Caroline ETTIG teaches art in French at a public charter school French-immersion school in California. In 2022, she organized an exhibition at The Barlow for her students’ artwork. The Barlow is a 12-acre Bay Area outdoor market district in Sebastopol, California featuring local food, wine, beer, spirits and crafts made onsite by Sonoma County artisans.
The exhibit took place late in October 2022, aiming to value Caroline’s gifted students and to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the creation of SRFACS by Najine and Nas Salamati, based on their original charter school schematic designed to bring French language fluency to students in Sonoma Valley. The themes of the exhibit were the Wolf and Community. Art projects were also connected to the French teachers’ individual work projects with their students.
“When given a teaching offer by our school principal, I was immediately integrated into the school culture and also the community. I could discover the school even though it was the Covid time and I felt at home, both with the school environment and in the community at large. Santa Rosa is the city where I live and actually I think I was looking for it. It is very close to the Redwood parks and to the ocean. Both trees and the ocean are necessary pieces in my life. And art.”
The exhibits were in 2 sections of the museum. I linked both spots by drawing our symbol on the sidewalk so that the people could follow the indications.
As soon as I discovered The Barlow in Sebastopol, I knew I wanted to organize an event there, an exhibition that would show our talented students. The Barlow has an energy of its own and besides it is an arty spot. I am grateful that both the school principal and the operations director for the Barlow trusted me.
The exhibit was a success and students were very proud to see their art projects displayed outside of the school!
And we have many other projects in the future. To be continued…
Caroline Ettig, December 2022