Simon Draper and Marnie Hillsey Bring an Art Workshop to Haldane Fifth Graders
Works created to be exhibited in Beacon

Artists Simon Draper and Marnie Hillsley offered Haldane artists in Mr. Tom Virgadamo's fifth grade class an exciting art experience. They opened their workshop having the children model for and create gesture sketches. After the warm-up exercises each child received two blocks of wood to paint. They painted one block a solid color and on the other block they painted an image from one of their own poems.

The students' artwork will be displayed in Habitat for Artists at Spire Studios in Beacon, a show curated by Simon Draper. The show is a site-specific, collaborative exhibition. Each artist will have a 6 ft. by 6 ft. shed space to use for a month prior to the show. They can use the space to create art or they can turn the structure into an artwork.

The students had a wonderful time exploring this art experience. This event culminated their classroom poetry unit. Through this workshop the children learned how to express themselves through visual arts and poetry. Tom Virgadamo stated, "This experience was inspirational for all of the students. They were amazed to see how wonderful all of the work looked when it was all put together. The students learned that the whole is definitely greater than the sum of its parts". Aidan Draper, the son of the visiting artists and a talented artist as well, who is outstanding at thinking outside of the box commented, "Art is when pigs fly and today pigs flew in our classroom."

For more information on Habitat for Artists check out www.habitatforartists.blogspot.com. For information on ecoartspace, an international organization whose focus is on the intersection of art and ecology contact www.ecoartspace.org.