Artist Partnerships

Living Sky School Division has a tradition of innovative and exciting Arts Education programming.  Many special projects feature partnerships with guest artists. The intention is to pair up artists and arts educators to plan and deliver exceptional programs.  Artists bring a level of expertise in their medium and Arts Educators bring a wealth of experience with students and methods and strategies for engagement and inquiry process. When creative minds come together we see amazing results.

Arts Education consultant, Sherron Burns, is available to help Living Sky teachers envision and plan their projects, complete application forms, assist with finding suitable artists and completing artist contracts. Grant Programs are available through the Saskatchewan Arts Board:

Artists in Schools (formerly called ArtsSmart) funds projects that provide schools and communities with opportunities to enhance arts-related activities that are linked to educational outcomes through arts experiences and partnerships with professional artists.

Eligible: Provincial schools, school divisions, band schools, private schools using the Saskatchewan arts education curriculum, in partnership with community groups or organizations, and professional artists.

Application Closing Dates:

Artist in Residence - May 1
Arts After Hours - May 1
Projects - November 1

Below is a list of the Artist Partnership projects that have been celebrated in Living Sky School Division:

ArtsSmart, Exploration, Innovation and Living Histories Projects

Click on the links to look at documentation and final reports for more information about a specific project.

2006: "Altered Books" ArtsSmart
Viewing traditonal objects with new eyes with a purpose to working with new media, and understanding how artists view and use materials.
Artist Holly Hildebrand at Cut Knife High School  

2008: "Our Story, Our Voice" ArtsSmart
Filmmaking is a powerful tool for capturing stories about my community.
Gabriel Yahyahkeekoot & Shane Bellegarde at Cut Knife Elementary, Cut Knife High School, Spiritwood High School & Hartley Clark.
Spiritwood & Cut Knife report 2008 documentation

2009: "Our Voice, Our Land" ArtsSmart
An interdisciplinary approach to Treaty Education understanding, identity and building relationships through fusions of theatre, film, art and music.
Gabriel Yahyahkeekoot, Michelle Sereda, Holly Hildebrand, Brad Bellegarde, Lyndon Tootoosis at Fort Battleford with St. Vital, Spiritwood High School, North Battleford Comprehensive High School, Cando.
Artssmart Our Voice 2009 documentation

2009: "Exploration of the Arts" Exploration
 Gauging Community Interest: Cut Knife High School and community, including the surrounding reserve schools at Little Pine, Sweet Grass and Poundmaker, hold community workshops and forums to explore their resources and interest for an artist in residence program. 
7 guest artists collaborate at Cut Knife High School. 

2009/10: "We Have a Story to Tell", Innovations year residency 
Inter-disciplinary exploration of the arts to build a strong arts education program and to establish a studio classroom.
Ashley Johnson, Brad Bellgarde, Kelly Daniels, Holly Hildebrand, Simon Moccasin at Cut Knife High School. 
CPIP final report 2010 

2010: "Dance on the Brain" ArtsSmart
Removing the fear of creative dance and introducing brain dance in the classroom.
Ashley Johnson at Bready Elementary. 

2010: "Traditional Dance & Contemporary Dance" ArtsSmart
Gaining personal confidence by learning both tradional First Nations dances and Hip Hop style.
Mike Mirlin, Bert Benson, Tessa Clay, Mike Peeyachew, Marcella Bird. 

2010: "Storytelling & Literacy" ArtsSmart
Storytelling is a lively art form used to engage students with our community and make connections between family and school. 
Kevin Mackenzie & Angela Edmunds at Connaught Elementary.
Video documentation 

2010/11: "Our Story Continues to Grow", Innovations year residency  
Theatre and storytelling projects, to engage high school and surrounding communities, develop into performance. 
Nicole Schafenacker at Cut Knife High School.
CPIP final report 2011

2011: "Moving Stories",  Exploration 
Storytelling is an expressive art form that takes on new dimensions when we dance our story.
Ashley Johnson and Joseph Naytowhow at Lawrence Elementary School. 

2011: "Stories Re/Visioned" ArtsSmart
A interdisciplinary arts project using story, mask and dance to build relationships between First Nation and non-First Nations students. 
Joseph Naytowhow, Ashley Johnson & Douglas Witt with Spiritwood High School, Hartley Clark, Cut Knife High School & Cut Knife Elementary.
ArtsSmart Story Revisioned final 2011

2011/12: "Inspiring Movement: Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds and Healthy Communities", Innovations year residency 
IDance inspires us to move to the music and to express ourselves, with joy and an openness to our community. Brain Dance helps us regulate ourselves as we learn.
Ashley Johnson at Connaught Elementary and McKitrick Elementary Schools. 
CPIP final report 2012 
Joyful Learning, Inspired to Dance (video documentation)
Co-Constructing Criteria in Dance Assessment (video documentation) 
Arts and Healing project at the Healing Garden (video documentation with grade 5) 

2012: "Fantastical Machines & the Art of Building with Junk" ArtsSmart
Music, science, design and art come together as students explore and problem solve how to make (and play!) instruments from found objects and junk.
Byron Olsen, Holly Hidebrand, Eileen Laverty, Roy Sydiaha, Greg Hargarten at Bready Elementary School.
Bready ArtsSmart final 2012

2012/13: Living Histories & Living Culture Living Histories 
Artists, storytellers, dancers, singers, drummers and elders visit classrooms to build cultural awareness and knowledge of our shared history through the arts. 
Featured 60 cultural artists and leaders in 21 schools and 18 different projects. About 2,700 participants over two years. 
Treaty6Education website documentation 

2012/13: "Joyful Learning: Inspiring Movement", Innovations year residency 
Ashley Johnson worked with the whole division: Single classroom visits = 16 teachers; Longer projects = 17 teachers; Artist collaborations = 5 artists; Total teachers who participated = 33 teachers; Total classrooms visited = 28 classrooms. Approximately 600 teachers, students and artists participated in the residency projects.
CPIP final report 2013 
Inspiring Movement website with units and many video resources 

2013: "Mucking About & Thinking Like an Artist" ArtsSmart
Grade 5 students are metacognitive as they observe nature and respond to their environment in a studio classroom, by mucking about with ideas and process.
Bonnie MacNab, Oriol Dancer, Joseph Naytowhow at Medstead School
Medstead ArtsSmart final 2013

2013: "Principles for Living" Living Histories project
What do the elders teach us about how to live in harmony with the land, the animals and one another? Dance, story, theatre and art help students understand these teachings.
Joseph Naytowhow worked in 13 schools across the division. 

2014: "Hip Hop & Story Shop" ArtsSmart
Students investigate their community for stories, write songs and record them with beats they create.
Eekwol aka Lindsay Knight at Connaught Elementary.
Eekwol ArtsSmart final 2014

2014: "Puppet Voices: Building Confidence Through Story" ArtsSmart
A school, with lots of children from immigrant families and diverse cultural backgrounds, use a puppeteer to help give children courage to speak up and share their stories.
Natalie Labossiére at Lawrence School.
Lawrence ArtsSmart final 2014

2014: "Through My Eyes" ArtsSmart
An artist helps students and community share local history, culture and identity through a clay mural.
Jay Kimball with Leoville School.
ArtsSmart Leoville final 2014

2015: "PreK: Dance in a Small World" ArtsSmart
Creative dance can occur in both the classroom or the gym and involves invitations to learn, including daily routines with Brain Dance.
Ashley Johnson with all PreK classes in Living Sky.
PreK Dance ArtsSmart final 2015
Inspiring Movement, dance education website 

2015: "In the Mess: Learning through Shadow Play" ArtsSmart
Abstract images, puppets, seeds, film, shadows and juxtaposed ideas layer through light and projections to create shadow plays. 
Tamara Unroe with North Battleford Comprehensive High School.
Final Report and documentation

2016: "I Can Dance My Learning" ArtsSmart
Dancer and dance educator, Ashley Johnson, worked with 6 schools to build teacher confidence to provide learning that includes Creative Dance and Brain Dance routines. Students learn the vocabulary of Dance, dancing their feelings by using the concepts of dance.
Inspiring Movement website for documentation, videos and lessons.