What do you get when you combine creativity, collaboration, and community? In this heartwarming episode, we take you inside West Community Credit Union’s annual Imagine Art Contest with Hazelwood School District elementary students.
You’ll meet the art teachers & students behind the project as well as a guest appearance from the Mayor of Florissant as we explore how one creative initiative brings education, community, and financial empowerment together under one very colorful roof.
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Transcript
Stephanie
Hello, can everybody hear me?
Welcome, welcome young artists and family to the Lawson, I’m gonna make sure you get all these right. Lawson, who’s Lawson? Hey, McNair? Yeah, Coldwater? McCurdy Elementary School’s fourth and fifth.
Host: Josh Rodriguez
Those are all elementary schools in the Hazelwood School District, just north of St. Louis, Missouri. Fourth and fifth grade art students and their families have gathered for what some call the Art Museum. It’s officially known as the West Community Credit Union Art Contest. However, unofficially, it has been coined the Credit Union Art Museum. It might just be the only one in the entire country.
Stephanie
We’re going to be giving out the awards in just a few minutes.
Josh
The voice you hear is Stephanie. She’s our community outreach representative and she’s hosting the award ceremony.
Stephanie
Someone who cares deeply about our community and the arts. Please give a nice warm welcome to the Mayor of Florissant, Mayor Lowry.
Mayor Lowry
Thank you so much, Stephanie. I appreciate it. It’s great work here, guys. You did a great job. Love looking at it all. So I grew up in this neighborhood. So certainly this brings back a lot of great memories for me. let’s say, oh yeah, that’s right. This used to be Blockbuster. That’s right. You know, I was trying to remember what this Years ago, the credit union branch used to be a Blockbuster video store.
My wife Lori’s with me. We have several events this evening, but I want to make sure I stop by here and see who wins these at Greater Wall.
Josh
Sounds like the beginning of a terrible dad joke. One day, a bunch of fourth and fifth graders, a mayor, and a credit union employee named Stephanie walk into an art museum, which used to be a blockbuster video store and is now a credit union branch.
Stephanie
Thank you Mayor for being here to support these great young artists.
Josh
Welcome to episode six of Banking on You with a Credit Union Art Museum. I’m your host, Josh Rodriguez. Thank you so much for joining us.
Stephanie
I’m Stephanie Tyler. do community outreach and new business development at West Community and Tigers Community.
Josh
Stephanie is the mastermind behind West Communities Art Museum. Here’s a little bit of history.
Stephanie
About five years ago, I knew an art teacher actually in another city, an elementary school art teacher. And she was telling me about these art contests that her kids did and I thought, wow, that is a really cool concept and what a great idea. So I reached out to one teacher, Denise Curtis. She’s an elementary school art teacher, has been for many, many years. And I struggled when I found her at the time she was at Lawson Elementary here at the Hazelwood School District.
And she just rallied up some teachers and this is our fourth year. They always have three to four schools. They’re fourth and fifth graders. There’s usually 10 pieces of artwork per school. Our members vote on their favorite picture and so do the families. We have a little over a week to do that. Then we have a winner from every school. So a little bit later, we’re going to announce who got the most votes from each school and they will get a nice certificate along with $50 to be able to open an account here. However, everybody else gets a participation award as well.
Josh
And so the Credit Union Art Museum sprang to life.
Stephanie
It’s just been meaningful. had a student, her picture was about like animal rescue and things like that. And she took that $50 and put it toward chips or something for animals or special collars. Like she took her win and tied it into her art.
The themes have been different every year. can’t remember all of them. This year it’s adventure.
Josh
I doubt many of you have ever toured an art museum inside of a credit union branch. So, together, let’s browse the hall. Yes, just one, of this fine institution. I hope you’re a fan of adventurous elementary art. I know I am.
Just walking around looking at the different art projects here, all with the theme of adventure and …vivid imaginations of the kids that have participated. A of space adventure pictures, one with a NASA rocket blasting off one that’s already in space. have an astronaut, another beautiful painting, sandcastle with the sun in the background. A mural of sorts of different adventure pictures cut out. Looks like some Boy Scouts things, different things. Another of mountains with the sun setting behind mountain peaks.
Canoe camping, another space rocket, just some really amazing imaginations. Some more mountains. Looks like road trip was on the mind of another student. A road trip adventure would be through the desert to find a carnival with camels.
I would stop at every gas station for snacks. Awesome. Another very colorful landscape with mountains, sharply pointed mountains in the background, lots of purples and pinks. My adventure would be going to Crater Lake with the Northern Lights in the sky. I would love to climb the mountain and watch the Northern Lights all night. It’s awesome. Crater Lake, another. I would go to a grass plains with a cave that has treasure in it. The mountains behind it contain more treasures.
Riley
So this is, I’ll point out, so this is, hi, hi Noah. Hi. This is Sandy, Sandy’s right there. She’s a fourth grade student.
Josh
Riley teaches art at McCurdy Elementary. Ten of her 550 art students participated in this year’s contest, and several attended the ceremony.
Riley
And this is where’s Noah’s. This is Noah’s. He’s another, he’s a fifth grade student. Yes. Did you want to talk about your art at all? No? Okay. What about you Sandy? That’s what I figured. They’re a little bit shy. It’s okay. What about Bryn? Bryn. Hi. Where’s your, okay there. This is Bryn’s. Bryn, do you want to talk about your art at all?
Josh
The artists were all on the quiet side that day, but one brave creator eventually rose to the occasion and took a hold of the mic. Here she is.
Bryn
When I was thinking of adventure, I was thinking more like a sea and mountains. So I thought it would probably go well together. I got inspiration for the eye. For like eyes goes like with galaxy and stuff. So I just thought it probably go really well with it.
I want to make two dimension by the two dimension I met like type of dimension with beaches where you can go and travel to and everything else is basically like birds she wants to do a lot of like inspirational stuff like adventure and letting everything out she’s really great teacher whatever you can imagine.
Josh
The she the student is referring to is Riley, who by the way just completed her first year in the classroom. Congratulations Riley.
Riley
Okay, so yes, this is my first year and I am working at McCurdy right now as an art teacher. It was a crazy experience. K through five, I’ve worked with this age group before, definitely a very diverse group of people that I’ve been working with. Love them all. Nothing can prepare you for being the only art teacher in the room. Of course I have the student teaching and everything, but nothing can prepare me for almost 550 students. But I think I was as ready as I could be.
incorporating as many of their passions and hobbies as I can into the art so I make it as choice-based as possible that’s sort of my philosophy I don’t want to I don’t want to teach them something and all their art look the same I don’t want it to be a cookie cutter
Josh
So Riley kicked off the project by giving her class talking about adventure.
Riley
So first we had a discussion about what does adventure mean to you? Let’s give a definition. We looked up a basic definition and then we kind of went to the onside tangents of what does that mean? What is it? What do you picture in your head? And I had one of my students that’s here tonight. He gave me an entire like mental image of what adventure means to him and he was like imagine you are walking through the mountains with a backpack on and it just created so many great conversations and that’s where we started.
Josh
Inspiration is the most effective tool in a teacher’s toolkit.
Riley
I just hope as many of my students show up as possible. They’ve been super, super excited about this. They’ve been talking about it all week, so I just hope they have a good time here.
Denise
Denise Curtis Lawson Elementary. This is my 24th year in the Hazelwood School District. Yes, I teach elementary art pre-k through fifth. What I like the most about teaching art is just how creative the kids are and the pure joy that I get from it and that they get from it and just have just see them being so beaming and proud of their work.
Josh
That’s Ms. art teacher, Lawson Elementary. Her eyes light up like the 4th of July. When she talks about teaching art, I would love for you to have seen this. There is no question where her inspiration comes from.
Denise
The kids. I think one of the key components to being a teacher is that you have to love kids and you kind of feed off of their energy and then they also drive you to become better and you know challenge yourself and keep challenging them as well. So I like to just give them the skills so I like showing them how to use the materials but then leaving the lessons open-ended and letting them kind of problem-solve how to get there and then me just kind of scaffold their learning and kind of be just sort of a guide to help them along their way.
Our theme this year was adventure and the most inspiring thing to me is that I’ll say hey this is what we’re doing and you’re gonna go on an adventure so let’s visualize what that might be and just the excitement you can just see it and feel it in their bodies and then they just immediately sit down and draw and that’s just something that I’m a little jealous of because I’m more of a I have to plan and think but with these younger kids they just immediately I already know.
Like, I want to go to the Arch, but I don’t like where it is, so I want it to be underwater. You know, and I’m like, how did you even think of that? You know? She’s like, well, I like the Arch, it just needs to be in a different place.
I think every kid in my school wants to be in this. Really? Yeah, I even got a note from a first grader last week that said, can I please do harder paintings so I can be in the art museum next year. So the older kids are really prideful about this and they talk about it and the possibility of winning money. So then the younger kids are even inspired. Like when I’m in fourth or fifth grade, they look forward to this being something. As they call in this the art museum.
Josh
From blockbuster video location to credit union branch. Then a transformation to an art museum through the eyes of an ambitious first grade art student. So there it is. The Art Museum.
Stephanie
Thank you Mayor for being here to support these great young artists. As we’re looking at these beautiful, beautiful pieces of artwork, you have to remember that this year’s theme was adventure. So it kind of does take you on an adventure just looking through them. We got over 100 votes this year. So that says a lot about your artwork. So now I’m going to turn this over to Devon Cromwell, who is the branch manager here.
So Devin’s going to announce the winners. Devin?
Devin
All right. The moment is now here. The reason why everybody is here.
Josh
A branch manager, Devin obviously looks forward to this event every year.
Devin
First off, we’re going to announce the winners for Lawson Elementary and the student with the Lawson Elementary is…
Forgive us for the choppy audio, but we’re intentionally editing out the kids names. So I appreciate your patience.
Devin
All right. Now we’re going to move on to McCurdy. All right. Next from McNair Elementary.
The student with the most votes from McNair Elementary is right. And lastly, the student with the most votes from Coldwater Elementary. Like I said, Lassie, thank you. Please stick around for pictures. We have pieces and other refreshments.
Josh
The significance of the Credit Union Art Museum goes deep. It’s so much more than just elementary art hanging on cubicle walls in a credit union lobby. The lessons and effort Denise Riley and other teachers pour into these children will impact them far beyond the time they roam elementary school hallways.
Denise
Well, I’m at the age where I’m now having the children of students I’ve had. I have several at my school that I’ve already had their parents. But I have on Facebook, for example, I got a message the other day that said to my art teacher, wherever you are, I love you and miss you. And I thought, wow, I didn’t even realize. And I had to think for a second that, I do remember her. But it’s been 20 years.
So it’s kind of you don’t and then you you think wow I must have impacted them somehow and then I had quite a large pez collection I’ve had kids tell me that’s like my fondest childhood memory is seeing your pez collection in the room every day Little overwhelming sometimes yeah, you don’t realize but it also makes you mindful of You know what you are saying and doing with the kids you want to make sure you are making those positive impacts.
Riley
And I had some parents calling me and being like, hey, they’ve been talking non-stop about you. You’re telling them they’re such an amazing artist, and I love hearing that. They’re going to the parents, and their confidence is so much more boosted than it was before. That’s why I’m here.
Josh
Wow, both classrooms sound like fantastic places to learn. That kind of makes me wish I was an art student at Hazelwood School District. These adventurous young artists have a bright future. They may not be the next Gentileschi Rembrandt or Michelangelo, but if they grow into adulthood as admirers and lovers of fine art, Riley and Denise have accomplished their mission and fulfilled their calling. Well done.
For more information concerning the West Community Credit Union and Hazelwood School District Art Museum, contact Stephanie Tyler by email at [email protected]. That’s [email protected]. Thank you so much for listening to the Banking On You podcast. Please follow us on all the socials at bankingonyoupod. For show notes and additional info,
Visit our website, BankingOnYouPodcast.com. Many thanks to Kimberly Berzack for editing today’s script and for leading our creative marketing team and the rest of the team as well. Ashley and Lori, Stephanie, we’ll get to you in a minute. You are all an inspiration. Thanks, team. Brian Green was our on-site photographer and encourager extraordinaire. Glad to have you along, Brian. Looking forward to next time.
Huge thanks to Stephanie Tyler, along with Devin Cromwell for allowing us to experience the Credit Union Art Museum live and in person. What a great event. Thank you so much. Special thanks to Ms. Denise and Ms. Riley, two of our wonderful art teachers. You are both doing a fabulous job. Keep up the great work. Also thanks to Mayor Lowry, his wife, Lori, and Councilman Andrew Harris, all from the city of Florissant, for visiting the art museum. We appreciate it.
JD Sutter is our producer and Gandolf of Sound Design. The Banking on You podcast theme was composed by none other than Russ Whitelock. Thanks, Russ. Our executive producers are Jason Peach and Koren Greubel. The Banking on You podcast is powered by West Community and Tigers Community Credit Union. And I’m your host, Josh Rodriguez. Until next time, remember, we’re banking on you.
