For the past three weeks, Beth Shadur has been commuting between Highland Park and Charleston because she is the Artist in Residence for the fall.

Shadur has spent the time commuting in order to complete the program, which actually takes place all over Coles County and parts of central Illinois.

Kit Morice, a curator of the Tarble Arts Center, who organized the program, said program brings a professional artist into local schools to expose children to different types of art and allows them to further their skills.

“It allows smaller schools who wouldn’t be able to afford to host an artist like this on their own to still get the benefits,” Morice said.

This year Shadur will visit Pathways School, an alternative school in Greenup, Humboldt TLC in Humboldt and Jefferson Elementary in Charleston.

Every year they partner with different area schools and a new artist, Morice said.

The program is typically aimed at students in the sixth grade or older but depending on the school they may work with younger students as well, Morice said.

After years of organizing the program, Morice said she realizes how much adolescents need art as an outlet.

“We’ve had teachers come up to us after the program and say ‘this is what they need every day,’” Morice said.

Along with visiting one of the partner schools each week, Shadur also, teaches a core group at the Tarble two day a week for two hours. The group is composed of teens, adults and school-aged children.

They are working on constructing artist books that combine watercolor paintings they have created and poetry they have selected or created.

“It is exciting because it is intergenerational, we have a mother-daughter team, a 15-year-old boy and his older neighbor who are good friends,” Shadur said. “I’ve been doing this type of book project since I met a poet in an artist colony.”

Morice said Shadur encourages students to show their work and has convinced students in the past to work up the courage to showcase their pieces.

The planning for the program actually begins months in advance because it is funded by grants through the state of Illinois and the artist is selected from a pre-approved list from the state. Shadur has been on the list since the ’80s and said she values these types of programs.

“The arts council pays 60 percent and we and our sponsors pay the rest,” Morice said. “We pick an artist off the list and plan all of the projects a head of time when writing the grant.”

The program runs through Dec. 13 when the Tarble will host a reception for all of the students who participated and their parents to see their work displayed.

Amy Wywialowski can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].