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WEEKS of August 6 & 13, 2007
@BFS! archives

Summer Arts Students Get A Special Lesson On “What To Do On A (VERY) Rainy Day”

by John R. Martin

Try as Mother Nature might, she was unable to stop the BFS Summer Arts campers from taking their long-awaited field trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art on July 18. Lightning illuminated the sky and the rain poured down in buckets for most of that Wednesday morning, flooding the city’s streets and subways. As the showers turned to drizzle, Summer Program Director Rachel Webber decided it was a good time to head out into the elements. She and her camp counselors led the group of 20 students out of Brooklyn Friends and on to Manhattan.

After a quick subway ride the group got off at 86th Street and Lexington Avenue only to be greeted with more rain. While the kids enjoyed it, breaking out into popular songs about rain like ‘Umbrella” by Rihanna and “Unwritten” by Natasha Bedingfield, the adults did their best to keep the children out of the rain. After a few pit stops under awnings, the Summer Arts group arrived at the world-famous Museum.

The group of third to sixth grade students had been studying the art of Pablo Picasso and Henri Matisse in their program and were coming to the museum to see in person some of the artists’ most celebrated works. Once led into the building, the students turned their attention to Janice Nowinski, their teacher for one of the four courses they were taking in Summer Arts II—“Picasso and Matisse, Les Demoiselles to Odalisques.”

Quickly traveling through the ancient cultures of Greece, Rome and Africa, the students entered the Modern Art section of the Metropolitan where the Picasso and Matisse collections are on display.

First the students were brought to the section where Henry Matisse’s paintings are exhibited. With guidance from Janice, the children were able to discuss various aspects of the paintings such as color, strokes, what material and type of paint was used, and so on, with ease. This visitor—observing the children’s enthusiasm and their knowledge of Matisse and his work—was duly impressed; it was evident that the students were really enjoying and learning from their Summer Arts program. Some of their favorite works included “The Young Sailor” and “Espagnole: Harmonie en bleu.”

After discussing the many details of the paintings, the students were given the opportunity to become artist themselves by sketching their favorite piece of work by Matisse. The children sprawled out across the museum’s floor, trying to get in the best position to create their own masterpieces. As they worked they sought approval from their teachers and counselors who were all very impressed by the new works created by the children.

After 15 or so minutes the group made their way to the Picasso exhibit, where they saw some of the artist’s earliest works. Janice explained that Picasso’s father was also a painter but gave his son all his equipment at age 14 because of how impressive his son’s work was. The students discussed various phases of Picasso’s artistic style, including his work in cubism and his blue period. Once again the students were given an opportunity to sketch their favorite piece of art in the Picasso collection.

While the students primarily came to see Picasso and Matisse, they were treated to something extra by getting to go into a special exhibit of Impressionist and Early Modern Paintings that were part of the collections of rival brothers Robert and Stephen Clark. Unfortunately, no sketching was allowed in this exhibit, but the children were able to see some more unbelievably beautiful works of art by European masters Renoir, Manet, Monet, Van Gogh, Seurat, and others, as well as famed American artists Remington, Homer, and Hopper.

After spending about two hours in the art galleries of the Met, it was time for the students to head back to Pearl Street. The rain had finally cleared up. Talk of paintings and art turned into talk of eating lunch and the newest games that will be coming out on Nintendo Wii. The students held on to their sketchbooks, as they would continue working on their drawings back at school where they could give their drawings color and bring them to life.