THROUGH THE EYES A CHILD
Students get their own exhibition at AAN
BY MARLI GUZZETTA INDEPENDENT ARTS EDITOR
Discussing the Artists Association of Nantucket's Junior Artists

Exhibition, Lizbet Fuller, instructor at the Lighthouse School, made an interesting point regarding art and children, maybe the most important point that can be made on the subject.

"Traditionally, it isn't until kids are in the third grade that they're done learning to read and write, so [writing] is not their primary mode of communication," she noted. "Art can give context and meaning to new information, and kids learn by doing. Art is a way of expressing by doing, instead of just using more conventional and academic mediums of reading and writing."

Anyone who has ever seen children with crayons or paints knows that before children can express themselves in words they do it in the language of creative imagery.

The AAN's Washington Street Gallery will be buzzing with this language on Wednesday afternoon, when money raised by the paintings sold by (adult) island artists at the Nantucket Airport will subsidize an exhibition of works made by elementary and middle school students, including kids from the Lighthouse School, the Nantucket New School and Nantucket Elementary School. The students will also have a proper Nantucket opening reception that afternoon as well.

Middle and high school students will exhibit their work in the space with an opening May 12.

"The sale of art at the airport was doing so well that when they did begin collecting commission for the art, it generated this fund," said AAN Development Director Kate Merlini Fraser. "And they wanted to take some of the commission and put it back in the arts community, specifically for children."

The Nantucket Airport was one of the first in the country to display local artists' work, according to Airport Manager Al Peterson, who works with Lisa Heinz to assembly a jury for art selection.

"Last year, we started taking a small commission on art that sold out here on display and put that aside to further the arts program on the island," said Peterson, who estimated that the commission from arts sales raised approximately $5,000.

"We're not trying to make money on it; we're using it as a means to offset costs and do things like this for the kids," he said of the commission. "The Nantucket Arts Council brought up the children's exhibit, and I thought that would be a good way to use that money, so we agreed to be a partial sponsor."

Area teachers like Fuller, who are organizing the selection of student artworks to be displayed, are grateful for the chance to reinforce the non-technical aspects of the arts they have been teaching.

"All young kids are artists. But then at around age 13 they make this decision that they are or are not artists," said Fuller, who believes this exhibition will be especially helpful in educating older students about the value in creating and sharing their art.

"As a member of the Artists Association, I know that it's exciting to see a piece of your work up on the wall, and a lot of these kids have been to galleries and have seen work up, so it will be exciting for them to see their own work on display," Fuller said. "It's important for kids to see art as a vocation that some people make their living from. Art can be a way of life."

Nantucket New School art teacher Mark Carapezza said his goal as an arts teacher has been to make his students more confident artists.

"Art is pretty sticky," said Carapezza. "Once your art gets shown in front of people, you want to make more art to show in front of more people."

Carapezza's sixth, seventh and eighth graders will be submitting mixed media pieces made of objects they've found all over Nantucket, including items they've gleaned from the dump, as well as organic materials, like pine cones and pieces of trees. ("There's going to be a lot of hot glue and duct tape," he said.)

Fuller, who is bringing the works of students ages 3 to 11, said this exhibit will also be a good opportunity to stress the Lighthouse School's stake in art as a way of "exercising higher level thinking skills that are often left untouched" - or eradicated during school budget cuts. "Celebrating kids art, especially work that they do at school, brings art into the focus.... It's good to say that art is important to our children and integral to their education."

Carapezza said that this exhibition will also help him to underpin the idea that art is something that happens outside of school. "I don't want kids to think the only time they make art is at art class. They can do it at home, at the beach, in the basement...

Clockwise from top left: "CAUTION" (Melted crayon, tape, glue on plywood) by Nantucket New School eighth graders Christoph Andersson, Henry Toole and Kelsea Ames; "Blue Flower" by Nantucket Lighthouse School Kinderclasser Benjamin Raith; "Project" by Nantucket Elementary School first, third and fifth graders; "The Woods" (twigs, moss and hot glue on wood) by Nantucket New School eighth graders Henry Toole, Morgan Fog, Taylor Thayer and Richard Hermansdorfer; "Orange Flower" by Nantucket Lighthouse School Kinderclasser Mae Blackwell.

wherever," he said.

But the Junior Artists Exhibition won't just benefit the artists, Fuller maintained. Even the most experienced art aficionado stands something to gain from taking in the works of younger artists.

"In adult work, we tend to think things through too much. You'll see energy on the page from a child that you won't see from someone who is older and more reputable," she said. "Kids can get to the heart of the matter very easily, and adults can be reminded of that by looking at children's art work. Especially if you've studied art, you can get caught up in what should be instead of what's in front of you. Kids are very good at seeing what is."

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Artists Association of Nantucket's opening reception for the 2006 Junior Artists Exhibition

ELEMENTARY & MIDDLE SCHOOLERS When: Opening 3-5 p.m., May 3 Exhibition runs through May 7.

MIDDLE & HIGH SCHOOLERS When: Opening 5-7, May 12. Exhibition runs through May 21.

Where: The Joyce and Seward Johnson Gallery, 19 Washington St. For more information call 228-0294.

JUNIOR ARTISTS