Column: Bev Jackson, Cotter, Art Is…

My first thought was, “It looks like a fish aquarium!”

At the March 6 open house at the Albert Lea Art Center, I entered the Cruikshank Gallery to visions of fish swimming to and fro, the sounds of children’s laughter and the proud voices of parents and grandparents. This, I thought, is what we are all about.

The happy occasion was the opening of the annual elementary and secondary student art show. All three galleries, the Storrer, Herfindahl and Cruikshank, are filled with lively art work done by students at Sibley, Hawthorne, Halverson and Lakeview elementary schools, Southwest Middle School and the Albert Lea High School.

The teachers and students have outdone themselves this year. There is so much color and excitement in the galleries that a visitor just feels the enthusiasm emanating from the show. There are drawings with pencil, markers, crayons, ink, chalk, and watercolors, paper cut outs, torn paper and mixed media. There are paper batik appearing pieces and wonderful African masks with feathers beads, wire, fuzzy fabrics and sequins.

There are pictures of tennis shoes, birds and polar bears, and mosaics, abstracts and Picasso style pieces, and leaves, pumpkins, owls and pine trees, and silhouettes, snowmen, cats and mice. There are portraits, perspective line drawings and paper cutout flowers.

You can get lost in the creativity of these young people. The show is a delight to view.

In Mattil and Marzan’s book “Meaning in Children’s Art.” they state many ideas that should be obvious, but sometimes we need reminding.

“Art can be an extraordinary means of helping children learn about themselves and others.

“Art is indeed a timeless and universal language.

“If school fails to open up the avenues of knowledge, skills, and appreciation, there are few other chances for our young people to fully develop the potential that they have.

“Children are creative and productive whenever we give them the opportunity.

“Without art there would be no visual records of our culture or of past cultures. In such a world life itself would cease to have meaning. Even the primitive peoples who inhabited the earth twenty or thirty thousand years ago recognized intuitively the importance of art.”

While Matttil and Marzan are discussing the wisdom of sharing art with children, I can’t help but think that these ideas apply to all of us, no matter what our ages.

“Among life’s greatest joys and rewards is the pleasure and gratification that accompanies the successful completion of a task — whether that task is baking an apple pie, making a needlepoint chair seat, or rebuilding a classic car. It makes us feel good when we create something tangible, doing it ourselves.”

As I wandered through the galleries that day, I couldn’t help but think that our talented teachers are passing on their skills and enthusiasm and love of the arts to their students, and we are all richer for the experience.

A special thank you to the teachers and students who have shared their talents with our community.

Bev Jackson Cotter is a member of the Albert Lea Art Center where the Elementary and Secondary Student Art Show continues through April 2. Art Center hours are 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday.