Mike Little Art Instructor - Nebraska City Middle School My Pages Home Eagle Envelope Contact Information Related Links Nebraska City Public Schools ESU 4 Outside the Envelope Outside the Envelope is an interdisciplinary language and visual arts project for sixth grade students at Nebraska City Middle School. To celebrate Youth Arts Month - March 2003, sixth grade students in Mrs. Alison Wilson's language arts class wrote letters to visual artists and art educators across Nebraska. The students asked the artists about their work, what made them want to be an artist, who or what inspires them, and how they feel about art in general. Along with their letters, students worked with Mr. Mike Little, NCMS art instructor, to create artwork on their envelopes - envelope art. In their letters the students also asked the artists to respond with envelope art created in their own style. Nearly sixty of the eighty-nine artists contacted responded to the project. Some of the artists chose not to create an envelope but sent reproductions of their artwork instead. The envelope art received from the artists with comments from their letters were placed on display at the Morton James Public Library in Nebraska City from March until the middle of May. An article on the project also appeared in the Nebraska City News-Press on March 11, 2003. To view the Outside the Envelope Collection - click on a link below or use the scroll bar. Artists A to D E to J K to N O to S T to Z It’s interesting how different people’s opinions can be sometimes on what makes something good, what makes something pleasing to the eye. - Sophia Allison Like writers or poets, who express their feelings through the written word, I too express, in my sculpture, my reaction to events or ideas. - Ken Anderson I always wanted to be an artist. - John Berry Being an artist is very good because artists help people to see things in ways they might never have thought of. - James Bockelman At an early age I had the talent to draw and my teachers encouraged me. I wanted to use God’s gift of artistic talent so others could enjoy it. - Lawrence Bradshaw I like the freedom of my imagination. I like to think of an idea and then see it become something that others can respond to. - Susan Brasch I am a sculptor and like to work with clay and metals. Making sculpture is so enjoyable that I want to do it everyday. On the envelope are drawings of a sculpture I am making. I’m turning light bulbs into flying bats. - Les Bruning Encourage children to draw and paint and look and create. As Einstein said, ‘Imagination is more important than knowledge.’ - Nancy Childs I like doing prints of objects. I treat them like magnetic poetry, moving them around and combining them to ‘say’ different things. - Jayne Copple Whether you pursue a career in art or not, your enjoyment of it will enrich your life and bring you great satisfaction. - James Czarnecki Keep drawing. - Ken Darling It is important to find what you love to do in art or anything else and just do it and do it and do it and you will develop whatever skill you need. - Sally Dreyer When I travel I visit different museums and art galleries. It’s an overwhelming experience to see the originals of works one studied in books. - Carol Meis Ellington My inspiration was my 8th grade art teacher. He made it all so exciting. - Nancy Fairbanks Early on I figured out art was the thing I could do better than other pursuits and that I enjoyed it the most. It made sense to me to do the same thing for a living. - Paul Fell My biggest inspiration has been my family. My parents and siblings have always been very encouraging and supportive of my interest in art - Julie Fjell The more you draw the better you’ll get - Dona Golden I found a way to connect with myself and others through art and make a positive contribution to my community with it - Jaime Hackbart Art is easy in the sense of the desire to create. - Pearl Hansen Art is important to me because it allows me to think about the world in which I live in a visual and often non-verbal way. - Vince Hazen When I was four years old my parents bought me a really big box of Lego’s. I really liked building shapes. Today I create sculptures and wall reliefs for other people. - Milt Heinrich I think we are all artists. Being an artist means you appreciate the beauty in your surroundings, and you see things with great perception. Most importantly, art can communicate who we are and help us to understand others. - Donalyn Heise I work everyday at my art. I love making paintings. They make me feel good. I became an artist because I loved to draw as a child. I can’t imagine doing anything else. - Keith Jacobshagen I started to draw when I was very young. When I was in high school I took all the art classes I could. I went to college to become an art teacher. Now I practice my art fulltime. - Marcia Joffe-Bouska Being an artist is challenging, and always interesting. While researching for my projects, I learn about many things and travel to interesting places. I never know what adventure the next year will bring. - Sondra Jonson Not all artists are weird...but we try. - Howard Kaye What I like about my pottery is the actual making of it. My goal is to make better pots. That’s what gets me into the studio day after day, year after year. - Gail Kendall I started drawing when I was seven years old. - Farzan Kholousi I like clay because it seems to have ideas of it’s own. Some pieces are cooperative; some pieces are stubborn; some pieces become very different from my original idea; all give me more ideas. - Julie Kinkade Art is a continual learning process, you learn from others and then you take that and develop your own language of art. - Mary Kolar We need many good artists in our communities! - Karen Kunc I have loved art since I was in kindergarten - perhaps before. I remember enthusiastically raising my hand in class of hopes of being given the opportunity to use the painting easels during recess. The next morning, I would scan the walls to see my painting on display. - Lisa Lockman Art gives me a voice. I can say things that would be hard to say any other way. - Christine Kelly Lohr Art can make other people feel good. I like that. Most of all though I like being an artist because I can listen to loud music all day and get really messy. Plus, I don’t have to wear shoes. - Jean Mason I do brick sculpture of things that can be used and looked at. It’s important for me to have people touch and use my stuff. - Michael Morgan I love looking at art, talking about it, thinking about it. I never tire of spending time at a gallery or museum and studying the way an artist approaches their work. - Marlene Mueller I love art because it’s so creative and honest. - Julia Noyes Whatever you do, if you don’t become an artist at least become an art lover. - Beth O’Hanlon Art can be like stepping blocks or sometimes like stumbling blocks. - Kathy Puzey The reality of art is that it is communication, not just a picture of something. - Amy Sadle I like the creative challenge that art presents and the pure satisfaction of creating a work of art. - William Schlaebitz Each new work is a challenge and an enjoyable visual puzzle. I never really know the outcome until I have completed the joining of the pieces. - Robert Schwieger Inspiration came from an admiration of the art and artist’s works that I’d see in museums, as well as restaurants, businesses, etc. I’d always stop and take a look and wonder and admire the talent. - Dottie Seymour Creating my own original designs is a natural part of what I do....like breathing, or laughing, or enjoying my friends. Doing my artwork adds so much pleasure to my life, and in turn, it adds happiness to others who invest in my creativity. - Liz Shea-McCoy My interest in art has given me the opportunity to meet many interesting people and to have had many interesting experiences. - Leland Sherwood Keep drawing! - Nancy Siegert Fill your life with COLOR! - Linda Smith I loved art class the most in school - Starla Stensaas Art work has endless variety and is continually engaging - Wayne Stroot I get satisfaction from creating artworks. It is rewarding and challenging. - Robert Therien I hope that you will always make a place for art in your life. - Frances Thurber I guess I have always been interested in art and as a young adult decided I had a passion for it and therefore should persue it. - John Vanman I think there are many reasons for being an artist, but the main one is my feeling that art helps us understand ourselves better. - Randy Waln I’m not certain who or what inspired me to be an artist, or just to make things,...it’s just something I’ve always done. - Sandra Williams I draw my picture with a pencil and use a computer to finish the drawing - William Wolfram The beauty of the environment that I live in inspires me to make art. I think Nebraska has countless scenes to admire, to paint or to just enjoy. - Gary Zaruba   Nebraska City Public Schools and Educational Service Unit #4, Auburn, Nebraska