Local Artists Inspire Young Students with Joint Exhibit

Visual Arts teacher Cathy McGarry hung an art exhibit featuring local artists at the Town Beach Gazebo last August to celebrate its opening. It seemed natural that when she went looking for artists to help the students at Deer Run Elementary School, she was able to enlist the participation of many of those same residents. 

As a 27-year veteran of Visual Art Education in East Haven schools, McGarry wears many hats. Not only does she teach at both Deer Run and Grove J. Tuttle elementary schools, she is also secretary of the East Haven Arts Commission. And, she knew a lot of these artists because she also taught them in the town’s Adult Education classes. 

Now her former students have created works to help her current students learn to appreciate art in oil, acrylic, water colors, mixed media – and two quilts. 

The 16-piece exhibit is on the walls at Deer Run for the viewing by students from April 4 - 15. After that, it will come down during Spring Break and be re-hung at The Village at Mariner’s Point, where four of her artists live. After April 21, it will be open to public viewing. 

Why did she feel the need to have an art exhibit created especially for her students? 

“I was talking with my principal, William Grimm, one day about the connection between my students’ study of Visual Arts and their other academic curriculum,” McGarry said. “We agreed that the more I could show them that the skills learned in one area would be useful in another, the better they would do in all areas.” 

So how do the students, especially since we’re talking about youngsters in the first, second and fifth grades, learn how the transfer skills learned in one area to another? 

“We discuss shapes in class, just like they do in their math classes; and colors, using descriptive language in ways similar to what they do in their other class work. I’ve had them using sketch books all year, and it’s amazing the way they’ve been creating things, embellishing basic geometric figures,” she said. 

On April 8, the first and second graders at Deer Run viewed the paintings and sketched what each saw. Next week, when their class meets again, they’ll paint their sketches in oil pastels. Then, their work will be ready to hang in hallways near the originals. 

“My 70 fifth-graders at Tuttle will come over on April 15 to see the paintings and meet the artists. At that time, they will record their observations of what they have seen. They’ll make notations using the art vocabulary they’ve been learning,” McGarry said. 

“I’ll put up letters of the alphabet, and they’ll have to use each one to start a notation. For instance, the letter ‘s’ might be used to talk about a ‘still life,’ or the ‘w’ might start an observation about ‘warm colors.’ They will also be sketching,” she said. 

To emphasize her point, McGarry recounted a visit she made years ago to see a Van Gogh exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum in New York City. The experience made a deep impact that has stayed with her during her teaching. 

“I was amazed to see two entire rooms at the Met filled with sketches of Van Gogh’s ‘Sunflowers,’ which was on exhibit. They were done by many people with vastly different viewpoints from the original subject,” McGarry recalled. 

In her classes, she helps her students learn that it’s all right for each of them to have a different perspective of what they see. Along with this, she gives them the tools to express what they perceive; using the skills they’ve learned in academic areas for artistic purposes. 

“Item No. 6 of the Connecticut State Standards for Art Teachers states that ‘students will create art with connection to their other subjects’ and we really take that seriously,” McGarry said. 

She’s so serious that she’s managed to get not only the East Haven artistic community to buy into the program by providing artwork, but also her principal’s mother, Elizabeth Grimm – and she lives in New Jersey! 

According to Elinor Slomba, Activities Director at Mariner’s Point, the exhibit can be viewed by the public from April 21 - May 5. Viewing times are 9 a.m. - 7 p.m., Mondary to Friday, and 9 a.m. - 4 pm,  Saturday and Sunday.