Wanting to spread the love of arts to students, Elizabethton High School art teacher Lisa Malone was granted the second opportunity in a row to provide an artist to work firsthand with her class.
Each of Malone’s art students had the opportunity to work with Bailey Earith, author and mixed media fiber/teaching artist based out of Knoxville, in bookmaking for two days and saw the end products come to fruition on Tuesday, Oct. 11, right before the school went on fall break.
The students were granted this opportunity for a second year in a row thanks to grant funding, worth $2,000, provided by the state, according to Malone.
“The Tennessee Arts Commission Student Ticket Subsidy Grant is a great opportunity for my students because it gives us an opportunity to have a practicing artist to visit our classroom,” she said. “It also gives our students an opportunity to work with practical material to make books in a manner that they could do it on their own time or with their own materials.”
A partnership grew between Earith and Malone after the duo worked together at a recent conference in Washington County.
“We met at the Johnson City sponsored Arts and Education Conference,” Malone said. “She was a presenter there and that’s when she first informed me about the grant. I’ve had the pleasure of working with her for the past couple of years, having her in-house to work with students.”
Students spent the first day of the session working on the different books by using different pieces of materials, including envelopes and paper. Tuesday saw the students reap the benefits of the hard work while adding decorative pieces to the finished work.
Earith and Malone worked in conjunction with students, providing guidance on the pieces.
“It’s a great thing,” Malone added about the opportunity to have an artist at the school. “We’re very appreciative of the Tennessee Arts Commission for providing this grant. It’s important for our students to have this opportunity.”
Earith is based out of Knoxville and operates the Bailey Fiber Arts Studio, located at 13101 Naylor Ridge Lane.
Earith states on her website that, “I am committed to bringing peace to the world through art. The world is full of turmoil, anger and strife. These negative energies are very draining and destructive. It is my mission to combat these negative forces with positive energy. I do this through the uplifting artwork I create and the classes I teach.”