Elementary gallery showcases young talent

Forget being taped to the fridge — the art of these young students is on gallery display for all to enjoy.

The Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools came together to curate the Elementary Art Gallery Exhibit, which is now on display at University Mall.The exhibit, which is open to the public and will run until Dec. 30, features artwork from students in kindergarten though fifth grade from Estes Hills, McDougle, Carrboro, Northside, Glenwood, Ephesus, Morris Grove, Rashkis, Scroggs, Seawell and Frank Porter Graham Elementary schools. Michele Nelson, who started this year as an art instructor for Estes Elementary, coordinated the exhibition.

Nelson said that upon starting at Estes Hills, she wanted to set up an art exhibit for her students. She got in touch with administrators at University Mall to acquire the large gallery space for the exhibition.

“It’s really cool that we’ve been able to bring all the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City Schools together in this one exhibit,” Nelson said.

“We’ve had large exhibits but not in as public of places, so it’s great to have one of this size for all the elementary school students to be represented.”

Nelson said the artwork revolves around grade-specific projects the students created in the classroom, while learning basic concepts and principles of design.

Erin Rasmussen, an art instructor at McDougle Elementary, designed her students’ projects around the elements of line, pattern and texture.

Rasmussen’s first-grade students depicted watercolor and collaged skulls, experimenting with salt in the watercolors to create texture and adorning the skulls with glitter and paper cutouts.

“All of the students at McDougle study the Dia de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead,” Rasmussen said.

“McDougle has a pretty large Latino population, so it ties in well with their heritage, and the kids get really excited about it.”

The art instructors of the CHCSS hosted an opening reception for the exhibit Saturday and invited families from all of the schools to come explore the diverse projects.

Booker Herron, a second-grade student at Estes Hills, proudly displayed his color drawing of a barn during a storm.

“It was fun to come up with the design,” Booker said. “I like watching lightning storms when I’m in my house.”

Booker, who is 7 years old, said the hardest part of the project was keeping the coloring neat.

Mark Smith, whose daughter Waverly’s art has been featured each year in similar elementary art exhibits, said that this year has been the best yet in terms of space for the show.

“I think it’s such an excellent idea,” Smith said.

“The parents are impressed and proud, and I think that the children are very proud as well — and the art is exceptional. It kind of formalizes everything and makes it fun to have it in this big space.”

Nelson said the gallery environment is a great tool for enabling the young students as artists.

“You’re not really an artist until people are viewing your work, so this provides these kids with the opportunity of being a successful artist at a really young age,” Nelson said.

“It’s a self-esteem raiser and a confidence builder to know that the public and adults and other kids are looking at their art and admiring it.”

arts@dailytarheel.com