NORMAN — Longfellow Middle School had a special “GLO” about it Saturday morning.
As part of the 10th annual “Get the Lead Out” or “GLO” arts festival, the school played host to more than 26 local artists and authors, volunteers and approximately 325 students from fourth to eighth grade from all over the area and the state.
“Our mission is to encourage young artists and give them an opportunity to work with professsionals in the arts so they can better express themselves,” said children’s book author Darleen Bailey Beard, one of the festival organizers and workshop instructors. “We want to show them through the example of our presenters that it’s very possible to work and make a living in the arts, doing what you love.”
Though the day was centered on students, it provided volunteers a fun opportunity to encourage artistic pursuits in area youth and learn a thing or two themselves.
“Many of our volunteers are from Longfellow, but we have local high school and OU students here as well,” said Longfellow counselor and event organizer Michelle Sutherlin. “We have teacher volunteers from every school in Norman.”
Beard adds, “The teacher involvement is just wonderful. We’ve had teachers who took time on their day off to personally drive groups of their students here and drove them home afterwards.”
“GLO” truly had something for everyone, with workshops that included video production, digital graphic design, claymation, fashion and jewelry making, song and play writing, and even specialized crafts such as Oriental brushstroke and Native American basket-weaving.
Workshops for performing arts were also among the many options students could experience, with classes on acting, dance, storytelling, African drumming, and even mime and debate.
“Arts tend to fall behind in schools, with so much emphasis on athletics and testing, and GLO is about helping these kids take pride in their creativity and celebrate it,” Beard said.
To attend, student must register in advance, choosing two classes which most interest them. In addition to the instruction and art supplies, students receive a snack and a t-shirt.
The classes themselves are not divided by grade, so students both young and old can interact and help each other under the teacher’s guidance, Sutherlin said.
They can also purchase the work of some of the professional artists and authors leading the workshops, providing the local artists with an opportunity to circulate their work as well as provide instruction.
“I think it really means a lot to these kids to have an opportunity to actually meet these authors and artists and work with them one-on-one,” Beard said.
As a finale to the day’s classes and projects, the students assemble for an awards presentation, in which students who entered their various art and poetry prior to the festival are presented with trophies or medals and small cash prizes.
The cash prize varies each year, depending upon the amount of funding and donations. First, second and third place winners are named in each category, in separate divisions for elementary and middle school.
GLO is sponsored by a grant from the Norman Arts Council, as well as some contributions from private donors.
Attending students pay a $25-$30 fee to offset the cost of supplies, and scholarships are available for those who qualify.
“We would very much love corporate sponsorship to underwrite the costs so that we can expand our programs even more and offer more scholarships and prizes to these deserving students,” Beard said. “We hope it keeps growing steadily as it has for the past ten years.”
Caitlin Schudalla 366-3541 cschudalla@ normantranscript.com
