Mrs. Saca's and Mrs. Filice's Mindfulness Adventure at the San Jose Museum of Art!

With much excitement, Mrs. Saca and Mrs. Filice headed to the San Jose Museum of Art today to see the Art and Mindfulness exhibit, which will be on display until August 27th.  We were able to get into the museum for free using the San Jose public library's Discover and Go program (more about this here):  https://sfcart.blogspot.com/2017/06/discover-and-go-free-and-discounted.html

The exhibit invited you to spend a bit more time with an artwork than you normally would.  Some of the artworks had guided meditations that went along with them.  And one even required you to spend time watching as you waited for rocks to melt out of the artwork and fall into a box of hollow sticks bellow which created sounds or "music."

Here are some pictures and videos from the exhibit.  Non-flash photography was allowed.

Art Teacher and Mindfulness Teacher

To carry with you as you pondered and really studied the works of art

Screens were provided to create a wall of privacy as you did the guided meditations that coincided with some of the artworks.  

Made out of paper and thousands and thousands of staples

Staples

More staples

Zoom-in of fabric and paper with staples

Waiting for the rocks to melt out of the sculpture and fall onto the sticks to create music.

We would both highly recommend bringing your children to the exhibit and giving them a chance to share with you their knowledge of mindfulness and to see how mindfulness can be used as a way of being present and to appreciate and really see the beauty that is around them, whether that is in art, in nature, or within themselves.

We literally closed the museum tonight.  We took our time and enjoyed each part of the exhibit.  We hope many of you will get a chance to do the same.

Another Reason to be Grateful.....

Just one more reason to be grateful that St. Frances Cabrini has an art program...

https://edsource.org/2017/national-arts-scores-are-in-and-the-western-u-s-lags-behind/583841

We are so fortunate that our school is invested in keeping art education in the development of the whole child, when public school art programs across the state of California are getting cut and arts class enrollments are in decline in comparison to those in other parts of the United States.  

Many many studies have been done that show the importance of art education and the benefits.
This article from PBS parent, points out a few of them:

http://www.pbs.org/parents/education/music-arts/the-importance-of-art-in-child-development/

We are fortunate.  I am fortunate.  Long live the Arts.