Hawley Students:

A Healthy Appetite For Art

By Eliza Hallabeck

Large canvases were laid out on the tables in Hawley Elementary School’s art room as teacher Vicki Sheskin oversaw the work in progress on Monday, November 21.

More than 30 students are participating in the project that Ms Sheskin hopes will be completed after school’s scheduled winter break. Once completed, five finished canvases, each displaying a different fruits, will go in display in the school’s Mary Hawley Café.

“We’ve decided to make these large-scale paintings,” said Ms Sheskin.

Each canvas depicts a fruit: an apple, a banana, a strawberry, a pear, or grapes. Ms Sheskin explained that to create the paintings she asked the participating fourth grade students to draw each fruit. She then created an amalgamation of the drawings into one portrayal of each fruit.

The same colors used to highlight the school’s Mary Hawley Café are being used to the paintings to add conformity to the room once the artwork is displayed on the back wall of the café.

“It’s going to look great,” said Ms Sheskin.

Participating students in the project are Allison Martinez, Aniko Walsh, Arjuna Fiala, Audrey Christenson, Ava Holmes, Brigitte Marino, Camryn Griffin, Casey Sullivan, Cece Floros, Ellie Moxham, Emma Gotschlich, Ethan Shaffer, Evan Camputo, Genevieve Murray, Grace McEneaney, Holly Ankers, Jack Gregson, Jacob Lujanac, Justine Renjillian, Karsen Pirone, Kayleigh Roche, Kiersten Fallon, Kimberly Johnson, Lydia Harrison, Riley Ward, Sarah Holcomb, Sarah Payne, Savannah Duffy, Sophia Romano, Thomas Armstrong, Virginia Hepp, according to the school.

As one of the students participating in the project, Jacob Lujanuc said he was enjoying working on the project on Monday.

“It’s fun,” said Jacob, who also said he enjoys painting.

Across the room, Kimberly Johnson was working on the canvas with a pear on it. She also said she enjoys painting, adding she does because “it sort of expresses your feelings.”

Speaking about the project, Kimberly said, “It is just a way to show the kids in Hawley to do different projects and to try to work on things, not just when you are told to.”

Each of the canvases also have a depiction of a “little man,” as the students working on the project have taken to calling him. The man is part of the Newtown Public School district’s cultivating character tree.