Youth Art Month BBES and Woodsdale Art Exhibits at the Abington Public Library

I would like to thank and acknowledge all of those that helped make the BBES and Woodsdale Art Exhibits, during Youth Art Month, a great success.  Almost 800 works of art were displayed and the Abington Public Library walls were bursting with color.  We were told by the library staff that almost 750 visitors attended the two receptions.  Ribbons were handed out, lots of cookies consumed and a lot of art was appreciated.  A big thank you to the Beaver Brook and Woodsdale PTOs for helping coordinate volunteers, purchasing cookies and ribbons.  Thank you to all of the parents who generously gave their time to help us prepare, hang up and take down so many pieces of art.  Not one crooked or mislabeled piece of art.  Awesome! Thank you to Mr. Hawes and Mrs. Zinni and their respective offices for helping us print labels and send out notices.  It was truly a group effort and that is what made it such a success.  A nice memory for me was when I was able to witness the excitement of a few students in the kindergarten classes as they pointed out their displayed artwork to their parents. Photographs below are from the exhibits. 

March Is National Art Month

March is National Youth Art Month. Youth Art Month is a celebration of the visual arts. Student exhibitions, public artworks, art festivals, and school events are held all over the country to raise awareness and support for the importance of quality visual arts programs in the schools. In Abington we are displaying more than 650 pieces of art created by students in kindergarten through grade 4. The work will be on display at the Abington Public Library all month. BBES's exhibit will run from March 1 through March 18 and Woodsdale‘s will run from March 18 through March 31. Two Family/Community Viewing Afternoons will be hosted on March 7 for BBES and March 28 for Woodsdale. Both will be from 5-7. Thank you to the PTOs and the parents who helped us prepare the exhibit.
A few photographs of kindergarten and grade 1 artwork are below. The landscape outside your window may not be colorful at the moment, but the walls in the library are.

Students from the middle and high schools will have their work displayed at the new school during Celebrate The Arts Day on May 8 from 3:30 to 7:30. More details to follow.

International Lions Club Peace Poster Contest

All grade six students at the middle school have spent September and October working on peace posters for the Lions Club International Peace Poster Contest.  The posters will be displayed at the Abington Public Library in mid-December and will remain on display until the end of January.  Below is a sneak peek of students working on their posters.  They turned out awesome.  The winning posters will be displayed on this blog in a few weeks.

October is Natioanl Arts and Humanities Month

What a great month to visit the Museum of Fine Arts and see some of the masterpieces in their collection such as the one below.

The Daughters of Edward Darley Boit, John Singer Sargent -1882

Interesting Video on the Work of Theo Jansen

Theo Jansen  is a Dutch artist. In 1990, he began building large mechanisms out of  PVC that are able to move on their own and, collectively, are entitled, Strandbeest. The kinetic sculpturesappear to walk. His animated works are intended to be a fusion of art and engineering.

Welcome Back

I hope everyone enjoyed their summer break.  One week from today we begin a new school year.  Even after many years of teaching, I still feel some anxiety as opening day approaches.  However, I am excited to start and begin doing the work I enjoy.  I hope you are also looking forward to coming back.  I have been at school getting the room ready and putting the final touches on some new projects.  Enjoy the last few day of summer vacation and see you on Wednesday the 29th.

Vincent Van Gogh, "Midday Rest"

62nd Annual Arts Festival Exhibit at Second Parish - Hingham, MA

The annual May exhibition at Second Parish in Hingham is always wonderful to visit because of the great variety of 2-D and 3-D work created by elementary, middle and high school students from schools in the South Shore.  The exhibition is made possible from a grant from the Hingham Cultural Council and the hard work of Lisa Shetty who coordinated the exhibit.  I would like to congratulate Jackie E.  Her drawing was awarded "First Place" for the middle school submissions.  Below are some photographs from the exhibit and some of the students who attended the Artist Reception.