to help them with projects for their classrooms. I was their only art class. These inexperienced young women and men were going out into the world with few resources for teaching art; they were magically supposed to figure it out. There are standards for teaching art to kids but no lesson plans.
I wanted to give teachers more resources, and after 40 years of volunteering in classrooms teaching art, I have the experience to help out. There is a lot of stuff on the internet, but nothing seems to be genuinely free. It says free, but eventually, teachers are asked for dollars. I wanted my website to be truly free. Teaching art to 30 kids is a lot different than teaching it to two or three. It takes a little preplanning, and I have lots of tips to make it easier. We have made 15 videos so far that meet the state guidelines with curriculums and downloadable support materials.
The name Golden Road Arts came from the fact that our office and studio is on Golden Road. I also have a mascot, Artey the Art Bear, that has been with me since my grandkids were little. He looks pretty good for his age and pops up in some of the videos.
Thank You to Those That Help Create Our Free Online Art Lessons
To get Golden Road Arts moving forward, I shamelessly asked many people I knew who might help. My brother is a videographer and digital storyteller; he lives in Eugene but drives up to Hillsboro almost every week to help film the videos. I was so lucky to know a business coach Bonnie Kahn and a marketing company, Pasternak Marketing. We snagged my 18-year-old granddaughter to do social media and found an attorney who used to be an art teacher that wanted a part-time job while she went back to school to get a master’s in social work. We are a dedicated group and so passionate about the videos we are making. We plan to receive a grant to dub them in Spanish. We have received three small grants so far, which is impressive for a brand new non-profit.
Help Kids Discover their Creative Side at Golden Road Arts
This has been a challenging year for everyone. Once we accepted that things would be different, we shifted gears making many videos that used paper, crayons, markers, and simple supplies found around most houses. We partnered with other groups and gathered community support from all areas. Golden Road Arts became a non-profit in January of 2020. Our EIN is 84-4152440.
Explore our website to learn more about Golden Road Arts and take a look at some of our free video art lessons for kids. For more information or to make a donation please contact us online or call us at (503) 718-7097.
