To Begin, Begin.

Welcome to the United States of Art blog!

My name is Catherine Rose Weide. I am an elementary Art teacher with a passion for art history, cultural traditions, and making cross-curricular connections.

I am starting this blog as a way to give back to the online art education community that has already given me so much. Without all of the amazing, generous art teachers out there who post lesson plans, advice, and inspiring photos, well, I would probably have left the profession. The experiences I've had in my (relatively) short career have varied from the hilarious and heart-warming to the utterly disastrous. Most teachers out there have probably felt the same way at one point or another, and maybe even in the same day. To keep myself balanced, and tipped toward the more rewarding, I am going to celebrate the successes I have with my students so that other teachers looking for inspiration can find a photo, comment, or idea that sparks greatness in their own classrooms.

Speaking of inspiration, just about everyone in the world is probably on Pinterest and this platform is such as exceptional resource, especially for teachers. I hope this blog can be a beautiful blend of all the ideas and formats I've seen on other sites. So my promise is to post great pictures, detailed descriptions, and helpful links that create a complete lesson. Best of all, the majority of what I post will be completely free to access. Like I mentioned earlier, I wouldn't be where I am today without the truly generous spirit of so many teachers who take their precious time to share materials with the world.

Through this process of sharing the good, maybe the bad, and hopefully never the ugly, I will be doing my best to develop an uncommonly good Visual Art curriculum for Kindergarten-Grade 5. From one teacher-learner to another I wish you the best and hope we will help one another out today!

Artfully,

Catherine