Art student Clara Lowder primed for Chilean Mission through Art Department partnership with i.d.e.a Museum
Department of Art student Clara Lowder was featured in the College of Fine Arts and Communications’ annual campaign, “Arts & Comms: Behind the Stories,” which launched its fourth season during the Fall 2024 semester. The aim of this video campaign is to highlight mentored, student-led projects and share the life-changing experiences students are enjoying in- and outside of the classroom. Thanks to generous donors and excellent educators, this season will feature students from the Department of Art, the Department of Theatre and Media Arts and the Department of Design.
Lowder began her art degree program before going on a mission to Santiago Chile, where she is currently serving a mission. She and other students strengthened families through animation with department mentors and i.d.e.a Museum staff in Mesa, Arizona. The museum is interactive, serving families in Mesa for more than 40 years.
The students began by having children draw simple animal characters with markers. They cut out the drawings and used pins to turn them into puppets, showing which parts of the drawing would move and how. Then they worked with the children using animation software to bring their characters to life.
“It [was] my first time working in a museum and I absolutely [loved] working with the children,” said Lowder in an interview on site. “This has been the perfect training for me to become an art educator. This field study has helped me grow spiritually to prepare for my mission and in communicating with other people.”
“There is a spiritual nature to this work, learning to be together, work together,” said Fidalis Bueler, a mentor on the trip and associate professor in the Department of Art. “The human family is really diverse and learning to understand each others’ voice is important.”
Jarrad Bittner, director of i.d.e.a., said he hopes the partnership between BYU and i.d.e.a. Museum continues in years to come because of the “big impact” on the community. “The families and students that come through our doors see these BYU students as mentors. The children are really excited to engage with the students, to look at how they can become these students.”