Hundreds of Abilene ISD students across the district celebrated Big Art Day on Thursday, March 7, with plenty of paint, markers, and creative ideas as they participated in the Texas Art Educators Association’s initiative to raise awareness of art education and art as a creative force in communities across the state.

The TAEA’s goal with Big Art Day is to engage all educators, their students, and communities in a single-day art event. Abilene ISD Coordinator of Fine Arts, Brady Sloane-Duncan, directed the district’s efforts with students at Austin and Stafford elementary schools, Craig, Mann, and Madison middle schools, and Abilene High School and Cooper High School.

Here is how each of the seven campuses celebrated Big Art Day:

Austin Elementary School: Students colored a Big Art Day bookmark in their classrooms throughout the school day.

Stafford Elementary School: The campus hosted a family night, allowing each student and their family to engage in literature and art.

Craig Middle School: Craig students were allowed to create sidewalk chalk art in the school’s courtyard at the back of the campus. 

Mann Middle School: Every student participated during their homeroom class, allowing each to color a letter from the word LOVE, which was then put together as a mural that will be displayed in the cafeteria for the rest of the school year.

Madison Middle School: The students at Madison got into the spirit of the NCAA Basketball Tournament by creating an “Art History March Madness Bracket” that was hung outside the art room.

Abilene High School: The Art I class went outside for a “pARTy outside!” in the form of sidewalk chalk. Some students also took a field trip to the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin to see student artwork in a state-wide event. One of those pieces was created by their classmate, freshman Hollie Nowlan, whose piece titled “Calmness” was on display for the last month at the museum.

Cooper High School: The Cougars who participated in Big Art Day this year weren’t on the Cooper campus, but they were on campus. It just happened to be about 715 miles to the west on the campus of Chinle (Arizona) Elementary School. The Cooper Student Council members who went on the group’s 21st trip to the Navajo Nation participated by joining the Chinle students to complete a large paint-by-numbers painting that was hung in the school gym.