COAL GROVE — For at least a day next month, the students at Dawson-Bryant Elementary School will be famous artists with their work hanging in the Columbus Museum of Art.

That honor comes courtesy of a CMA program the students participated this week.

Representatives from CMA were in the school Tuesday to lead the students in a workshop on print-making.

The representatives brought with them actual pieces of art from the museum. Students will make their own art today.

“One of the things I think is really important is (the program) creates a venue for students to get excited about art,”  said Jessimi Jones, educator for the teacher and school partnership at the museum.

She added that the program helps them be more comfortable with art and with themselves.

“We definitely think this program exposes them to the arts and that’s important,” Jones said. Studies have shown that talking and learning about art can increase a student’s critical thinking skills as well, she said.

The program, Pressing Matters, is designed to provide students in schools that lack arts programs with experiences with the arts.

This year is the third year for the program, which has also been done at Symmes Valley Elementary and at a school in Nelsonville.

In May, the students will visit the museum where their art will be on display.

The program incorporates social studies and language arts as students discussed and saw prints of images of social issues.

Pictures from the Depression era, wars and disasters were among the pieces CMA representatives brought from the museum.

Besides learning about art, Lucas said she hopes the program will enlighten the students about the world around them.

“I’m hoping that the students who don’t shine (in academics) will shine and that it will open their eyes to things outside the area,” said Amy Lucas, a social studies teacher at the school. “A lot of them haven’t been out of this area.”