Charla Huber

News staff

Move over school teachers — a professional artist has moved in.

Every student at Wishart elementary school dropped their pencils and picked up a hunk of clay last week.

Professional potter Renee Sala gave pottery lessons to more than 300 students.

“I don’t have experience in clay so it is wonderful to have an artist come in,” said Grade 1 teacher Andrea Telford. “We are all learning about form and texture. This is a nice way to enhance the art program.”

Switching up the regular curriculum was exciting for the students too.

“I really like how you get to design it,” said Alex Klassen, a Grade 1 student, as he worked on his slab pot.

Sala has always had a love for pottery as her mother is also a potter and she was raised around the medium.

While she has been playing with clay her whole life, for the past five years Sala has begun to do it more professionally.

Other than just creating art Sala has been teaching pottery techniques in senior care homes, recreation centres and as summer day camp programs.

All of the pottery projects varied by age with the kindergartners learning to make pinch pots and the Grade 6 students learning to make coil pot mugs.

“Every class is a different level and I have to come up with new ways for them all to understand my lessons,” Sala said.

Sala said the experience helps the students learn life lessons. “I think it gives them a feeling for how things are made and where they come from,” she said. “They learn to create things with their hands.”

Now Sala will take all of the creations back to her studio in Gordon Head for firing in her kiln. She will return to the school at the beginning of December for the students to glaze their works of art.

While this is the first time the school has launched its Artist in Residence program. Principal Raman McArthur hopes to keep the program continuing and said it is beneficial to the students.

“We wanted to give the students an opportunity to work with someone who makes their living through art,” McArthur said.

For this session of the Artist in Residence program the school’s parent advisory committee contributed 75 per cent of the cost and the Sooke School District paid the remaining amount.

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