Art teacher Christina Brady is usually inundated with student inquiries after the completion of each art project.
The students all want to know the same thing, she said: “Do I have anything in the art walk?”
The students, usually those who’ve been taught by Brady several years, see it as an honor to be among those selected for the showcase and can get rather focused on that pursuit, she said.
The 16th Annual Elementary Art Walk is being held this year in conjunction with Holland Happening, April 27-30. The best of Oak Harbor Public Schools’ elementary student art projects will be on display at several businesses on Pioneer Way.
“(The Art Walk) started to thank the community for passing the levy, because that’s pretty much how art is paid for, and also to show the public what we were doing in the program,” said Brady, art specialist at Olympic View Elementary School.
In preparation for the walk, Brady said she is always on the lookout for stand-out projects, collecting them all year. The elementary schools divvy up the businesses that want to participate and then create art exhibits on the walls of those establishments.
Wall space along Pioneer can become prime real estate during the walk. At Olympic View alone, Brady tends to collect around 300 pieces a year, she said.
Brady selects artwork indiscriminately from among the many projects she leads each year.
“I do a lot of animals with that younger kids,” she said. “Things like crabs, chameleons, crocodiles, cats and dogs.”
In the older grades, Brady leads her students through dynamic landscape paintings, making use of transparencies to create layers. Other projects include robots, paper weaving and clay starfish creation to name a few.
A reception for the student artists — and any community members that would like to attend — will be held from 5-7 p.m. Thursday in the atrium area at Harborside Village in Oak Harbor.
Art Distribution:
Broadview Elementary: Northwest Cabinets, New Image Salon. Mr. Music, Res Care Home Care, Salon Lux, Queen Nails, Indulge Salon and Island Pioneer Realty.
Crescent Harbor Elementary: Unsize Me Yoga, Churchill Reality, Northwest Cabinets, Oak Tree Antiques, Riverside Cafe and Paint Your World.
Hillcrest Elementary: #665 Unit 1, #665 Unit 3, Dahl Photography & Frames, Skagit Cycle, Just Because, Organic Bliss, Garry Oak Gallery, Paint Your World, Allure and Popsies.
Oak Harbor Elementary: Crossfit, American Family Insurance, Fantastica, Collage, #749 Barber Shop, Red Boutique and Captured Moments.
Olympic View Elementary: Casual House, Northwest Cabinets, Posh Salon, Harborside Village, Bayview Embroidery N’ Print, Whidbey Wild Bird and Sweet Rice.
Hand-in-Hand Early Learning Center: Wind and Tide Books.
