Pensarte
critical thinking & learning
OUR MISSION is to advance literacy and language skills by bringing art and artists to young people and adults with an emphasis on affecting communities with little access to the arts.
Critical Thinking & Learning
Pensarte is a visiting artist program for teachers, educators, and schools, and is available to the public from cultural centers to libraries.
Our objective is to serve the schools and communities of New Mexico, Far West Texas, and the desert southwest region of the US/Mexico border where the chance to experience art is often rare and opportunities to improve literacy are few. We are a not-for-profit organization funded by the generosity of individuals and foundations.
In Schools
Pensarte sends artists into the classroom to help students improve in reading, writing, and language use by looking at art together. Works of art are presented in a series of classroom visits throughout the school year where a professional artist facilitates group discussions. Students experience a broad range of fine art - some seeing it for the first time - and learn new levels of literacy and language through reflective conversation.
Painting, drawing, sculpture, photography, and even poetry are presented to students while artists assist them in learning to use their eyes and minds to read better, to write better, and to speak with confidence while respecting others' viewpoints.
Our Pensarte visiting artist program is available for grade levels K-12. A specific curriculum is used for each grade level facilitated by a professional artist trained in the teaching and evaluation methods of "Visual Thinking Strategies" an acclaimed teaching method designed to enhance literacy.
For Adults
Pensarte brings professional artists to the community and cultural centers, museums, and libraries, to share art with mature participants. Individuals are invited to experience art in an environment where respectful dialogue encourages multiple interpretations while helping us learn to say what we see.
Whether in the classroom or cultural center, looking at art and discussing aloud what we see invites us to recall collective histories, personal experiences, identify what we know and what we don't know, speak clearly about our ideas while listening to others, and encounter how the myriad elements of life, often expressed in complex ways through art and poetry, are open to interpretation.
Through looking at art together we learn to observe, think, share, and exchange, making us better readers and writers, and more proficient in expressing ourselves in language.
Pensarte welcomes inquiries and extends a special invitation to teachers to contact us directly. We will make every effort to accommodate inquiries. For more information or to schedule an orientation please contact:
Pensarte
43 Rock Pile Road, Santa Fe,
New Mexico, 87508 USA
(575) 494-5391
info@Pens-arte.org
Pensarte aims to help schools integrate Visual Thinking Strategies into their regular curriculum as a permanent teaching method in all subjects so that schools and educators have this important tool to advance literacy on a long-term basis within their own means.
Pensarte is a nonprofit program. We depend on your support to keep our program in schools and communities. Please consider making a donation today and invest in our shared future of art and literacy. Please donate today!
