Kindergartners Master The Arts

By Andrew Rote

Who says you can’t be young and still appreciate art? Kindergartners at Wesley Learning Center are experts in the field.

“We teach them about the artists, we show them pictures of their work, and then we have them create a piece in their style,” explained teacher Randi Rote.

The students can all take pride in their own masterpieces hanging on the walls. Each illustration resembles the work of a famous artist. The artists the kindergartners learned about included names such as Michelangelo, Van Gogh, Seurat, Picasso, and O’Keeffe.

“I had to lay down on the ground and paint [on paper] under the table,” said student James Holcomb. This technique was used to simulate how Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.

The children not only learned the styles, but also the biographies of each artist. They were asked what were the different stages Picasso painted in and why he did.

“[Picasso went through a blue stage because] he was sad after his best friend died,” explained Emily Albrecht.

James explained Picasso’s red stage. “He met a girl and was very happy.”

Courtney Escoda described his cubism period as “all mixed up.”

Once the students completed their paintings, they gave each one a title.

One picture, by Rhea Schneider, resembled Georgia O’Keeffe’s style. Under the piece, a tag read “Rainbow Flower” and the name “Rhea O’Keeffe.” When Rhea was asked what she knew about the artist, she said, “She got blind, but she still painted a little bit.”

Students showed knowledge of artists’ specific pieces as well. When Pieter Martino was asked which artist was his favorite, he said he liked Vincent Van Gogh. He specifically brought up several works by Van Gogh, mentioning that “Starry Night” was his favorite piece.

Most students said their favorite part of the unit was learning about Seurat’s pointillism. “Up close it looks like a bunch of dots. You need to stand far away to see it,” explained Caitlin Fitzgerald.

Another piece on display was Pieter’s impression of Pablo Picasso. To show Picasso’s cubism stage, he drew an enlarged head on a body.

The students also learned about John Chamberlain. Chamberlain made his works out of leftover “junk” from cars, factories, and other pieces of metal. To give the students a hands-on experience, they created necklaces out of garbage.

Using glaze, the kindergartners attached collected junk such as screws, nails, and Legos to can lids. Then, string was attached to the lids to make a new masterpiece.

Another artist the students recreated was Albrecht Dürer. They etched to show his works.

“[Etching] was very hard because the paper broke,” Pieter explained.

When Blake Untiedt was asked what he knew about Dürer, he answered, “He had 17 brothers and sisters.”

Studying Henri Matisse taught the children about collages. “We had to cut paper and put it on paper,” said Cora Udiskey.

Teacher Theresa Hempstead said they chose the artists for each one’s different style. They all lived in different parts of the world as well.

When Connor Blanc was asked what style Van Gogh painted in, he replied, “Thick paint.”

When Shelbi Westfield was questioned about what Van Gogh did when he became upset, she remembered, “He cut off his ear.” Caitlin added that he shot himself.

Miss Hempstead said she and Mrs Rote began the art unit four years ago. They spend about three weeks each year on it.

“I had just finished a course on [artists] at the time, which gave us the idea,” explained Miss Hempstead. She said the kindergartners learn about two or three artists a week. This year, they learned about nine different artists.

This is just one part of the kindergartners’ well-rounded curriculum, which also includes music appreciation, popular authors, and Spanish.

(Andrew Rote is a sophomore journalism student at Newtown High School. He writes regularly about sports and technology for the school’s paper, The Hawkeye)