The U.S. Postal Service anticipates hauling 1.2 billion cards across the country — and included in that total are warm wishes for a happy yuletide season from Canyons District.
For the 10th year, Canyons District has created — then dropped into the mailbox for letter carriers to deliver around the world — holiday cards featuring student artwork.
A trio of Sprucewood Elementary fourth-grader students created the design for the District’s 2023 holiday card, which has been sent to local mayors, city councils, legislators, CSD’s major donors, community partners, Utah’s Congressional delegation and the Office of First Lady Dr. Jill Biden at the White House.
With holiday twinkles in their eyes, Alison Little, Mazie Morgan and Ashlyn Richards say they all worked for days on their art projects, done as an assignment in Kristen Benshoff’s class.
Benshoff’s students took on the challenge of creating faux stained-glass depictions of evergreens as part of a chalk art project. The class projects are prominently displayed at Sprucewood, and three of the pieces, created by Little, Morgan, and Richards, were chosen to be showcased on CSD’s card.
Morgan said she likes the brilliant colors in her piece, Richards says the colors in her design are reminiscent of the aurora borealis, and Little is proud of the look of the tree in her creation.
As a Beverley Taylor Sorenson arts school, Sprucewood Elementary receives grant funding from the Utah State Office of Education to deliver arts-integrated instruction.
Sprucewood Principal Cathleen Schino says arts are an integral part of the curriculum.
Benshoff’s class used black glue to create the line breaks, or the “lead” to visually separate the sections of the drawings of the stained-glass windows. Once the glue was dry, students filled in the various shapes with chalk pastel, using corresponding colors to add a creative effect.
Students learned about shading, receding color palettes, and pigments as they created their own unique versions of a winter wonderland.
“I think my favorite part was the blending,” says Morgan. “It was the hardest part, too.”
Richards, who wants to be an artist when she grows up, says it was tough to keep the lines the same width.
For Little, the gluing proved difficult — but she is happy with how her piece came out. “The tree is super pretty,” she said.
In previous holiday seasons, students from Alta, Brighton, Corner Canyon Hillcrest, Jordan and Jordan Valley have provided the artwork for the District’s through-the-mail season’s greetings.
