Young students at Home Again Early School took part in a unique art program developed by the school’s director, Judy Steed, of West Windsor. She exposed the children to many types of painting and they studied 13 specific artists through books, pictures, and video. Together they incorporated music and yoga into the program to “feel each artist’s technique in order to incorporate them into their own works.”
“We composed an original theme or song for each of the 13 artists as an auditory identifying tool,” says Steed. “They incorporated language arts by acting out stories, identifying letters, and reading words. The children created the bold strokes of Van Gogh, pointillist “dots” of Seurat, action painting of Jackson Pollock, and the shading and blending of Cezanne.”
“I began the program close to 10 years ago by using the artwork of Joan Miro to see if a preschool child could produce advanced artwork with their limited skills,” says Steed. “By following step by step directions and paying close attention to shape, color, size, and placement, children produced amazing results well beyond expectations.”
The children, ages three to five, learned how to mix more than 80 colors using only red, blue, yellow, black, and white tempura and worked with more than 40 different brushes. The art gallery features the original art work with a biography of the artist and his style of painting along with an explanation of what processes the children used to create their copies. There is also a wall of self-portraits.
“Many noticed art work in their own homes and expressed what they liked about the artwork,” says Steed. “They applied the techniques to create their own independent artwork – and were even able to identify the artist of a painting not studied previously.”
Home Again Early School and gallery, 36A North Mill Road, is open on Saturday, April 30, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Call 609-799-4257.
