Most elementary school art classes encourage students to experience the world of art through exploration and creativity, but Bette Fetter, founder and CEO of Young Rembrandts, a free-market after-school program, says that’s not enough to instill a love of art in children. For students to succeed, teachers also must provide guidance and step-by-step instruction.
“It’s a notion accepted across the board in education: to give children information in the arts is to stifle their creativity,” Fetter said. “Art is approached as something experiential, but we don’t give children any structure or foundational information.”
That’s why Fetter launched Young Rembrandts in 1988. The privately funded, for-profit program is available to public school students as an after-school class once a week. It operates as a franchise in 27 states and serves as many as 40,000 students each week.
Instructors use a methodological approach that guides children from simple painting and drawing to complex images. Each lesson is based on a theme, such as African safari, and allows students to go from a blank sheet of paper to a complete picture.
“Our goal was to develop an approach that still allowed for a child’s individual creativity,” Fetter said. “By doing that, the kids have tremendous success and are able to draw at higher levels for their age.”
It’s a method that Fetter hopes will excite parents in North Carolina. Young Rembrandts classes could be available in Raleigh, Durham, Charlotte, Gastonia, and some rural regions of the state in the coming months. The program already serves 500 students a week in Guilford and Forsyth counties.
Marilyn Culp oversees the program in the Triad. She decided to launch a franchise after learning about the methods Young Rembrandts uses. “I am a self-identified nonartist, which is one of the reasons I feel so strongly and passionately about the program, because the principles of art instruction it espouses are great,” Culp said.
Culp serves in a managerial role and hires teachers for each class. She has classes operating in 30 schools in Guilford and Forsyth counties, with as many as 2,000 students participating at one time. Three new classes are starting in Greensboro and one in Winston-Salem for 2008-2009 school year.
Plans for the Triangle include territories in Raleigh and Durham representing a combined 200 elementary schools and 450,000 elementary students. Franchise opportunities are also available in Charlotte and Gastonia.
Kaye Shaver, assistant principle at Claxton Elementary in Greensboro, said that Young Rembrandts has been a “rewarding addition” to the school. “Students are enthusiastic about their art classes and often stop me in the hallway to proudly point out their displayed work,” she said. “The fundamental techniques of drawing they are taught in Young Rembrandts increases their creativity, self-expression, and communication.”
Parents are also pleased with the program. “My kids are thoroughly enjoying the classes this fall,” said Bethany Carter, a Greensboro parent with two children enrolled in the classes. “Nowadays we spend so much time running here and there getting our children to extracurricular activities that I am thrilled to have them offered at school.”
Go to www.youngrembrandts.com to learn more.
David N. Bass is an associate editor of Carolina Journal.