Art Beat Olympia is working to bring art-education equity to Olympia schools. Because art is essential for all students, this program offers a high-quality arts-learning format that teaches sequential skills and techniques, develops students’ 21st-century skills and is culturally responsive.

Art Beat’s protocol includes training teachers to integrate arts with other subjects, school partnerships with community organizations and teaching artists, increasing instruction from certified arts teachers and connecting students with career opportunities in creative industries.

This summer both of Art Beat’s founders, Trixy Eichler and Yvonne Kunz, will be teaching hands-on classes designed to stimulate creativity, help young artists be confident in their abilities and have fun in the process.

Eichler says, “We are in the initial stages of launching a program similar to the Seattle-based Creative Advantage. We have worked with the Olympia school board and Roosevelt PTA for input on the program and seed funding. The idea is to launch a pilot program this fall and begin to write grant proposals so the program will be self-funding.”

Eichler attended Cornish College of the Arts and is a businesswoman, an artist with over 20 years of experience and a recent graduate of the Tactile and Design Lab at University of Washington. She works with local schools as a teaching artist.

Kunz is an artist and K-through-12-certificated art specialist with 20 years of experience. She’s taught art in museum settings and at the elementary and secondary levels.

On June 15 from 10 a.m. to noon, “Saturday Morning Art Class” offers lessons in paint and plaster to fashion such fantasy creations as dragons and unicorns. “Drawing for Kids,” offered that day from 1 to 3 p.m., focuses on how light defines form as the entryway to drawing realistically.