Bringing Art to Life for Kids
Photography: Jill Orschel
Lola Beatlebrox, local writer and outreach director for Recycle Utah, and Anita Crane, longtime Parkite and watercolorist, have created an engaging children’s book about Alice Merrill Horne, the founder of the Utah Arts Council.
This labor of love started when Beatlebrox, a former curriculum developer for the Park City Museum, was approached by the Utah Arts Council to create lesson plans for grades K-12 to accompany a traveling art exhibit. The exhibit, made possible by a grant to the Arts Council, showcases turn-of-the-century paintings created by Utah artists and will travel statewide.
As Beatlebrox began researching the Utah masterpieces, she discovered that an intriguing woman had started the Utah Arts Council in 1899. Alice Merrill Horne, Utah’s second-ever female legislator, helped to pass a bill allocating taxes to purchase paintings by Utah artists and display them publicly. Horne believed in the importance of art education and conducted art shows in 40 Utah schools. Beatlebrox recalls, “Her story was so amazing. I thought, this just begs for a children’s book and realized it would be the centerpiece of the [educational] program.”
After gaining approval from the Utah Arts Council to write the book, Beatlebrox began to search for an illustrator. She used the Park City Artists Association as a resource to find Anita Crane, an artist who was self-taught — similar to the early Utah artists. Beatlebrox fondly recalls their first meeting. “We hit it off like a house afire, right away. Thank God for the Park City Artists Association.”
The resultant book includes charming illustrations in vibrant watercolors that showcase Alice Merrill Horne throughout her life. As an artist, one of Crane’s signature elements is to hide something in each of her paintings. Together, she and Beatlebrox decided to “hide” a Utah masterpiece from the traveling exhibit in each of the book’s illustrations. The hidden picture is based on one of the themes from the lesson plans that Beatlebrox created to accompany the exhibit. Crane admits, “That was always a challenge … to keep the composition of the illustration while trying to fit in the hidden masterpiece.”
While writing the text of the children’s book, Beatlebrox also developed lesson plans to teach children about the paintings in the Early Utah Masterpieces exhibit. “I always look for a central organizing principle, which in this case was the children’s book. The lesson plans became the vehicle by which students learn about the artists and their masterpieces,” says Beatlebrox.
The seven lesson plans include curriculums tailored to young children (grades K-3), older elementary (4-6) or middle and high schoolers (7-12). The first unit is based on the Alice Merrill Horne book, while subsequent lessons reflect various themes such as landscapes or portraits. Teachers lead discussions on the significance of the artists and paintings, focusing on composition, color and influence. The lesson ends with a creative activity such as drawing a landscape or, in the case of older students, writing essays which require them to analyze the paintings and draw their own conclusions. Beatlebrox, mother to a 23-year-old son and 19-year-old daughter, believes, “If you expect kids to excel and reach a little bit more, they will.”
In addition to the children’s book and lesson plans, the Utah Arts Council is also offering a catalog of the traveling exhibit. The full-color catalog showcases all 26 giclée reproductions from the Alice Art Collection and includes a copy of the children’s book. A gallery tour and a gallery hunt, an interactive pictorial for children that involves searching for something in one of the paintings, are also available.
Despite being high-profile locals, Beatlebrox and Crane had never met before this project brought them together. Their partnership and resultant friendship has been an added bonus. They fondly remember their weekly story meetings, often accompanied by a glass of wine, in Crane’s historic mining home. Both agree, however, that getting to know Alice Merrill Horne was the best part of the process. As Crane recalls, “Before I even had the job, I did a portrait of Alice, and she came to life for me through my brush. I really felt I knew her and wanted to know her more.”
For more information on the book, the catalog, the lesson plans, the gallery tour and hunt, or the Early Utah Masterpieces exhibit, view www.arts.utah.gov, or call Lila Abersold at the Utah Arts Council (801.533.3581).
Liz Yokubison is a freelance writer and mother to 8-year-old twins. She is a vocal supporter of art in schools, especially at Parleys Park Elementary, where she co-chairs the Original Works program to help raise money for parent-taught art classes.
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