500 Art Stars Attend Their Opening

Students from Takoma Education Campus explore paintings in the galleries

Students from Takoma Education Campus explore paintings in the galleries

On January 16 and 17, we celebrated the artistic and academic accomplishments of approximately 500 students, teachers, school administrators, and families from Tyler Elementary and Takoma Education Campus—the museum’s two DC Public Schools partner schools that participate in our Art Links to Learning: Museum in Residence program! Read more from the students’ perspectives in Tuesday’s edition of Washington Post KidsPost.

Ms. Lopez’s 3rd/4th grade class discuss what’s happening in Renoir’s Luncheon of the Boating Party

Ms. Lopez’s 3rd/4th grade class discuss what’s happening in Renoir’s Luncheon of the Boating Party

Ms. Frey’s first grade class from Takoma Education Campus in front of their artwork

Ms. Frey’s first grade class from Takoma Education Campus in front of their artwork

Tyler students cheer on their teachers in the auditorium at the Artists Reception

Tyler students cheer on their teachers in the auditorium at the Artists Reception

Teachers from Tyler Elementary who participated in Art Links during the Fall of 2012

Teachers from Tyler Elementary who participated in Art Links during the Fall of 2012

Monarchs and Milkweed

Students and teachers from Tyler Elementary School visit The Phillips Collection on Friday, May 20, 2011 as part of the Phillips’s Community Celebrations series, which engages students in art. Photo: James R. Brantley

On Friday, May 20, the kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grades from Tyler Elementary School came to the Phillips for the opening of their Young Artists Exhibition. The event was a celebration of art the students created through arts-integrated lessons.

I got to talk to some of Ms. Fraticelli’s kindergartners (pictured above) about the artwork they made together, which illustrated migration of the Monarch butterfly. I figured they would want to point out their personal contributions to the collaborative artworks, but they were more excited to tell me what they had learned.  I found out from the kindergartners that the Monarch lives for milkweed; milkweed is the only plant their larva can eat, so their migration is dependent on where the milkweed grows.

You can learn a lot from a kindergartner!

 Ben Tollefson,  School, Outreach, and Family Programs Coordinator