ArtWorks is a Carbondale Community Arts initiative to place fine art in public educational spaces throughout Carbondale and to heighten arts awareness and access for all of our students.  We believe that integrating art into our school campuses not only enriches the physical environment for students and visitors alike, but also enhances pride of ownership in our public buildings, celebrates our richly diverse cultural heritage and stimulates the minds (both young and old) of our community.

ArtWorks in Schools Fifth Installation Carbondale Community Arts and the ArtWorks Committee are pleased to announce the dedication of the fifth and final piece. Thanks to the generousity of the community and especially Dan Parrish, Parrish School received a bronze sculpture of a pony with two young riders as a reminder of the horse pastures on which the school is being built. Nearly $100,000 has been raised since the formation of the ArtWorks Committee five years ago. Co-Chair Mary Ellen Dillard expressed gratitude to the community for its unwavering support. "I can guarantee you that th students will be thrilled" added Parrish Principl Candy Myers. "To them this sculpture will be larger than life -- a friendly mascot they will always associate with the school."

	Fourth Piece Installed at Lewis School District 95 4th and 5th graders look forward to beginning the next school year with a new edition to their student body. The bronze statue of two young readers sit near the entrance to the school symbolizing a hunger for knowledge.

ArtWorks in Schools Unveils Third Piece

Thanks to the generosity of CCA patrons and donors, when the doors opened this fall for Carbondale's Thomas School, the second and third graders who poured in were greeted by a new friend sporting an impish countenance - and a bronze violin.

The young maestro is the third in a series of artworks to be presented to Carbondale's public schools by CCA's ArtWorks Committee.

After commissioning major abstract works from area artists for Carbondale Community High School (John Medwedeff's "Parhelion") and Carbondale Middle School (Ed Shay's "Rosetta Stone"), a representational bronze was quite a change of pace.

"It proved to be the perfect choice for Thomas," ArtWorks Chair Mary Ellen Dillard noted, "The Committee [many of whom are retired educators] wanted to pay special homage to the innovative program instruction at the school. Now there's an unmistakable symbol right at the front door."

The ArtWorks Committee has already raised and invested nearly $70,000 to support art acquisitions for Carbondale area public schools. Its seven-member core committee meets monthly to plan fundraising events and coordinate art selection. They dream of the day when every school in the region will have a signature work of art near its entrance to celebrate the creativity that is being nurtured inside.

 

ArtWorks in Schools proudly presented Rosetta Stone, a new three part painting by artist Ed Shay to Carbondale Middle School in May 2007.

Ed Shay is a Professor in Drawing, Painting, and Printmaking. He received his MFA from the University of Illinois in 1971. He has received three NEA Artists Fellowships - one in Printmaking, one in Painting, and one in works on paper, and three Illinois Arts Council Artists Fellowships.

 

ArtWorks in Schools 1st Commission for Carbondale Community High School

John Medwedeff : Parhelion 18' x 6' x 8' Forged and Fabricated Steel 2005