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Art tours for 91ֱ�� students

The Dallas Cowboys have proven that football and art go together, and now Whataburger is proving that hamburgers go with art, too.

So, forget about the Dallas Cowboys game last Sunday. Forget about the Lions and all the media noise.

At least for a moment.

Because the Jerry Jones family, the Dallas Cowboys and Whataburger scored another big win this week for 91ֱ�� students.

They hosted the fifth grade class from Wimbish World Language Academy for a tour of the art on display at AT&T Stadium on Tuesday.

And the group from Wimbish is just the first to go. All 52 91ֱ�� elementary school fifth grade classes will ride the school bus to AT&T Stadium over the next few months for their own art tours, along with all eighth grade art students and high school senior art students.

It’s part of a program now in its 10^th year designed to inspire the artist in every student. In the last nine years, 40,000 91ֱ�� students have taken the tours and experienced the stadium’s art, a of pieces from more than 60 artists. Students then turn their experience into their own artwork, which is displayed in an exhibit at the stadium each May.

“This annual program not only celebrates student creativity but also highlights the impact of art in their education and growth,” said Dallas Cowboys chief brand officer and co-owner Charlotte Jones.

Burgers and art

Wimbish’s art tour on Tuesday was a little different than any tours from the previous nine years. There was someone new.

Whataburger has joined the team. The Dallas Cowboys 91ֱ�� Art Program will now be presented by Whataburger.

This year, Whataburger is providing three scholarships – $7,500, $5,000, and $2,500 – to graduating seniors in May to support the students’ continued educational and artistic pursuits. To date, the Dallas Cowboys have given $32,500 in scholarships to 91ֱ�� graduating seniors who have participated in the stadium art program.

And for the first time, 91ֱ�� art teachers will be honored with commemorative gifts and classroom upgrade scholarships, recognizing their dedication to cultivating the next generation of artists alongside Whataburger’s Whatateacher program.

“Whataburger loves to partner with schools and education as a part of our Feeding Student Success program,” said Sarah Boor, Whataburger regional marketing manager, who joined Wimbish on the art tour and let the students know they’d all go home with a coupon for a free Whataburger hamburger. “We feel that Whataburger is a part of your everyday life as a restaurant and we want to be able to empower these students to thrive and help them achieve their goals.”

It’s all art

Linh Nguyen, the self-described hype man for the art tour, was the first to welcome the Wimbish students to AT&T Stadium on Tuesday morning. Nguyen is actually 91ֱ��’s assistant director of fine arts – visual arts and works tirelessly behind the scenes to make all the tours happen. He’s passionate about providing opportunities and pathways for students to kickstart their future and loves to pump up the students when they get to AT&T Stadium.

“Our job is to give you these experiences,” he told the fifth graders. “Have fun, enjoy and just live it up!”

Then Nguyen welcomed a special guest to speak to the students before the tour started. Jessica McCarthy is Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy’s wife, but she is also a former art teacher who taught kindergarten through eighth grade. She encouraged the students to embrace art and be inspired by what they were about to see.

“One of the things that Picasso said, and I always said to my kids, is every child is an artist. You just have to believe in yourself.”

We’re all artists, she said. Everyone creates, whether its dinner at night or how you dress.

“It’s all your art.”

Joy in art

Once it was time for the tour, two AT&T Stadium art docents led students here and there and in and out throughout the stadium to a selection of large art pieces. They helped the students not just see the art but experience it.

“When you look at art from different perspectives, you’re going to see different things,” docent Joy McKee said to the students. “What do you think of this one? Thumbs up?”

There were lots of thumbs up for each piece they saw.

Fifth grader Elsa Edwards had a little trouble deciding on which piece she liked best – there were several – but she settled on the one that hasn’t been finished yet and is still being painted.

“It’s really cool to see how the process starts,” she said. “I think what this mostly taught me was that art is made in different perspectives.”

Her classmate, Isaac Linez, said the piece they saw outside was his favorite – the huge . But all of it left the aspiring sculptor inspired.

“It makes me want to be a professional artist and show people my artwork,” he said.

That kind of inspiration is exactly the point.

“Every year I feel like they learn so much more about art because they’re able to see it in person,” said Wimbish art teacher Jessica Camp, who was taking her fifth grade class on the stadium art tour for the sixth straight year. “It’s something different than seeing a picture of artwork or print-out of artwork. They get to see it, experience it.”

More art to come

The fifth graders now need to make a trip to Whataburger for their free hamburger. But they also have some art to create. The students will vote on their favorite artwork from the stadium and use that piece as inspiration to create their own collaborative work.

“It’s one piece to represent all of our fifth graders and what they take away from this trip,” Camp said.

Wimbish’s future creation – along with works from every fifth grade in the 91ֱ�� and from district eighth graders – will be celebrated at an art reception at AT&T Stadium in May. And then in August, their art will return to the stadium for a curated exhibition at Entry E during Dallas Cowboys preseason games.