Art Spectrum classes are getting ready for next week’s display in the library of their colorful Oaxacan style figures inspired by native Mexican-Indian art. The project is a part of the new $1,200 art grant from the PTSA. The grant requires art curriculum that connects with environmental science, according to Art Spectrum and Photography teacher Margo Wixsom.

Wixsom, who wrote and received the grant in February, believes that art should integrate other subjects with the curriculum to make it more interesting and informative.

“I’m trying to get people to think art is more than just being pretty, it can teach you and connect into other subjects like science and history,” Wixsom said.

Wixsom has a history of bringing environmental science into her curriculum. She started the environmental education program at Washington Manor Middle School in the East Bay. Wixsom also took workshops at the Alameda County Office of Education on environmental science and earned ten thousand dollars in grants for murals and projects at Washington Manor.

“My goal for teaching this in art and science is to educate students about the environment because I think it is the most important issue in the twenty-first century,” Wixsom said.

Wixsom hopes that the new projects will inform students of the current problems in the environment and encourage them to take action.

“I see it informing our students about how important daily decisions are [to the environment],” Wixsom said. “I see it making connections that make students care about these issues. I want students to make it more their own so it isn’t just an answer for a test, but a life choice for them.”

Some students do not agree that a connection was made during the Oaxacan art project between the cultures the students learned about and the project itself.

“We learned about how other cultures use art, but I don’t think we used that knowledge in our projects,” freshman Anna Bastidas said. “I would not have a problem with the research if we had used it in the project.”

Wixsom hopes to improve her curriculum over the summer when she visits Australia as part of the Fulbright Fellowship program. During the month long program, she will attend workshops on how to incorporate other subjects, like environmental science, into her classes.

Despite the grant, the environmental art projects will not take up the whole year’s curriculum, according to Wixsom.

“I don’t want to bore students with stuff on the environment,” Wixsom said. “There are about three projects [out of twelve] that will have environmental education connections, so that won’t dominate the curriculum.”

The Oaxacan art will be on display next week in the library, accompanied by oil pastels of animals in their natural habitats.

In the last two weeks of the year the Art Spectrum and Living Skills classes will join together to create sidewalk art addressing current social issues. Students will design the artwork and incorporate a statistic on the issue.