A town that truly understands the value of art in building a unique, attractive and proud community.

A town that encourages every citizen to express themselves in works of public art.

A place where people of all ages and backgrounds come together to learn new skills with the intention of creating a better tomorrow.

After great success with the first Rainforest Art Program at Seeley Union Elementary School, the school has teamed up with the Rainforest Art Project along with Home Depot and the Naval Air Facility of El Centro, California to open their very own Rainforest Art Center.

The students and staff at Seeley Union Elementary School are very excited to continue the beautification of their campus and to participate with other Rainforest Art Centers in transforming the Imperial Valley.

The grand opening of the Rainforest Art Center Seeley will be

June 6, 2012 from 11:00a.m. - 1:00p.m.

Click here to learn more about Seeley School's first project.

Click here to read about it in the newspaper.

Click here to see Seeley on IV Newsday.

"It's my life's work. It's beautiful"

-Kate Ramirez, age 11, sixth grade

"It has a mohak. I drew it myself."

-Julio Morales, age 9, fourth grade

"A lot of the kids said 'that's my owl' or 'that is my cactus', it makes them feel proud that they contributed something to their school and it makes them feel a sense of ownership."

-Ruben Castro, Superintendent / Principal,

Seeley Union Elementary School

Burbank Elementary of Barrio Logan in San Diego is participating in the Rainforest Art Project program for the first time. This program is primarily led by the school's regular art teacher, Ms. Grossman with some support from Rainforest Staff in a revolutionary method of art instruction.

This after-school program is open to all grades and is proud to have the art-trained older students act as mentors to the younger kids.

Burbank Elementary is learning about the rich history of their neighboorhood and as a group they are creating a beautiful historically theme mural which will consist of a painted background and mosaics.

Click here to see some photos of the 5th grade session.

The Rainforest Art Project had the pleasure of working with Euclid Elementary fifth grade students for the first time earlier this 2011-2012 school year and hope to continue this upcoming year. Approximately one hundred students participated in creating what will be the first permanent art installation at their school. They learned to make ceramics from raw clay and used their new skill to each make a unique maple leaf which was developed individually by each student from concept to final creation while learning about composition, color theory, history of ceramics and mosaics, glazing, etc. Each leaf was finalized with the students initials. Students throughly enjoyed the process of mosaicking the sculptural tree trunk for their leafs at the same time that they learned the importance of team work, collaboration and mosaic history.

The installation is almost complete thanks to the wonderful team of volunteers without whom this would be impossible. Click here for photos of the progress.

Click here for photos of the kids working on their projects.

Rainforest Art Explorer Graduation is set to happen on May 23 at 8:45a.m.

All Euclid Elementary students, parents and staff are invited, we hope you can join us!

Go to Euclid Elementary Page

The art culture which has been taking over the Imperial Valley continues to spread throughout El Centro Elementary School District and the Rainforest Art Project is proud to welcome Harding Elementary School into their program. The program at Harding Elementary is very close to the heart of Rainforest instructor Doug Evers since this is a school where he once taught as a fifth grade teacher. During his years at the school he worked with the students to build and paint an very large concrete globe which has been the centerpiece to the courtyard in front of the main office for many years. The globe is undergoing a restoration with the assistance of current students as part of the program, but it doesn't end there! The third grade class is also working on the rest of the office facade by creating beautiful hand-glazed tiles which will surround the waterfountain as well as the entryway to the office and the main bathrooms. In addition to that the students and the Rainforest artists worked together to design a large stained glass window which depicts the children's hands holding the world.

McKinley Elementary, which was the pilot school for El Centro Elementary School District in 2010, is currently working on a new relief mosaic school sign following a very successful program during which they created an "Entryway to the Enchanted Desert" on a prevalent blank wall.

Sunflower Elementary School of El Centro is holding Rainforest Art Project workshops to work on the mosaics which will be installed in the "Sunflower Poetry Garden" memorial to beloved teacher Amber Bryant.