‘No such thing as too many art supplies’

As a longtime art advocate and partner of a bronze artist, Washougal resident Yvonne Gee knows how important it is for artists to have access to the proper tools.

“Maybe you do it solo. Maybe you do it with friends. Maybe you show people. Maybe you don’t show people. Art is something that’s very personal, and not everyone has the resources to buy all the necessary materials,” Gee said.

That’s why Gee, in her roles as a Washougal Arts and Culture Association volunteer and Washougal’s representative on the Clark County Arts Council, has launched a drive to collect art supplies for Washougal’s teachers and students.

“I just feel like kids are not given a lot of time in school to be creative, and I want to instill in them a love of creativity,” Gee said. “The teachers are already so stretched and doing so much on their off time already, so this is something that we thought, as an arts commission and WACA, that (we could do) to help the kids and the art teachers.”

Gee and other WACA volunteers queried Washougal School District art teachers about needed supplies and created an Amazon wish list. People who want to donate to the effort can order directly off of that list or use it as a reference to purchase their own items to drop off at Washougal City Hall or the Washougal Community Center.

Gee plans to deliver the supplies to the educators at the end of Teacher Appreciation Week, which takes place May 5-9.

“If the teachers can introduce something to kids that they might not have ever tried before, it might spark something later,” she said.

When the district introduced art classes into its elementary schools in 2018, it gave art teachers a budget of $10 per student, according to Alice Yang, an art teacher at Cape Horn-Skye Elementary and Canyon Creek Middle schools.

“Now we get around $1 per student,” Yang said. “This creates a lot of stress for art teachers when deciding what materials are most pressing for the year. With cuts in funding throughout the district, our art program definitely feels the impact.”

Teacher Dani Allen, an art educator at Jemtegaard Middle School, said that “there really is no such thing as too many art supplies.”

“As an art teacher, I am forever grateful for donations, no matter big or small,” Allen said.

Supply budgets can vary from school to school, and teachers often share extra materials with each other and buy items with their own money, Yang said.

“There are lots of times when you are in the middle of a project and you run out of supplies,” Allen said. “The order process takes a pretty long time, so you have to go out and buy what you need so your students can finish their projects.”

Students can get frustrated or apathetic if they don’t have access to appropriate materials, Yang and Allen said.

“Quality art supplies are expensive, and our young artists often have to settle for paints that may not blend well, paper that tears easily, or have to substitute materials,” Yang said. “This can often cause a student to get discouraged or lose motivation to complete their projects.”

Yang said that without community efforts like the supply drive, “it is virtually impossible to keep our art program healthy and vibrant.”

Gee said she hopes the Washougal art supply drive will encourage similar efforts in other Clark County cities.

“We thought we could take this on and do it as a trial for the Clark County Arts Commission,” Gee said, “and if it worked, other cities … could pilot it, too, and hopefully help the whole county.”

To view the wish list, visit amzn.to/42idFJ9.