Testimonials

Meet the Masters is proud to work with students across the United States and Canada. Here are some of the states that have recently purchased the MTM art curriculum: Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin.

Meet the Masters often receives testimonials from very satisfied teachers, parents and schools.  We always enjoy getting your feedback.  Here are a few recent comments:

Public / Private Schools

On a personal note, THANK YOU for the amazing program you have put together for kids to gain art appreciation and become little art masters themselves. I am a HUGE art lover and to see my daughters and my students enthralled by the masters of our time is a joyous sight! They are having a ball and it is taking our instructional program to a new richness and depth. Thank you again!

Malena P.
First Grade Dual Immersion Teacher
Norton Space & Aeronautics Academy

The [Meet the Masters] program is excellent and meets all of the National Visual Arts Standards.

Susan Denvir
JFK Center For the Performing Arts, DC

My name is Michelle J. and I am a parent of a first grader at Vista Del Mar and chair of this program for the 2010-2011 school year for our k-5th graders. Little did I know when I signed up for this job that it was the “favorite” program of our teachers and students! Somehow Bonnie Steele (MTM founder) has managed to bring together top notch art educators who tell a story about the artists in the form of an assembly and then sends in teachers to instruct the students in the classroom. The students come home with some incredible art pieces that they will most likely keep forever. Best of all they make it so fun and interesting that the students remember details about the artists’ life, and their masterpieces. My daughter would come home from kindergarten and tell me about Matisse or Rembrandt and she still recognises paintings when she sees them. Bonnie has made “Art into Science” by they way she has organized her materials. Anyone can learn very quickly how to coordinate the cutting, sorting organizing and delivering of the art supplies and projects to the classroom. The end result is fantastic and the lifelong impressions are invaluable! This is one program our PTA insists upon and I can tell you from first hand experience the parents are very impressed too!!!

Thank you Bonnie for developing a fantastic program for our “young impressionables” I sure wish I had a program like this when I was impressionable! Its never too late for me to learn however, so I take the opportunity to show up to an assembly and to also volunteer in my kids classroom when she has her Meet The Masters Day.

If you decide to sign up and need any help or advice please don’t hesitate to contact me. I have lots of good tips!

Sincerely,
Michelle J.
Vista Del Mar Parent
San Clemente, CA

I love your program and how it keeps the arts alive in our schools.

Sincerely,

Rosalee Sparks
Placentia, CA Parent Volunteer

After we taught the Frederick Remington lesson, a family with 4 kids at our school were at a restaurant in Park City, Utah. The children saw a painting on the wall and said it looked like a Remington. When they checked the signature, they were right! After we taught the Vincent van Gogh lesson, a kindergarten student was at his aunt’s house. He was studying her calendar on the wall and announced that the picture was by van Gogh. Of course he was right. But more interesting is that it was a picture that we did not look at during our assembly. He picked out the style and technique as a van Gogh!

I have been teaching assemblies and some classroom lessons for 4 years at our school now. The children always say hello to me with a big smile on their faces where ever we meet. They are happy to see me because they LOVE our art program.

One spring, we had a special literacy and art evening at our school. The children displayed books they had written and illustrated during the year, and we had them select their favorite Meet the Masters art project from the 5 artists we had studied so far. We matted, labeled and hung over 900 pieces of artwork all over the walls of the gym. The effect was astounding and very emotional. The children were so proud of their work. It was a magnificent night!

Lisa Fowler
MTM Committee Chair
Willow Springs Elementary
Draper, UT

It’s an opportunity to include a number of other lessons… I’ve never seen a program that provides this integration, and goes beyond the silly, little holiday crafts.”

Karen Romito
Lakewood Asst. Principal

It has been a while since we have talked.  I wanted to tell you how wonderful the program is going here at our school.  The children are very engaged and enthusiastic at the start of every artist.  We are continually learning and developing new art skills.  The knowledge that the children are obtaining about different time periods and different styles of art is amazing.  The program is super easy to follow and the cost of materials for the projects has been minimal, which is great for a school on a tight budget.  I just wanted to say thank you for offering such a educational, user friendly, and economically sound program to the schools of this nation.

Thank You!
Paciencia Polk
Imagine Schools Tempe, AZ
paciencia.polk@imagineschools.com

As long as students, teachers, schools, and our communities are convinced that achievement is best illustrated as color and numbers on a chart or graph, as long as we are satisfied that education without the arts is education enough, we will continue to be left behind–left behind and left out of a world where thinking outside the bubble is not only a valued and sought-after trait but one necessary to our very survival.

Kim Labinger
California Teacher of the Year, 2005

This program is a great way for schools to include parent volunteers.J. R. Smith School in Heber, Utah won a statewide award for The Most Innovative Use Of Volunteers.

Janet McQuarre
Cultural Arts Chairman

“This really brings students out,” Beard said. “Some of the students who are so quiet really come alive when they become involved in these projects.”

Sandra Beard
Art Teacher

Parents tell me all the time, “It’s amazing my kids recognize this art when they see it in places.”

This also gives them a chance to touch professional-quality art supplies, too, and just get a taste of what’s out there at a young age!

Elizabeth Harrigan
Parent, Volunteer

On behalf of all the teachers and students of dePortola Elementary School, I’d like to commend you for providing an outstanding first year of Meet the Masters for our school. The quality of your program is excellent. The teachers felt their students truly learned to recognize the works and styles of the great masters that they were introduced to. We appreciated the variety of classroom art projects presented.

Dawn Gonzalez, our lecturer, was well liked by teachers and students. She is professional and responsive to each age group of students. I also found her to be excellent as our coordinator and workshop presenter. We felt very fortunate that she was with us.

Our principal, Bonnie Chadd, has also been enthusiastic and supportive of the Meet the Masters program. We both will always be pleased to recommend your program to other elementary schools.

Suzanne Helmstetter
Teacher, dePortola Elementary School

The children’s favorites were the truly creative explorations in the artists’ techniques, which, while implementing a particular style, allow a great measure of freedom in how one may use the method and media toward individual expression.

Shay Seaborne
VHEA

My 10-year-old daughter surprised me when she recognized a Picasso. “This was his blue period”, she said. “How did you know that”, I asked. Her reply was, “I learned about Picasso at Meet The Masters”. I’m thrilled our school supports this program!

Janet W.
Parent, Mission Viejo, CA

Homeschools

I just want to let you know that our co-op families have really enjoyed using Meet the Masters this year. Mothers have been thrilled with how easy it is to teach art, and the students have really enjoyed learning about the artists and completing art projects in which to be proud.

Last year, we hired a retired art teacher to teach our children.  They learned some technique for painting and drawing, but the kids were not very excited about the class.  This year, with Meet the Masters, the kids, who range from K-7th grade, anticipate each new project and artist.

This program is such an asset to the home school community which continues to grow. I hope you will make more tracks available soon.  We completed track A and most of B this year.  We will continue with the last 2 artists in B and then move on to C in the fall.  We’d love to do your complete program!

Sincerely,
Lori Berlie
Naples, Florida

I wanted to let you know how pleased I am with your Meet the Masters art program. I met you at a conference and ordered your material for my three girls. I have been so impressed with the quality of their art education and the beauty of the work they turn out. But, I knew that the program was truly working the other day at Mervyns.  My five-year-old looked down at the tile floor and said, “Look, Mom, they made their floor to look like Mondrian’s art work!” What integration into her life! I look forward to ordering your second set for next year!

Juile Gittins
Mother of CA Student

Overall, the kids enjoyed the program and I’m delighted that they often point out famous works of art when they see copies of them. One of my criteria for judging the value of programs such as this is to decide whether or not I’d be able to put it together myself just as well. In this case, there’s no way I could have done so. I would have had to be fairly knowledgeable about art (I’m not!) and I hadn’t even heard of 3 of these artists. I also appreciate a program where I I learn along with the kids and this was the case here.

Maureen Peters
HomeRules

If you’re looking to add some appreciation of fine art to your children’s schooling, consider Meet the Masters. We found the program very easy to work with and the art presentation was beautifully done and well thought out.  It was easy to work into our current curriculum schedule since it is not an everyday requirement. Plus, our children learned more than they did by visiting the local museum! Meet the Masters is a great product and one any homeschooler will be glad they purchased!

Homeschool Internet Yellow Pages Staff

We have been doing 1 MTM lesson each month and have done 5 lessons so far. I do not have any artistic ability whatsoever, so I really didn’t know how well it would go to have me leading my daughter in the art projects. The instructions are so clear and easy to follow that she is coming up with some truly quality work. I’m surprised and very pleased. I also love the art history portion of the lessons AND the low cost of the necessary art supplies. It’s obvious that the creators of this program did everything they could to keep the cost of the supplies as low as possible. I have already purchased most of the supplies needed for all 3 Tracks (ages 10 to adult) and the total cost for one child for all 21 lessons will probably end up costing about $75. (It could easily be even less if you happen to have some basic supplies such as oil pastels, chalk, watercolor pencils, etc. I didn’t have many of the basics that most families probably have already. Also, most of the materials needed are not totally consumed by one child in one lesson. Given that, each additional child would probably only cost a few extra dollars for the full program unless you have so many kids that you get to the point where you would need more than one box of oil pastels, chalk, etc.) My daughter is enjoying this so much that we are supplementing with some books & DVDs from the library. With those add ons, the once a month pace is very comfortable and allows us to take the time to really get to know each artist.”
Dawn R.

We have been using this weekly, and the kids are enjoying it greatly. I like that you see many different pieces of artwork by an artist, and that each segment focuses on one main term or technique. The kids enjoy the projects; we have a whole wall full of their work. They can easily pick out artwork done by the artists they’ve studied when they see it in a book or museum.

I don’t usually buy ‘scripted’ programs, but in this case it’s helpful because it gives me a breather on the teaching end.

A caution: We are using the age 10+ curriculum, and there’s nothing in it that’s too hard for my 7yo. If you’re planning to use it with children older than about age 10, or with kids who know a lot about art, or with a gifted child, you’d probably want to add more in-depth art history and/or projects.”
Julia A.

I have found Meet-the-Masters easy to follow and implement and have been impressed with the quality of instruction. My family looks forward to learning different aspects of each studied artists’ life, technique, and style.”
Julie Lutz

I am using MTM for ages 10+ with my children who are 7, 10 and 11. I use the curriculum weekly for fine arts. I like that we gain knowledge and also have some hands-on reinforcement. We started with Vincent VanGogh and my kids really like the curriculum so far. We are looking forward to learning about the other artists.”
Diana S.

This is a wonderful program that my 6th grader, 12th grader and myself are enjoying. I highly recommend it!”
Christel M.

I like that this program has a written script (you print) to go along with their visuals. The art projects are clearly explained and we can’t wait to work through the rest of the program. My seven year old son is enjoying hisart program.”
M. McKerley