Boyce, a 34-year-old painter who received an undergraduate teaching degree in 2005 from Temple's Tyler School of Art, interviewed at four elementary schools. At each, she was told there wasn't much money to buy supplies for her students.

The dismal news was about the same everywhere — she'd get pocket change per child for the entire year for supplies. At the George Sharswood School in South Philadelphia, where Boyce accepted a job, the principal told her she would get $200 to supply 400 children in kindergarten through eighth grade. Boyce thinks it'd take $1,000 just to provide the basics.

"I saw that I would not have been able to fund even the basic things," said Boyce, who will be the sole art teacher on staff. "I would not have been able to get enough markers, crayons and paper for the year, let alone have enough money to spend on special projects or class trips."

Boyce didn't accept that so-called reality.

Heeding the suggestion of a studiomate, she turned to the city's arts community at the start of summer with the idea to hold an auction and art sale to raise money to outfit her classroom.

STARVING ART STUDENTS: While the Lower Merion school district pays $7.71 in supplies per student, Boyce was told to expect 50 cents a kid at her South Philly school. Photo By: Michael T. Regan

After weeks of spreading the word to local artists and soliciting help from area businesses, Boyce has collected more than 50 works of art, including paintings, ceramics and blown glass, and gift certificates to businesses such as Benjamin Lovell Shoes and Terme di Aroma spa. (The fundraiser is slated for tomorrow at the Griffin Cafe at 230 Market St. from 6 to 11 p.m. during First Friday.)

"It just started snowballing into this amazing thing," Boyce said. "I was going to hold [the event] in my studio, but once I started getting this response I realized I needed to find a larger location."

Tim McFarlane, a 41-year-old painter who donated two paintings he values at $950, said he just wanted to help the city's schoolchildren.

"It's absurd to me" that funding is so low for art supplies, McFarlane said. "There's no way I could have developed [in my youth] had I not had access to plenty of materials."

Students at Boyce's school are actually lucky. District officials estimate only 90 of the city's 175 elementary schools have a visual-arts teacher.

Funding for all programs within the city school system has been tight for decades, as an eroding real-estate tax base meant less money for the district.

A recent push to ensure students meet national No Child Left Behind requirements brought a greater emphasis on standardized reading and math, while music, art and other programs are marginalized and become, in some areas, expendable.

"It's a very difficult process," said Dennis Creedon, administrator for the Office of Creative and Performing Arts with the Philadelphia School District. "Hard decisions have to be made and unfortunately we don't have the resources of many other school districts."

Creedon noted the city's budget for arts programs has risen from $100,000 per year in 2002 to $2 million this year.

In 2003 and 2004, the increase translated into a $500 stipend for art teachers to purchase supplies. (No stipends were distributed in 2005, although Creedon expects they will be in 2006-07.) The city also partners with neighborhood groups and local arts organizations, such as the Philadelphia Orchestra and the Philadelphia Museum of Art, to bolster programming.

Still, Philadelphia is a far cry from the area's wealthy suburban school districts. The Lower Merion School District spends about $7.71 per elementary school student at the start of each year on art supplies, said Linda Galperin, a district purchasing agent. That's more than 15 times what Boyce was told she'd receive.

Boyce's students may find their classroom bucking that trend when school starts this year. Boyce said some of the items she's likely to buy are materials for making prints, which could be used by children of all age levels.

She hopes the impact will go beyond her classroom.

If enough money is raised to meet her needs, Boyce will distribute it to other schools with the intention of drawing the city's art teachers closer together to help improve arts education.

"It would really be fantastic if this was something that teachers got involved in and did every year," Boyce said. "I would love to create something where [art teachers] can unite a little more to have a regular fundraiser as well as to share information and supplies."

(r_finklestein@citypaper.net)