The Cramer Creek Art Program believes that all individuals have a creative spirit and that creativity can foster learning on many levels. Our program is in part focused on the creative process experienced as a group collaborative. Through group projects, executed in a variety of media, students will not only learn how to express themselves as individuals but learn how that expression relates to others and to the world in which they live.
Working with a group on a specific project affords the opportunity to learn a particular artistic process. The technical skills learned while working with the group can then be used to create more individual work; art that explores more personal subjects, or perhaps work given to formal investigation of a particular medium or technique. Our
focus on the collaborative artistic process leaves time for students to communicate on an individual level and to explore their own creative, imaginative ideas.
While participating in the Art Program at Cramer Creek students will learn how to cooperate with others, think and problem solve in multiple ways, find meaning in their own as well as other’s work and learn about the role of art in our society and other cultures. Some of the mediums students will have the opportunity to explore are ceramic sculpture and tile making, assemblage sculpture and site specific installation using natural materials, concrete sculpture, painting, drawing and printmaking. The Art Program will also engage students on a periodic basis with visiting artists from the community as well as participate in community arts events in Missoula, Montana.
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| (Echo Cottage on the slopes of Discovery Ski Area near campus) |
Finally, by challenging students to participate in the creative give and take of collaborative art projects we are integrating the creative process into the PPC model. The spirit of cooperation necessary to reach a common goal serves to strengthen the group, enhance the emergence of a positive peer culture and model behavior with connections to good citizenship, life and work.
The Art program is accredited and is integrated into our school curriculum.
(View of the footbridge connecting the east and west sides of the campus.)
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RECREATION & ACTIVITIES
Cramer Creek provides an extensive student activities and recreation program. These activities include skiing, snowboarding, fishing, hiking, camping, river floats, cycling, weightlifting, aerobics and swimming. Our campus also has an outdoor court for basketball and a sand pit for volleyball. Our hope is to eventually have a recreation center with indoor basketball and volleyball courts, a weight room, and climbing wall. Any donation to help us reach this goal is appreciated.
VOLUNTEER AND STEWARDSHIP PROGRAM
Volunteer services to the local community are an integral part of the PPC philosophy. Beginning this fall, every Friday a group has the opportunity to go into Missoula and volunteer for a local organization.
(Beavertail Pond, frozen in the winter, swimming in the summer)
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Examples of recent off campus activities by the students include the following. The students have recently visited the Museum of the Rockies (
www.museumoftherockies.org) in Bozeman, Montana, the World Museum of Mining (
www.miningmuseum.org), Fairmont Hot Springs (
www.fairmontmontana.com) near Anaconda, MT, the Missoula Art Museum (
www.missoulaartmuseum.org), and the 110th Annual Arlee Celebration, a Native American celebration of traditional dances and drumming. The students recently visited our State Capitol in Helena, Montana (
www.montanacapitol.com) where they attended a legislative hearing and went on a tour of the Capitol building.
Students have participated in the following activities: attendance at Missoula Osprey professional baseball games (
www.missoulaosprey.com), day trips to find sapphires at Gem Mountain (
www.gemmtn.com) and rafting trips on the Blackfoot River. The Sapphire Group also entered, and won their category, at the Spontaneous Construction sculpture contest hosted by Home Resources (
www.sponcon.homeresource.org). Additionally, the Beartooth Group volunteered their time participating in community service at the Poverello Center (
www.poverellocenter.org) and the Missoula Humane Society (
www.myhswm.org). All the groups at Cramer Creek also helped construct a children’s playground in Clinton, called Cougar Kingdom.
Students from Cramer Creek also had the opportunity to go to University of Montana Sporting events (
http://umt.edu/InformationAbout/Athletics), skating and roller blading at SHEC Flip-side Skate Park (
http://www.shec.net/flipside/index.html) and have even gone wake-boarding at Seeley Lake (
http://www.seeleylakechamber.com/). Groups have the ability to present their own ideas for what they view as meaningful trips off campus.
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| (Bighorn sheep photographed near campus) |
Other weekend and after school activities have included mountain biking, frisbee golf (folf), basketball, volleyball, ultimate frisbee, volleyball, soccer, yoga flag football, weight lifting, hikes, runs, softball, and canoeing at Beavertail Pond State Park.