Elementary School Art Show opens
Students from a dozen schools have submitted hundreds of entries to the Elementary School Art Show at the Butler Art Center.
The show will have a reception with awards ceremony from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday at the Art Center, 344 S. Main St. Along with the awards presentation, popular songs by contemporary artists will be performed by Elijah Herrington and Friends and refreshments will be served.
About 90 students in first through fourth grades at Center Township Elementary School are participating in the show, said their teacher Lauren Shorr.
She sees about 750 art students in kindergarten through fourth grade during the course of a five-day rotation.
“I don't see all the kindergarten students this year so I didn't want to open it just to some of them,” Shorr said.
Some students submitted two to three pieces, she said.
“It's really fun for them; it feels professional,” she said.
Shorr's students have entered this art show before.
“Quite a few of them have entered every year. They like to do it from year to year. They even ask about the show,” she said.
As a teacher, Shorr said she has attended the Elementary School Art Show reception before, but this year will be a little different.
“I usually always go by myself (to the reception), but this year our 5-year-old (daughter) has also entered so we're really excited,” said Shorr, whose husband, Jason, is a secondary school art teacher in the Seneca Valley School District.
Their daughter, Aayla, attends St. Gregory Catholic School in Zelienople. Aayla entered her mermaid drawing.
“Mermaids are one of her favorite things,” her mom said. “She loves swimming, mermaids, drawing mermaids. She actually drew it smaller, and we used an overhead (projector) to draw it bigger.”
Shorr said with her students she likes to do “a lot of guided drawing, simple shapes, sometimes paying attention to different things like spatial awareness.”
“Sometimes we'll pay attention to a particular artist,” she said. “We're going to be making their own Pokemon character to put on a card. I think it's important for them to learn basic skills but also be able to foster creativity.”
The elementary art exhibit continues through Feb. 15 at the center.
Older students will have the opportunity to exhibit their artwork in the Middle/High School Art Show running from Feb. 27 to March 16.
Gallery hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdays through Fridays and noon to 4 p.m. Saturdays. Admission is free.
Visit ButlerArtCenter.org or call 724-283-6922.
