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All out for art
New Art in Action Auxiliary to hold first benefit

by Jane Knoerle

Art in Action Auxiliary, a small group of women who think big, is holding its first fundraiser, Atelier d'Artistes, on Monday, March 10. The event begins at 10 a.m. at the Sharon Heights Golf and Country Club.

The new auxiliary was founded in September to support Art in Action, which has been bringing art programs to children in the Bay Area since 1982.

The benefit's theme — artists' workshop — will be carried out with local artists setting up their easels in the clubhouse. There will be an art marketplace featuring handmade articles, such as jewelry and leather handbags, plus art books from Kepler's and a silent auction.

The artists will join guests for a noon luncheon in the club ballroom. After lunch, artist Laura Regan of Woodside, nationally known for her contemporary wildlife paintings, will be the featured speaker.

New auxiliary

Dorothea Nawas of Atherton is benefit chairman and heads the auxiliary made up of 18 women, mostly Atherton residents.

The auxiliary was formed after Art in Action founder Judy Sleeth was advised that her nonprofit organization needs an auxiliary. Ms. Sleeth asked Ms. Nawas to help make it happen. (They knew each other from running the Castilleja School snack bar.)

Ms. Nawas called on friends, many of whom were familiar with Art in Action from their children's schools, especially Phillips Brooks. She recruited local movers and shakers who knew their way around auctions and fundraisers, mostly involving their children's schools.

"We only had six months to pull it off (the benefit). We've had tremendous support," says Ms. Nawas.

Artists taking part in the event are Melinda Cootsona of Menlo Park; Kim Holl and Pam Priest Naeve of Portola Valley; Felicia Forte of San Francisco; Dinah Cross James of Napa Valley; Claudia Marshall of Half Moon Bay; and Julia Munger Seelos, who is associated with the Portola Art Gallery at the Allied Arts Guild in Menlo Park.

Kepler's Books of Menlo Park and Jo Malone of Neiman Marcus, Palo Alto, are among the vendors.

Two hundred guests are expected to attend the event, with tickets going for $75 each. Auxiliary members are hoping the benefit will become a yearly event. For tickets, call Leighna at 566-8339. For more information, call Dolly Shalvoy at 365-1435.

Beginnings

Twenty-six years ago Judy Sleeth of Atherton launched Art in Action as a volunteer project for her daughter's kindergarten class at Laurel School in Menlo Park.

Ms. Sleeth was concerned because the school district had cut art programs as a post-Proposition 13 budget measure. As one who had taught art history, she believed art education was a vital means of enriching learning. She still does.

"Art is important in general education, the rounding of the whole person," she says. Studies show art instruction strengthens skills in problem-solving, creativity, analysis and eye-hand coordination.

The first schools to use Art in Action were Laurel, Encinal, Las Lomitas and Phillips Brooks.

Today Art in Action has programs for kindergarten through eighth-grade and serves more than 20,000 students at 80 schools. The program develops curriculum based on the great masters, provides art materials, trains teachers and parent docents, and advocates for arts education.

Local schools

Local schools using the program today are Ormondale and Corte Madera in Portola Valley, and Nativity and Willow Oaks in Menlo Park. Menlo Park schools now have their own art program funded by the Menlo Park-Atherton Education Foundation.

Art kits are at the core of Art in Action. A kit provides all the instructions and materials necessary for each of the nine sequential programs. There are 12 lessons in each program and each lasts an hour.

The detailed, recipe-style program helps teachers make art a part of their curriculum. (In the beginning, program leaders were almost exclusively parents, but now classroom teachers also are leaders.) The school pays $300 for each kit — half the actual cost.

The Art in Action program has three parts: art appreciation, art history and art skills. After viewing and discussing a painting, students create their own works of art.

Docents are trained in the program by attending three-hour workshops each fall in Art in Action's headquarters at 3925 Bohannon Drive in Menlo Park.

Ms. Sleeth's partner at Art in Action is program director Betsy Halaby. A former professional museum docent, Ms. Halaby is a Stanford graduate with a degree in art. She is also Ms. Sleeth's next-door Atherton neighbor.

In recent years Ms. Halaby has taken over much of the program's work. She is site coordinator, in charge of training, and oversees the Art in Action summer camps held in 12 recreation centers. Ms. Sleeth still likes to keep in touch and visit local schools to observe the program in action. She also teaches an art history class at Castilleja.

Art in Action's success these past 26 years proves what Judy Sleeth knew all along. Art is not just a frill to be eliminated when money is tight. It helps children learn and enriches their lives.

INFORMATION

The Art in Action benefit starts at 10 a.m. Monday, March 10, at the Sharon Heights Golf and Country Club, 2900 Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park. For tickets, call Leighna at 566-8339. For more information, call Dolly Shalvoy at 365-1435. To learn more about Art in Action, go to www.artinaction.org.