Preschoolers show off their art skills in annual gala

By Mandy Coriston

Dozens of budding artists proudly displayed their work for parents and grandparents at the 2nd Annual Our Savior Nursery School Art Gala in Stanhope on Thursday evening, Feb 27. The artwork filled the halls of the school, as well as the lobby and sanctuary of the Lutheran Church of Our Savior upstairs, and the evening included a gallery-worthy buffet of grapes and cheese, and apple juice served, of course, in champagne flutes.

The evening is a way for students to show their families what they’ve been working on all year, and the artwork encompassed sculpture, multimedia design, and works in homage to famous artists like Van Gogh, Monet, and Warhol. The school follows a Creative Curriculum, and according to preschool director Colleen DeVito, the process is just as important as the finished product.

“We have 66 students, ages two in Tiny Tots through age four or five in our Pre-K,” DeVito said, “And we don’t send home many art projects through the year, so we can display them tonight and let parents see their children’s progress. We use process art to let them learn and develop fine motor skills while having fun.”

DeVito credits the school’s teachers with endless creativity and energy in brainstorming and bringing to fruition the evening’s 40 art displays, some of which were also inspired by storybook interpretations and nature.

“The teachers work very hard to find ways to incorporate art into their classrooms,” DeVito said.

One display, entitled “Vroom Vroom” was created by the Tiny Tots class using paint-dipped toy vehicles. Juxtaposed next to it was a mosaic version of Van Gogh’s “Starry Night," each piece made by a 4-year-old student. Parents Melissa and Matt Majka admired their son Landon’s contribution to the mosaic.

“It’s cool being able to see what the kids have been up to,” Matt said. “Little kids don’t always tell you what they did at school each day.”

“This art really shows how the kids are progressing,” Melissa said.

Pre-K teacher Kim Smith led her students through the exploration of famous artists, which also included creating Warhol-esque self-portraits and 3-D paper crafts of Monet’s “Waterlilies”.

“I break down the famous painters into small pieces for them, and we start with seeing the art through from finger painting through the finished product,” Smith said. “These kids are capable of so much more at this age than we sometimes realize.”

Upstairs in the church lobby, trees were hung with glistening painted pine cones, which had been donated in their natural state for the children to study. The exhibit was labeled “Fudrini’s Pine Cone Forest” after the family which contributed the cones. In the sanctuary, artwork from the 3’s Class lined the aisle, based on the book “Mix It Up”.

The school’s office manager Kathy Molinari said she’s proud of the kids and of the event.

“This is a great way to get people out and have them see what we’re doing here,” Molinari said. “It’s a family night, there’s no fee, it’s just a wonderful family feel. That’s what we’re about here. We’ve got a lot of multi-generational families, and so we’ve got a vested interest in these kids. It’s not just a school to us.”

Our Savior Nursery School is located in the lower level of the Lutheran Church of Our Savior on Brooklyn-Stanhope Road in Stanhope and teaches children beginning at age two. For more information about the school, which will be celebrating its fiftieth anniversary next year, visit www.oursaviornurseryschool.org.