This year during Maymester session, the Butterfly and Seashells classes decided to do a three week exploration of folk arts. It began with study of cave art as historical evidence of humans’ desires to represent their everyday lives through art. The children examined, researched, discussed, experimented with, and produced a lot of art! The study culminated in a Folk Arts Festival opening attended by many families and campus/community friends. As docents, the children shared decoupage, stenciling, tin ware, paintings inspired by Grandma Moses, silhouettes, a wooden village, and painted furniture and toys they created. Probably the most challenging of their efforts was a collaborative reverse painting on glass that will now become part of our permanent collection!

As the introduction of a long-term study on folk arts, our teachers used the smart board to take the children on a virtual tour of the caves in Lascaux, France. As ‘anthropologists,’ they theorized that Ice Age humans created art to (a) make the cave look nicer, (b) share their ideas and tell stories, (c) make gifts for their family and friends, or even to (d) sell for money!  After spending several days examining the compelling murals and images in the caves, they created many interesting images themselves. They were so surprised when they returned to school and a cave had appeared in the building with all their drawings!!!! It was originally supposed to be available for just a few days but has been so popular that it remains open for tours probably until the end of summer session!