The Cupertino Courier

Riding to schools with the A-Team

By Steve Enders

Elle Arnot calls her group "The A-Team."

Like the characters in the popular 1980s television show--minus the guns and fighting--the team members pull up in their van, jump out in their colorful jumpsuits and raid local schools with a mission--to teach diversity through art and music.

This "Art Team" is really called the Children's Art Studio and is ready again this fall to go to Sunnyvale and Cupertino schools to fulfill that mission.

Arnot runs the program, which will visit 15 Cupertino schools starting Oct. 15, as well as West Valley and Fairwood elementary schools in Sunnyvale.

Arnot and her 15 employees teach a series of after-school and weekend art classes that explore everything from the foundations of art to ceramics and architecture.

It's the combination of art and fun that she says excites kids.

"When you're teaching a child, you have to give them things that are fun. It may be frivolous to an adult, but it doesn't need to be so serious," Arnot says from her Campbell home, which doubles as a music and art studio.

In her home, she gives personal and group art lessons, while her partner, Ras Manos, gives lessons in African drumming. Their living room and dining areas have little furniture, only musical instruments. Walk outside, and the backyard is filled with knickknacks and gadgets that Arnot will incorporate into her lessons.

She and Manos team up, combining media occasionally, as they did this summer at Cupertino's Quinlan Community Center. There, they entertained about 20 students in a fine art, music and martial arts class.

Arnot says she gets satisfaction from seeing kids from different backgrounds come together to be creative. Her ultimate goal is to have larger versions of her house--filled with instruments and art supplies--on every corner, just like Starbucks Coffee and Noah's Bagels.

"Some rare bird who has money, vision and kindness will figure it out, and Manos and I will show up with the goods to deliver," Arnot says on the prospects of bringing art and music to the masses.

Arnot inherited the Children's Art Studio in 1991, when its founder, Karen Shellammer, developed Parkinson's disease and could no longer run the business. Arnot says Shellammer was an art historian who was devoted to teaching art to children in San Jose. Arnot crossed paths with Shellammer while volunteering in Cupertino's schools.

"I've stayed with her vision but expanded it," Arnot says.

Arnot says that since many art programs were cut from schools as a way to save money, kids have missed out on a great opportunity to learn about art. In the after-school programs, Arnot and her A-Team teach the foundations of art, which include shape, color, space, form and line. Within those art lessons, Arnot tells children about cultures--like African, Asian and Native American--that are often forgotten when it comes to discussions about art.

Arnot, who studied in France for her master's degree in fine art, also likes to incorporate architecture into her lessons because in Europe, architects were required to be total artists. Buildings in California don't reflect any artistic thought, she believes, so she hopes she can light a fire under future architects so they'll become more well-rounded in art.

Pat McCaw, a fifth-grade teacher at West Valley Elementary School, said that Arnot's art classes have greatly benefited her students. This fall will be the second year her students have gone through the art-in-school program.

"It's a very well-rounded program," McCaw said. "They're wonderful with kids. The children really relate to [the instructors'] uniqueness."

Arnot requires her employees to be entertaining in addition to being good art instructors.

Beginning Oct. 14, McCaw's students will begin a 15-week program, where children will be exposed to the foundations for an hour a day, once a week.

"I'm so glad we're able to do it. It's a vital part of a child's educational experience," she said.

Arnot also runs Saturday morning art programs at the Cupertino Union Church, and offers art programs for ADHD children. For more information, call CAS at 366-0111.

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