Davidson Playschool students are entering the world of visual arts this spring thanks to a recently received $4,180 Creative Partnerships Explorations grant.

Terra Fazakas, grants representative with the Davidson Playschool Association, said they are putting the grant money towards bringing visual artist Derek Pho to the classroom in early May to help the 42 kids who attend the playschool to create a papier måché project. She said the two-, three- and four-year-old students would compile the hands-on piece into a larger-than-life local wildlife animal.

“Our focus is going to be on sustainability,” said Fazakas. “It’s got an environmental twist and it’ll be how the community interacts with your surroundings. It’ll be an animal that is local to Saskatchewan in our area that’s native in a local environment.”

Fazakas said the project is still in the development stage, but what would likely happen is the kids would create small shapes individually before combining them to make a bigger shape. She said the playschool, which is located in a room at Davidson School, would have the artist come in for two days to work with the students and give them directions on how to build the papier måché animal.

This is the first time the Davidson Playschool Association has been awarded a Creative Partnerships Explorations grant. The grant program’s mandate is to explore how the visual arts can enhance environmental stewardship within the classroom and funding partners include the Saskatchewan Arts Board, SaskCulture Inc., Saskatchewan Lotteries and the Saskatchewan Ministry of Education.

“We hope to do more (Creative Partnerships Explorations projects) in the future,” said Fazakas. “This one is actually geared towards communities. We hope to be involving local businesses and local groups and volunteers from the town for recyclable donations to help build the structure.”