the kids, on video

A short video.

The last class for Mundo Lindo

May 9, 2013 was the last day of Mundo Lindo. We decorated picture frames with mosaic tiles (sort of like my friend and mosaic artist Jill G. Hall), beads and paintbrushes. 

We ate cupcakes

And pizza.

a thank you note from the kids

and a special one from Stephanie:

I don't know if Mundo Lindo will continue or not. I'm hoping for a non-profit partner in Escondido, CA to start it again in the Fall of 2013. I'll keep you posted

Mundo Lindo ~ history of the program

Thought you all might be interested in the history of Mundo Lindo.

Mundo Lindo means Beautiful World in Spanish.

I created the program in 2007, and received a grant from the Kenneth A. Picerne Foundation. The grant required I partner with a non-profit and I approached Katie Ragazzi  and Escondido Children’s Museum. For the two years Mundo Lindo was funded by Picerne, I taught it year round, two days a week, for two hours each session in the Children’s Museum. (After the first year, the Picerne  Foundation rented a studio at California Center for the Arts, Escondido for the program.) Picerne also paid for an assistant for me. The Children’s museum helped with registration and used their contacts in the Escondido Public Schools to contact 4^th and 5^th grade kids. The program has always been free to the children. The Picerne grant paid me $12,000 a year, and $2,000 for materials for the lessons.

When the grant ended, in 2009, Tomoko Kuta, CCAE director of Education (at the time), approached me to continue Mundo Lindo, starting in 2010. She had witnessed the success of the program over two years and was impressed by how engaged the children were in each activity. She hired me on an hourly basis (no contract) and and for the last 4 years, I was paid only when I was at the Center teaching (about 2-1/2 hours a week). CCAE provided me with an assistant. Materials were infrequently purchased as needed.

And since 2009, has run only during the school year (no summer classes). And since ~ 2011,  the program has run one day a week, during the school year. 

Since 2009, the program has been funded by a $5,000 challenge grant (from a contact of mine) plus donations from friends of mine. (When Tomoko Kuta was Director of Education, she also wrote grants for the program.)

Children register for the classes and return week after week after week, many continuing for 2-3 years. Mundo Lindo provides art instruction and an outlet for creative expression for the kids. I create and teach a different  project and use a different medium each week. The children have two hours to work with their hands, have fun, work as a team, and get to know kids from the other schools in Escondido.

I’ve kept a blog of all the classes and projects since 2007, and it clearly illustrates the success of Mundo Lindo. http://mundolindobeautifulworld.blogspot.com/

As of now, May 2013, Mundo Lindo will no longer be offered at CCAE. I'm hoping to find a new location and partner for the fall of 2013, to continue the program in Escondido, California.

decorating wreaths with egg carton flowers

The Mundo Lindo kids ~ May 2, 2013

We've made egg carton flowers before, but I found these colored egg cartons and thought they'd be great for spring. 

I bought the small wreaths at the local craft supply store.
           
We hot glued the egg carton flowers to the wreaths

The kids finished early and it was a beautiful day, so we went outside for airplane races.

Liz gives the kids a lesson in making paper airplanes.

The winner!

Next Thursday,  May 9th is the last day of Mundo Lindo for the school year and in this location. We're hoping to find a new home for the program by the time school starts again in the fall.

a poem.

PURPLE 
by Alexis Rotella


In first grade Mrs. Lohrsaid my purple teepee
wasn’t realistic enough,
that purple was no color
for a tent,
that purple was a color
for people who died,
that my drawing wasn’t
good enough
to hang with the others.
I walked back to my seat
counting the swish swish swishes
of my baggy corduroy trousers.
With a black crayon
nightfall came
to my purple tent
in the middle
of an afternoon.

In second grade Mr. Bartasaid draw anything;
he didn’t care what.
I left my paper blank
and when he came around
to my desk
my heart beat like a tom tom.
He touched my head
with his big hand
and in a soft voice said
the snowfall
how clean
and white
and beautiful

(In: Step Lightly, Poems for the Journey," Nancy Willard, Ed.)

Mundo Lindo celebrates Spring Break!

It was a beautiful day. The kids are on spring break, so we just had 10 in class today. Why not spend the time in the park?

Before we left the classroom, the kids made quick little sketchbooks. They brought pencils and erasers with them to sketch in the park.


But first, we had to use our plastic bowls as boats in the City Hall fountain.


And it was just too nice a day not to get in the fountain. Evidently, there was a sign that said 'no swimming' but we weren't swimming. 

The security guards thought otherwise, so we went back to the park to dry and and draw.







Yohana drew a picture of one of the security guards. We all went over to show him the picture and he loved it! He asked her to sign it, and if he have it to frame back at the office. It was a very sweet moment!





We finished up our wonderful spring break afternoon at the playground.

Yoga Poses in Public Places!