Students of All Ages Shine at the JBML Art Show

The hosted the first annual Wednesday night. On display were 150 pieces of art from students Kindergarten through 12th grade. The pieces utilized a variety of media from clay to paint to playing cards.

Director of the public schools arts department Madelyn Paskiewicz explained that the pieces were chosen to represent the range of the curriculum, one which stresses creativity and performance as well as an understanding of artistic culture and its relationship to community.

“The strength of our curriculum is in the ability to modify and adjust,” said Paskiewicz, expressing the importance to communicate between grade levels to offer a cumulative experience for students beginning in kindergarten and continuing throughout high school.

Branford High School Senior Hanna Young had two pieces on display Wednesday night and served as a docent for the event. Young has been participating in art classes since kindergarten and is one example of how the arts program has developed the artist in a student.

Indeed, the art show brought together students, artists, and members of the Branford community as the main lobby of the Blackstone Library filled with admirers, taking pictures and discussing the pieces hanging from the walls and displayed in cases and on podiums.

One recurring theme for artists' pieces was, “Why does art matter?” Students expressed their answers with pieces using visual representation and written word. Seventh-grader Meredith Jessey’s piece summed up the project, as well as the sentiment surrounding the acrylic paintings, sculptures made of plastic water cups, and sculptures out of clay: “Art is everything and anything.”

! The art work is on display through the end of the month.