Art Fair

This week at our school, we had a really cool art fair.  Throughout the year, all the classrooms have been studying (very in-depth) five artists, and each grade did a related art project for each one.  For this night, they turned each wing of the school into a gallery celebrating the artists they had studied and displayed the students' work.  Each hall was really decked out with decorations and interactive projects for the kids do there.  They really did a great job and we had a fun time.  

Earlier in the week they had an assembly and had a lady come talk to them about art.  She has illustrated children's books and written several books about teaching art to kids.  Well, the night of the art fair, we got there a little early and were in the Japanese artist Hokusai's hall on our own.  Then this woman came down the hall.  She was half talking to herself and half talking to us when she said, "How am I supposed to pick just two?"  The walls of the hall were filled with projects from the whole school and she had to pick her two favorite to receive the "Artist's Choice Award."  We talked to her for a minute then she started walking down the hall again to choose.  Suddenly she stopped and, looking at one of the paintings, said, "Well, there's one of the winners!  How beautiful!  It's small, but very powerful."  She leaned in and read the name: "Liam Ratchford, kindergarten."   I told her that the artist of that piece was right here and she met Liam and said she loved his work and pinned the award on it!!  We were so excited!  

The winner of the prestigious "Artist's Choice Award" and his work.

Working on the Hokusai mural.

Painting "Starry Night" in the Van Gogh hall.

Grace and her art in the Frank Lloyd Wright hall.

In the Norman Rockwell hall.