Donations Raise Funds to Support Arts Education in Santa Cruz County
By Ann Ostermann
Over the past few weeks, over $2,000 has been raised for the SPECTRA Fund in memory of James Aschbacher, longtime Open Studios artist and friend of the Arts Council. SPECTRA funds connect schools with teaching artists and funding for arts education. All funds in the Aschbacher SPECTRA will go directly into the Santa Cruz Arts Council’s programs.
Thanks to everyone who has given so generously. We will miss James very much, but his legacy of spreading creativity and joy will be carried forward thanks to you.
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A Note from James’ wife, Lisa Jensen
Artist and legendary Cabrillo College art instructor Howard Ikemoto once told a story about the time his seven-year-old daughter asked him what he did when he went to work. “I teach people how to draw,” he told her. She looked back at him in wide-eyed surprise. “You mean they forget?”
James loved that story.
He believed that every child possesses an instinctive ability to create art. All they need is opportunity and encouragement. And although he never took an art class in his life, he was an avid supporter of arts education in the schools, not to teach children “how” to make art, but to provide a nurturing atmosphere to explore their own creativity.
James spent 10 years working with mostly 4th and 5th-graders creating murals at elementary schools countywide. And the students weren’t there just to color in the muralist’s image; James tasked every child with the responsibility of creating his or her own creature or character within the larger framework, and painting it on the wall. And he was always astonished and delighted to discover what the kids came up with, not from any conscious desire to make “good art,” but out of the wild splendor of their own imaginations.
“Kid art” was James’ favorite kind! He would be thrilled to have his name associated with a SPECTRA fund to keep art alive in the schools, and encourage children to discover their own inner artists.
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Remembering James Aschbacher with your donation: https://secure.lglforms.com/form_engine/s/8Y1zdCQxSgRteR7xm9be-w
For more info contact the Arts Council Santa Cruz County, 1070 River Street, Santa Cruz, CA 95060 – Email: [email protected] – Website: https://www.artscouncilsc.org