They’re Brooklyn’s next generation of great artists.
Students from PS-IS 192 showed off the fruits of their creative labor at an art show at the Mapleton campus on April 29.
“We showcased all students from grades K to eight,” said art teacher LeeAnne Thirstino. “Their work makes the show.”
The instructor spent much of the year teaching her students about famous artists and their stylistic trademarks. Sixth-graders learned about abstraction a la modern artist Jim Dine, and made homages to his heart-themed work using class vocabulary words. Third-graders emulated Gustav Klimt’s “Tree of Life,” and others painted flowers in the vein of Georgia O’Keefe, Thirstino said.
The youngsters didn’t reach O’Keefe’s level of mastery, but the imitations were only meant to plant the seeds of artistic skill, Thirstino said.
“Drawing flowers can become very complicated, so we used her as a springboard to lead them into it from a very simple point,” she said.
Thirstino transformed the school’s gym into a gallery to hang work by her 350 students, stringing the space with hanging yarn from which she hung the paintings, she said.
It was the school’s 10th annual art show, Thirstino said.
