Learning from Pros
Students at two Seneca Valley elementary schools may not know it, but their art lessons are being delivered by a pair of accomplished artists.
Mary Jane Hadley's innovative projects make her a popular contributor to a school-artist publication, and Mary Mason was one of 16 artists selected to exhibit at One Mellon Center in Pittsburgh.
Hadley, who has taught elementary art to Seneca Valley students for 25 years and teaches at Rowan Elementary, has been published eight times in School Arts, a journal for art educators.
The October edition features an article by Hadley entitled "Plastic Menagerie," which she explained is a lesson on making bobbleheads in art class. In November, School Arts will publish Hadley's article on exposing young students to cubism, the abstract art form associated with Pablo Picasso.
"We use Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head toys, only we arrange the faces so they are cubistic," Hadley said.
She said she alternates between creating her own art lessons and using lessons outlined in School Arts by other Pennsylvania art teachers.
On Halloween weekend, Hadley was to serve as a presenter at the state Art Education Conference in Pittsburgh. She was to demonstrate for hundreds of art teachers her latest innovation, three-dimensional woven bug sculptures.
Hadley explained that instead of making a flat square frame for weaving projects, she created a method in which students wrap the outside threads with pipe cleaners and take the whole weaving off the frame.
Students then manipulate the pipe cleaners to create three-dimensional bugs.
Students decide whether to place their bugs on a plot of decorated "Earth" or attach strings to create a bug puppet.
"I had never seen weaving that was not two dimensional," Hadley said of the projects.
An artist since she was a child, Hadley has in years past made and sold jewelry and created quilted decorations for children's' rooms.
She appreciates her employer's dedication to art education in all district schools.
"Seneca Valley has always had a strong art program, all the way from elementary to high school," Hadley said.Mason, who teaches art at Connoquenessing Valley and Rowan elementary schools, submitted an elaborate necklace to an art show sponsored by the Pittsburgh Society of Artists and the Contemporary Craft Museum entitled "Shelter."Each creation was to use recycled materials and represent the artist's interpretation of the word "home." Mason used recycled industrial metal and other objects to spell the word "home" in the form of a skyscraper, ship, tepees and a copper penny. An old key, steel wool, and other items make up the necklace.Mason said the show opened Oct. 1 at One Mellon Center, where donations were collected for Pittsburgh's homeless. She said the $20 entrance fee collected from each artist also went to Pittsburgh-area homeless causes.The artwork will hang in the Steel T subway lobby gallery outside One Mellon Center until Nov. 29. Mason said other pieces include a quilt made from tea bags and a wax impression of the homeless in war-torn Guatemala."It's thrilling," said Mason. "It's a great honor to be with such wonderful artists. I didn't win an award, I was just proud to be there."Rowan Principal John Giancola said when parents are moving into Western Pennsylvania and shopping for a school district at Rowan, he takes them straight to the art department, where they see second grade art created in the spirit of Monet.He said Rowan and CVE students are lucky to have professional artists like Mason and Hadley as teachers."They both add so much to our students' abilities," said Giancola. "We're so glad they're here at Rowan."
