[ Bright bell and piano music ] - Since 1980, we've served more than half a million students throughout the greater Sacramento area.

We hit about 25 to 30 schools a year and engaged in about 13,000 students each year.

- It's called the Crocker Art Museum.

- Most experts agree art education is most impactful when students can have hands-on experiences.

That's the thinking behind Art Ark.

A unique program started 45 years ago by the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento.

Today this 50 foot mobile art museum is visiting Mariemont Elementary School In the San Juan Unified school district.

Organizers say the Art Ark is tailored to meet the needs of every student that enters its doors.

From transitional kindergarten through eighth grade.

- Looking at the benefits of arts education, for instance, study after study shows that it increases creativity.

Students who engage in early arts activities and arts education develop social, motor, socio behavioral skills that last with them for a lifetime.

- When I say the magic word, you can go ahead and get started.

Applesauce - I love the most with playing with the clay.

And I also like it because it's like if I'm having a bad day, I can like write my feelings on a piece of paper and then I can color it in.

- We all know that students need a, a break from their rigorous school days.

They're working so hard, they're reading and doing math.

They're doing so much so we can offer them a break to be creative.

And I think that even just a little break in the day, it can go really far.

- I like it that you can create anything and everything 'cause art can be made out of literally anything can be made outta shapes and you could even draw a scribble and then you could turn it into something cool.

- Simultaneously, there are the teachers who are in there who are observing and who are learning and taking notes and observing ways in which they can incorporate these skills into their classrooms.

It engages on so many different levels.

It's not just the students.

It really is community in action.

- This Art Ark installation is called American Narratives, focusing on multicultural artists, including many from the Sacramento region.

Teachers say the Art Ark changes the way students experience art increasing their engagement and development in other subjects.

- In general, as teachers, we always want to encourage creativity and expression in many different forms.

And so going into the Art Ark, it's easy to connect that with anything that we're learning.

Or it could be connecting things to different cultures.

So like some of the artwork represents different cultures or different types of foods.

And so it was easy to connect the things that we noticed in there with the things that we do in the classroom.

- As many as 175 students a day can pass through the Art Ark while it's set up at a school.

Bringing a firsthand art experience to students who may not otherwise have the opportunity.

- I think part of what's so amazing about it, the Art Ark, is that we're bringing the museum to the students and it's all about access.

It's all about allowing students to experience the joy and wonder of art and arts education and inspiring them to come and visit the museum.

- This gets you and four other members of your family into the museum for free.

- I hope that they see themselves in in the artwork and it gives them some confidence.

So maybe they're noticing patterns in paintings and then they go back to their classroom and their teacher says, well, math is just patterns too.

Or maybe on the Art Ark we say, you know, if a lot of students have a feeling that they can't do art, but if we say, you know, actually art is just a bunch of lines.

And then they go back to their classroom and, and they say, oh, well, lines are also in geometry.

So if I can do this, I can do art.

We hope that it enriches them as a whole child.

- Can we express our gratitude and just say, “Thank you our Art Ark Thank you Miss Brittany on 3 1, 2, 3.

- [students in unison] Thank your work Miss Brittany [ students thanking ] [ uplifting music ] - Art programs in schools often receive less attention compared to core academic subjects like math and science.

That's changing with the passage of Proposition 28.

The proposition requires the state to set aside 1% of education funding a year for K through 12 arts education that amounted to $907 million in the 2024-25 school year.

Districts are required to spend 80% of the funding on hiring new arts and music instructors