Bigger than art

COEUR d’ALENE — With scavenger hunt sheets in hand, several high-schoolers scoured the Art Spirit Gallery on Thursday morning.

Clues such as "These badgers can dance all night" and "Businessmen may enjoy their coffee in these cups" led the students to discover the different themes, colors, textures and styles of the many pieces on display.

“I think I’ve completed everything on the list, but I want to go through it a second time and enjoy it a little bit more," said Timberlake High School junior Brody Peacock.

“Even though we weren’t given instructions, it’s pretty easy,” Lakeland Senior High sophomore Rylan Robinson said with a giggle.

The students gathered in the Art Spirit at the start of their four-stop gallery tour in Coeur d'Alene as part of a field trip organized by their pottery and fine arts teachers, Sara Forsythe of Lakeland and Lindsey Johnson of Timberlake.

"In a gallery, students can see what real, living artists are doing with their skills," Forsythe said. "They receive a connection to current culture that is richer than the watered-down, diluted internet experience."

Forsythe wanted to bring her pottery students to the Art Spirit to see the current "Great Ceramics Revival" exhibit, which includes works by Inland Northwest-born artist Patrick Siler, Helena potter Eric Van Eimeren and Japanese artist En Iwamura.

"You learn a lot more by actually being in person and experiencing things," said Lakeland sophomore Shayla Merrifield. "We can look at what’s popular in the market to see if we want to go into this career later on in life, or if it’s going to be a hobby or something."

Timberlake 11th-grader Kaycee Workman said she's always loved art, so the gallery field trip was right up her alley.

"I think it’s cool to see so many different kinds of art in one spot, all together," she said.

“I think that there’s a whole different kind of learning that happens outside a classroom that often is overlooked,” Forsythe said. "I’m proud of our district that they allow me to continue to take my students on a trip every year."

Another aspect to the field trip was student engagement. Forsythe said a trip like this is a positive thing for their students, especially considering the losses their schools and region have experienced this year.

"My students report to me that they often feel isolated, targeted, alone and rejected," she said. "Social media has taken a negative toll on this first generation to receive the blasts of advertisements directly targeting young people about perfection, guilt, pleasure and the newest trends in order to 'belong.'

"I hope my class and field trips like this one empower my students and open doors to allow them to voice their opinions, explore ideas, generate thoughts and express ideas that we all have as being human, but perhaps cannot say with words, nor is it necessary when art can be the method of that communication."

Art Spirit owner Blair Williams was more than happy to host the students in their artistic discovery.

"I think that we see ourselves as an institution that is important to our artistic and cultural community," she said. "We know it’s our job to educate and to share the wealth of art and creativity that we have in our region, and what a better way to do it?”

"The Great Ceramics Revival" will be on display through May 5 in the Art Spirit, located at 415 Sherman Ave.