Laurie Bellet, co-chair of the CAJE Art Network and Art Specialist at the Oakland Hebrew Day School, teaches for Jewish education programs nationwide and is a sought after curriculum consultant in Jewish Art Education. She is the author of The Reluctant Artist, The BJL Mitzvot Teacher Guide, she has also co-created many classroom texts such as The Tiyulim Classroom Activity Book, Hebrew Reading Adventure and The Aleph to Tav Activity Book.
When I was a little girl, I desperately wanted to be “good” in art. It seemed to me that my friends needed nothing more than paper and crayons to create magic! Inevitably, my mother had to break the news to me. She informed me, with gentle honesty, that I had absolutely no artistic talent.
This recollection confirms for me what I now know to be absolutely true. Any teacher, even with no artistic background, no innate skill, and no confidence can create a wonderfully meaningful classroom art program.
A Holocaust installation piece coordinated by Laurie and executed by her students is featured in the December ’07 issue of SchoolArts Magazine.
TAPBB 
Laurie,
I love your idea for Kristallnact. Another direction to take is to have students bring in old yartzheit candle holders to decorate with the colored paper, possible stained glass paint, and the broken glass. Or even glass boxes that a Shoah Yartzheit candle can be placed in annually for the commemoration.
Thank you so much for this wonderful idea!!
Laurie,
I very much want to set up a Friendly Loom in my K, 1st, and 2nd grade reading support classroom. I am drawn to your examples I saw on the Art website. Could you give me any hints on how to go about removing, finishing off, adding beads etc. to the children’s weavings?
Thanks for your generous, creative spirit.
Pam Wamberg