FITCHBURG — Reingold Elementary School’s third annual Tiny Art Show brought out lots of students eager to show off their unique creations.
The event, held on March 13 in the school gym, featured hundreds of mini masterpieces on display by grade. Paintings, drawings and collages made with all kinds of materials were featured on tables along with artist statements written by the first through fifth grade students.
The large crowd that gathered took in the art and enjoyed hearing the kids talk about the process of creating their art and what inspired them. There was once again a photo booth set up down the hall and art created by Reingold teachers incorporated into the special event and Mayor Sam Squailia made her usual appearance to congratulate the students and take a group photo with them.
Reingold art teacher Taylor McGee started this tradition three years ago. She gives each student a kit to take home that includes a square canvas and a paper to write their artist statements on. They are given artistic freedom to use whatever materials they want to create their tiny art — paint, markers, crayons, paper, found objects, anything that helps to tell the story they are conveying through their artistry.
Fifth grader Graelyn Rusk, 10, and her younger sister Everly Rusk, a 7-year-old third grader, proudly showed off their canvases and posed for a picture together. Graelyn painted a night sky with dark mountains and an alien on top of the moon and a UFO nearby, saying she likes aliens and the color green a lot, while her sister’s piece depicted a beach with a palm tree and vibrant sky.
“My two favorite things are beaches and sunsets,” Everly said with a smile.
Third grader Melody Milem’s artist statement told a whole story about her painting outlined in black to look like a frame, writing that the rainbow used its powers to make the mountains pink, yellow, red and orange, “and from then on the mountains were nice and colorful.”
The 9-year-old enjoys drawing at home with crayons and said McGee “is the best art teacher ever” because of all the fun projects she does with her students such as crayon transfers, one of Melody’s favorites.
The Fitchburg Public Schools educator had a piece of her own in the teacher’s art section. It is part of a series titled “Postpartum Postcards” that she has been working on since becoming a mother this past summer, “lil’ pieces of art made in stolen moments with a baby on my lap at the dining room table,” McGee wrote in her artist statement.
“I’m finding what it means to be a mother artist, taking minutes here and there to make art while simultaneously admiring my most magnificent creation yet — my son.”
There were Puerto Rico flags and the red, white, and blue colors of the flag represented in many of the students’ artworks, including third grader Adelyn Rodriguez’s painting. In her artist statement about the piece that features a Puerto Rico flag, a beach with a palm tree, and the sun the young lady talked about “the waves and beach representing my sea and freedom, roots honoring my Taíno, African, and Spanish heritage.”
The young creative wrapped up her artist statement with a wisdom well beyond her years — “Pride is my artwork.”
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