Open-ended art enriching for preschool education
BUTLER TWP — On Thursday, 4-year-old Van Matonak showed off a canvas featuring a circular hodgepodge of blue and purple colors.
The Butler boy identified the subject of his artwork as an alien.
This piece and several others he made at the Amy Wise Children’s Creative Learning Center at Butler County Community College were on display at the preschool art show it hosts each year.
“Just the imagination and creativity, I think, is pretty cool to see,” said Van’s dad, Dirk Matonak.
Diana Skurka, a preschool teacher at the learning center, leads the preschool class in free-flowing art lessons that give the students the tools to create, but do not set an end goal.
For example, Skurka may give them paint canisters, brushes, water and a canvas, and the students must figure out the process on their own.
“The idea is they learn about things in their environment, and from that, we explore art,” Skurka said. “It’s our way of teaching them to be lifelong learners.”
On display around the learning center were paintings, sculptures and other artwork all created by the children individually or as a group effort. Skurka said she has helped the students create paper mache models and even abstract figures made from glued together materials all as part of the creative learning process.
Gina Rajchel, director of the creative learning center, said even pieces that turned out in different ways than the artist intended were on display.
“Mistakes can turn into something beautiful,” Rajchel said. “There’s really no wrong way, only learning through the process.”
Chris Byers, of Butler, said his 4-year-old son, Rowan Byers, had shown him some art pieces he created at the center since November that surprised him.
“We tell kids to be artistic, like ‘Go make art,’ and then you see them actually making art and using different mediums, and it really delves into the mind of a preschooler,” Byers said.
One of Rowan’s most prominent displays at the show was a paper mache rabbit wearing headphones, which other students also contributed to by sticking it with stubs of paper. Byers explained that Rowan sees rabbits running around their neighborhood at home, and he recently broke a pair of headphones.
Byers said he thinks the freedom allowed by the creative learning center helped his son express himself.
“The creativity, the expression, they don’t realize how good of an atmosphere that they have,” Byers said.
Rajchel said teaching the children to express themselves creatively is the goal of the learning center, and the lessons learned through it could make them more assured in their future learning.
“It’s about the process, not the final product,” Rajchel said. “It allows them to be confident in their creativity.”
