Each year, Avoca West hosts an Art in Action as a way to help students develop creativity, critical thinking, self-expression and cultural awareness through various art curriculum. Students from K to 5th grade master an art project under the guidance of a local artist and parent volunteers get to help out. Past year’s art stations included hands-on experience with watercolors, abstract acrylic painting, still life, digital portraits, jewelry making, dance, glow stick photography, mask painting and collage scrapbooking.

ART IN ACTION DAY – THANK YOU!

ART IN ACTION DAY – THANK YOU!

Creative energy filled the gym at Avoca West on February 19 during the PTC-

sponsored Art in Action Day! Students had the opportunity to explore their

creativity through 8 hands-on stations, including watercolors, jewelry making,

color spinners, magnet creation, soft pastel drawing, colored pencil shading,

weaving, and paper tote bag making.

This special day would not have been possible without the support of the Avoca

administration, staff, and PTC. We also extend our sincere thanks to the PE

department for generously sharing their space to help make the event a success.

We are especially grateful to the local artists and community partners who shared

their time and talents with our students:

● Glenview School of Arts

Offering summer camps and year-round art classes for young artists.

● Mary Gaspar

A local Wilmette fine artist and proud Avoca mom who creates original

watercolor and acrylic paintings, specializing in abstract art and modern

watercolor botanicals.

● tastyColor: Jiali Yu

Avoca parent Jiali Yu runs tastyColor, an online art education platform for

children with in-person classes in Wilmette. Her philosophy encourages

students to build a daily drawing habit and express their voice through

visual art media. Learn more about her work at JialiYu.com.

A heartfelt thank-you also goes to the Avoca West & Marie Murphy staff who

volunteered to run stations:

● Lauren Tromp

● Kelly Eggleston

● Barbara Vogelstein

And a huge thank-you to the following school staff and volunteers who helped

make this event possible:

Eva Rios, Tyler Bell, Dawn Zigmond, Margaret Burke, Shoshanna Reynolds, Erinn

Smith, Sara Shepard, Carol Oraha, Linda Paradise, Saira Majid, Diana Baden,

Melanie Zenisek, Susie Yavorskiy, Maggie Stegich, Lizzy Albrecht, and Jenn Prouty.

Art in Action continues to be a wonderful celebration of creativity, collaboration,

and community. We are grateful to everyone who helped make this year’s event

such a memorable experience for our students!