Curated Child Art

During summer camp, 7-1/2 year old Raffi completed an elective art class, “Discovering Great Artists! Drawing and Painting for Children.” Families and friends of the art department’s students were invited to an evening curated show of their work on the last Thursday of camp. The vibe was just like a gallery opening, minus the red wine, cheese & crackers and DJ. It was a boisterous happening.

Each teacher was responsible for selecting the best student examples from each course. Every student had one representative piece on display for viewing appreciation. Here are some of the pieces from his class.

Raffi’s Fruit Bowl Still Life is second down in the leftmost column of these largest colored paintings.

My son may not have mastered any one fundamental skill from this experience. He enthusiastically did experiment with techniques and materials (cray pas; oil pastels, were his favorite) new to him. Well-known artists were formally introduced to him for inspiration. He learned about the elements of line, color, shape and texture.

Overall, this creative experience went into further shaping his own personal aesthetic. In the six weeks of camp, he created a nifty small portfolio of finished visual art pieces that now he reflects on with a sense of pride and accomplishment. Even though it required him to occasionally miss out on a swimming lesson, drawing and painting class was a success.

Portfolio Covers; Channeling The Animal Spirits

The art teachers had the children design the cover to their take-home portfolios using inspiration from Australian Aboriginal artworks. My son’s is the green heron on the left, above. I asked him if he could make us another similarly styled piece for the house, on canvas instead of on manilla envelope. I’m one of those parents who would like to get a frame on something worthwhile. Why did they have the kids make such beautiful work ON the envelope instead of on paper that could go IN the envelope???