Three-part SF Open Studios Tours

Pre-Visits: Visual Thinking Strategies (VTS) is the integral focus of the Pre-Visits. ArtSpan Teaching Artists with diverse art backgrounds bring their art and other relevant art for VTS exercises and discussion into the classrooms at Bessie Carmichael. Each classroom at BCES receives one hour of this component of the program. The goal of the Pre-Visits is for the students to meet working artists and to see their artwork, as well as to practice VTS methodology.

Tours: BCES brings each classroom to ArtSpan's SF Open Studios Exhibition, where the work of over 430 SF Open Studios artists' work is on display. Resident Artists give VTS-centric, docented Tours of the exhibition to BCES classes. The goal of this part of the program is for the students to see a multitude of artwork, meet working artists, and to learn more art vocabulary.

This year ArtSpan integrated a literacy project where students were given a large sheet of paper (which would be used for the Post-Visit activity) and asked to use the vocabulary they learned to describe the artwork they saw on the docented Tour. Each classroom at Bessie receives one hour of this component of the program.

Post-Visits: Teaching Artists again visit Bessie Carmichael for one hour per classroom. The goal of the Post-Visits is to complete a hands-on art activity with the students. This year, Teaching Artists brought the students' written responses to the Tour at the exhibition and students then created a large-scale, collaborative painting.

The Pre-Visits, Tours, and Post-Visits take place over September and October.

Click here to donate in support of the Art for City Youth program. A gift of $78 funds the program for one student per year.