Grant brings expert Chinese calligrapher to classrooms at Bel Aire school

Instructor Jojo Liu teaches third-grader Dean Tiret how to properly hold the calligraphy brush at Bel Aire Elementary School on Dec. 2. The special class was paid for by remaining funds from a 2022 arts grant from the state. (Tyler Callister / The Ark)

Bel Aire Elementary third-grader Crosby Joseph grips an authentic ox-hair brush, carefully painting Chinese characters on rice paper. His fingers ache from the precise movements, but he doesn’t mind.

“The brush hurts a little,” he says Dec. 2. “But I’m fine with it.”

Crosby was among hundreds of Bel Aire students who spent three days the week of Dec. 1 learning the 3,000-year-old art of Chinese calligraphy from professional instructor Jojo Liu. The program, funded by $2,818.20 from the Reed Union School District’s arts grant, brought Liu and authentic materials to teach all third-through-fifth graders the ancient practice.

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