Art of Their Own

Let Kids Walk In The Shadow Of The Masters

Little Bean’s Monet

I don’t have a lot of early childhood memories of art, or making art. For whatever reason, either it wasn’t something the nuns were particularly interested in pursuing or I just don’t remember creating it.

There’s a few standouts. A tube telescope I made at my local library. A tie-dye t-shirt. And a weird construction paper tank I made in, maybe, fifth grade that I thought was the coolest thing in the world, but alas my World War 2 vet dad didn’t find particularly interesting.

And so it’s been all new territory for me to watch Little Bean’s absolute obsession with crafts, craft design and art. If she can use her hands and it involves making a giant mess, she’s on board.

Last week, she spent a week at the Currier Art Gallery’s Camp Innovation, where councilors walked the kids through the classics - Monet, van Gogh, etc. - and had them design their own art in the style of the masters.

Not Starry Night. Rather, Rainy Day.

I kind of wish I had something like this as a kid. The side-benefits, it seems to me, of a program like this is making museums less scary and more accessible to kids. During one of the days when the museum was closed to the public, the kids got to walk through the museum on their own - their own museum playground!

After all, isn’t all art for everyone? Maybe we just need to work (we, being adults) on framing it all better for kids. It’s not a impressionist master work of shading and texture, it’s a cool bridge over a pond filled with water lilies and frogs.

Give them a doorway to walk through and I promise you they will walk through it!

Eat Pot? Pat Pot? Not sure. Just pot!

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