Grass Valley Charter School Dogs at Zazzle and The Flour Garden

In October I featured a story about Katherine Schad and her one-woman initiative to turn every 1st and 2nd grader at Grass Valley Charter School into a dog artist.  This month, with the help of teachers Audrey Hight, Lori Davis, and other GVCS parents, Kath completed her mission of producing 88 dog portraits.  They also launched a website, set up a Zazzle store, and mounted a local exhibition of the works at the Brunswick Basin Flour Garden Bakery. 

This weekend, I stopped by the bakery to view the dogs and the only way I can describe them is magical.  I just couldn't take my eyes off of the spectacular wall collage of creativity, then I would lose myself in the originality of each dog.  I truly think this is the kind of project that will stay with these children forever, giving them confidence in their own creativity and knowing that that confidence is the foundation on which anything is possible.  Several Dog Art Today readers have commented that they would like to replicate this project at their childrens' schools.  Kath has plans for creating a lesson plan on her website, but this effort has been a HUGE endeavor on her part, and any ideas or assistance would be greatly appreciated.  Feel free to contact her here.

In the meantime, consider contributing to renovation of the new GVCS library by purchasing something from Zazzle.  Order by December 15 to make sure you receive it by Christmas.  Here is just a small sample of all the fun products:

The dog portraits will be on display at the Flour Garden Bakery until the end of December.  In January, they will be on view at Summer Thyme's.  A fundraiser with sales of the works is being planned for the spring. Take a moment to view all the dogs individually here and here and remind yourself that everyone is an artist…even you.