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Enlighten Me: Teaching kids to see the world as artists

Wilmington abstract artist Ellen Priest has painted countless works - including a 17-year ongoing series of her expressions of various jazz recordings.

Credit Karl Malgiero/Delaware Public Media
Abstract painter Ellen Priest inside her Wilmington home and studio.

Throughout her career she's also instructed students and educators alike on techniques she's developed while working in her own studios -- and a year ago launched a website - EyeballItArt4Kids.org - where she's used her teaching experience with elementary art students to create a series of free and accessible art projects for children to do at home along with a parent or guardian.

As schools let out and parents scramble to find activities to keep kids busy that don't include tablets and television -- Eyeball It presents a unique opportunity for them to foster fine-art skills at a very young age while disconnecting from the ever more ubiquitous and two-dimensional world of digital devices.

Priest says Eyeball It relates her proven techniques for getting kids to use their brain and their eyes - teaching them to see their environment as an artist would.

"The life of Eyeball It really isn’t on the website. Eyeball It is a quick transmission of the instructional material in a way that’s free and accessible.”

On this week's Enlighten Me Delaware Public Media's Karl Malgiero sat down with Priest - who explained how getting kids to use their brain and their eyes - teaches them to relate their surroundings through the artistic skills they'll learn along the way.

This piece is made possible, in part, by a grant from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency dedicated to nurturing and supporting the arts in Delaware, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts.