Armed with crayons and watercolor paints students yesterday created masterpieces. Today, they will see the masters.
As part of Step Into Art, a two-day art appreciation program, Newton students will visit the Fogg and Busch-Reisinger museums today in Cambridge to view works by Vincent Van Gogh, John Singleton Copley and other artists.
Students gathered yesterday at the Newton Community Center for a slideshow and presentation by Step into Art instructors Abby Rischin and Susan Foster. The purpose was to educate the students before experiencing the artwork.
"The whole Step into Art concept is to actively engage the kids through the viewing and discussion of art and through drama activities," Rischin said. "(We teach by) forging personal connections with works of art."
Rischin founded the program in 2005.
"I had the idea to bring these programs to the public after highlighting them at the John Ward Elementary School in Newton (where her daughter attended school)," she said. "I approached Linda Plaut, director of cultural affairs for the Newton Mayor (David Cohen). She loved the idea."
Yesterday as a part of their lesson, students listened to music, emulated poses pictured in various works of art and took part in a group discussion.
"I think the Step into Art program actually helps the students connect personally to the art," Foster said. "They have fun with the art and don't feel intimidated by it."
With art supplies in hand, students created "triptychs" which are works of art divided into three panels.
Anna Caine, 6, a student at the Leventhal-Sidman Jewish Community Center's Day School, said she has aspirations to be a painter when she grows up. Caine said she is excited to see a painting by James Abbott McNeill Whistler firsthand after studying it yesterday.
"I like the beautiful silky clothes of (Whistler's) picture. They look 3-D. They look like you can reach out and touch it," she said. "I learned that to do a piece of art that really looks like an actual photograph, to be a model you have to really sit still."
Step into Art holds programs for students in first through fourth grade twice a year. In November, students study pieces at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston. In February, they study at the Fogg and Busch-Reisinger museums.
A graduate student attending the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Foster has been teaching the Step into Art program alongside Rischin for a year.
"I think one of the best parts of the program is the students are really excited to see the art in person," Foster said. "They already come equipped with the knowledge of that piece of art so I think they are more excited to see it because they know something about it."
Jeff Gilbride can be reached at 781-398-8005 or at jgilbrid@cnc.com
