Taking Art to Heart

As a teacher at a private arts-infused elementary school, Alana Adams never had illusions her young pupils would become the next Jackson Pollock or Jasper Johns.

"Most of the children you teach are not going to become artists," said Adams, a professional potter. "But they can learn to appreciate art. It's all around us whether we realize it or not. It's in product design and in the jewelry we wear; it's in the flowers we buy. We surround ourselves with art because it makes us feel happy."

And so, this high-octane optimist has made it her mission to engage the inner artist in all of us and spread the joy.

Since taking the helm of the Arts Center of Coastal Carolina's education department 18 months ago, Adams has established a cutting-edge preschool art program, expanded the community education series to include year-round workshops for both children and adults and started after-school art classes for elementary and middle school students.   

"It's so important to support children's artistic efforts and encourage their creativity. The right-brained abilities of expression and inventiveness are essential tools in today's competitive marketplace."

She's even offering "art parties" where the party favors are works of art the guests create themselves. Party themes can range from African bark painting to Van Gogh to Navajo sand painting.

When she's not thinking up new initiatives, Adams is running the Arts Center's field trip, ArtsReach and professional development programs offered to students and teachers at area schools. She's also a member of the South Carolina Alliance for Arts Education and the Hilton Head Island School for the Creative Arts' School Improvement Council and serves as the Arts Center's representative for the Kennedy Center Partners-in-Education.

A graduate of Georgia State University with a BFA in Art Education, Adams studied sculpture and ceramics, earning several academic honors, including the Outstanding Art Education Degree Student Award and the Dean's Scholarship Key.

For two years she had an art gallery and pottery studio in her hometown of Newnan, Ga., where she sold vases, face jugs, bamboo planters, jewelry and other clay decorative items.

Before becoming a professional potter, Adams spent two years teaching at the arts-focused Summerhill Academy in Newnan.

"I saw first hand the benefits of an arts-infused curriculum," said Adams, who is certified by the Georgia Professional Standards Commission in Art Education.

"It's so important to support children's artistic efforts and encourage their creativity. The right-brained abilities of expression and inventiveness are essential tools in today's competitive marketplace."

To that end, she initiated a new Arts Center program called ArtStart, a hands-on series of art classes for children ages 2 to 5. Focusing on a different theme each week, Adams exposes children to the visual arts through the four disciplines of art education-art history, art criticism, aesthetics and art production.

"This is not your average arts and crafts class for kids," Adams explained. "The goal is to give students a deeper understanding of art, how it's woven into everything around us and what it has to do with me."
For older children and adults, she offers a wide range of visual and performing arts classes each month. April's selection includes workshops on calligraphy taught by a Charleston artist and a bead weaving class led by a Savannah jewelry maker. In May, the schedule will feature a series of pottery and photography classes.

This spring, Adams launched an after-school art program for students ages 6 to 12. The next four-class session, set to start in May, will concentrate on drawing and painting skills.
She's also busy putting together the Arts Center's summer camp schedule. Among the many offerings are "Mixed-Up Masterpieces," which introduces participants to art disciplines such as sculpture, printmaking and painting, and "Take the Stage,"  a performing arts camp taught by the Arts Center's production crew and cast members of the summer musical, The Buddy Holly Story. 

As Director of Education, Adams also facilitates the Arts Center's participation in Beaufort County's Adopt-a-School program. Coordinating with administrators from Hilton Head Island School for the Creative Arts, she organizes activities that provide students with real-life experience in the performing and visual arts, as well as instruction in a variety of art forms.

"We're lending our resources to the school to enhance their arts-infused curriculum," she said. "Hands-on learning can make any subject much more interesting."

Always seeking to advance her own artistic capabilities, Adams is doing some hands-on learning of her own. For the last three years she has been teaching herself to play the piano.

"I traded in our pool table for a piano," said Adams, who is married to local photographer Jason Adams. "My husband didn't think it was such a great trade, but playing the piano has always been something I've wanted to do."