CES artists work with animal shelters on adoption campaign
Chester. The students’ artwork will be on display at the upcoming Budget Vote Art Show on May 21.
Chester /
| 07 May 2024 | 10:43
The students worked with representatives from both the Blooming Grove and Warwick Valley humane societies to raise awareness of cats in need of adoption. (
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What better way to be inspired than to have some one on one time with a couple of feline models. (
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An artist at work, highlighting a cat in need. (
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Third graders at Chester Elementary School have been hard at work on a community-centered campaign that’s had them combining their literacy and art knowledge in new ways. Visual art teacher Emily Daunicht organized the cross-curricular lesson, which teaches students how art can be used to bring attention to important causes.
The students have been combining their art and writing skills to work with representatives from both the Blooming Grove and Warwick Valley humane societies to raise awareness of cats in need of adoption, especially at a time of year when shelters often find themselves caring for new litters of kittens.
“It’s a lot of cats,” Daunicht, said with a smile. “In fact, just about every student – the entire third grade – has had their own cat to focus on.”
Daunicht said that each student painted a portrait of their cat in art class and used some of their literacy class time to write persuasive essays about the benefits of adopting a cat from the humane society.
“They did such great research and included information from the Warwick Valley and Blooming Grove websites,” said Daunicht. “Their essays get very specific, including any special needs their cat has, if it requires medications, or if it’s part of a bonded pair. They incorporated all that information into their writing.”
The next part of the plan is to put the artwork and essays in front of the public to raise awareness and, paws crossed, result in some adoptions. As such, Daunicht is planning to show the students’ work at the upcoming Budget Vote Art Show on May 21.
“When we display them, we’ll be including QR codes linked to the adoption details of the exact cat featured in each picture,” she said.
Leading up to the big exhibit, the students have also organized a donation box at Chester Elementary, where anyone can drop off donations for the humane societies. That can include anything from food to towels to toys. Everything the students collect will be delivered to the humane societies following the Budget Vote Art Show on May 21.