In the Gallery -- February 2010

North Montgomery Community School Corporation's Bratton Initiative Art Exhibit

In the fall of 2006, the North Montgomery School Corporation embarked on a voyage to initiate new reforms to enhance its regular curriculum. Fifteen bold new reform initiatives were chosen and named for William E. Bratton, a member of the famed Lewis and Clark Corporation of Discovery expedition of the Louisiana Purchase. William E. Bratton, a private in the U.S. Army, acted as a scout and military escort for the expedition and while on the trail, overcome a severe illness using nothing but his own resourcefulness. Later in life William E. Bratton settled in Waynetown, Indiana and became Montgomery County's first official Superintendent of Schools. One of the fifteen chosen Bratton Initiatives asks North Montgomery Community School Corporation Art Teachers to secure a venue to exhibit the art work created by corporation students under their tutelage. The intent of the exhibit is to provide a public venue for students to display their work and by so doing inspire them to continue creating art and to perhaps eventually seek their own display venues. This year the Mary Bishop Memorial Art Gallery at the Crawfordsville Public Library will host North Montgomery School Corporation's Student Art Exhibit from Friday, January 29 until Friday, February 19, 2010. Art Students from Kindergarten through Grade 12 may participate in this non-juried exhibit meant for the entertainment of all Montgomery County residents. Visual Art teachers, who prepared the students and their work for display include: Kim Goebel -- Sugar Creek Elementary; Lisa Cosby -- Pleasant Hill Elementary; Mary Lou Dawald -- Sommer Elementary; Cassie Timmons -- Northridge Middle School; and Mike Strickler and J.D. Minch -- North Montgomery High School.