A-OK art kits to continue weekly through June 8

— from Janet Brownell —

AOK (Art for Orcas Kids) has been supplying free take-home art kits to kids since the school closure in March. The program, funded by the Orcas Island Education Foundation, has been so successful it was written up in the Seattle Times. Free art kits keeping Orcas Island students busy with schools shut because of coronavirus. The kits are available to all OISD students ages 5 – 18. Kids who will be in kindergarten next year are also eligible. As a matter of fact, anyone on Orcas Island is eligible for an art kit if they are seeking a creative outlet during these trying times. 

Each Art kit usually contains some fun – and sometimes unusual – coloring pages as well as two or three projects that come with instructions and paper. 

More about the kits: 

• The kits are custom made for each kid 
• Each age group gets a different art kit
• Future Kits include: a nature kit, a cardboard kit and a recycled materials kit 

To order a kit, you need to email aokartfororcaskids@gmail.com with your child’s name, age, and teacher’s name then be able to pick it up on Monday between 11:30am – 1pm. Your order must be in by the Saturday before each Mondays pick up.

These are tough times and it’s important to provide continuity and creative outlets for both kids and parents. Thanks to generous donors to OIEF we’ve been able to keep this program alive and have been able to donate supplies from time to time. Please consider making a donation to OIEF / AOK

Since 2014, A-OK (Art for Orcas Kids), has operated as a program under the umbrella of OIEF (Orcas Island Education Foundation).  A-OK receives grant money from OIEF, OICF (Orcas Island Community Foundation), and ARTSWA (Washington State Arts Commission), as well as from fundraising events. Orcas Island School District recognizes art as a state-mandated core subject and supports A-OK by providing a Certified Staff member to work alongside our teaching artists in the art classes. Over the past few decades, art in public education has come to be considered a “luxury.”  But as study after study has borne out, the creative process and dynamic imagination are critical to academic achievement and development.  For that reason, the Orcas Island Education Foundation has been the support system for “AOK” in helping to bring more art to our schools. – said Janet Brownell, Board President OIEF. These teaching artists inspire students and help them bring the visual arts to life through age-appropriate projects. The opportunity.

Teaching artist Brook Meinhardt is an acclaimed freelance illustrator, portrait artist, and contemporary artist. A native New Yorker who has called Orcas Island home while she’s raised her children. Her impressive resume includes work for many national magazines, newspapers, and brands with a significant amount of time in the fashion industry. To learn more about her, and her art, go to: https://brookmeinhardt.me