Community Engagement
From community art projects to artist residencies at elementary schools, Joan and Ali love working & collaborating with others to create beautiful works of art!
Artist Educator – Rover Elementary School
Tempe, AZ
“Desert Living”
This project was commissioned and funded by the Tempe School District and the Parent Teacher Organization (PTO) for Rover Elementary. The objective: to teach and engage the students about living in their unique Sonoran Desert – who we share the environment with, where our water comes from, and how to live sustainably. The mural creation process included lessons that met the Public School Curriculum Standards for English, Science, and Math.
Artist team: Joan Baron, Gloria Martinez-Granados, Reggie Casillas
Co-creating the Desert
Children gathered around the template tearing and cutting paper and tape to collaboratively design a large cactus, lizard, and tortoise.
Artist team: Joan Baron, Gloria Martinez-Granados, Reggie Casillas
Growing in the Desert
A workshop was designed to educate the students about the Earth’s layers and structure. Students built clay planters with colored clays to represent the 3 main layers of the Earth. Once fired, the students engaged in planting pollinator flower seeds (Zinnia) and continued learning about the relationship to soil, sun, water, and oxygen that create the right conditions for a garden.
Rover Elementary School Principal: Dana Lineberger
Rover Elementary School Teachers: Marisol Canchola, Michele Milham, and Kaitlyn O’Nan
Collaborators: Kelly Hedberg, Rover Garden Manager, Frances Craik, Farmer, Educator
