Gifted pupils excitedly prepare for their first art show at the Butler's Salem branch

By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
XCITEMENT IS BUILDING AT Crestview Elementary and Crestview Middle School. Shakespeare is going to the circus.
Gifted pupils at the schools are preparing for a public art exhibit at the Butler Museum of American Art's Salem branch. The pupils have been working for several months to prepare for the exhibit.
A dozen pupils in kindergarten through fourth grade are completing works with a circus theme. Their teacher is Laura Spencer.
Middle school pupils chose to focus on characters and scenes from Shakespeare plays. The result is an exhibit called "Shakespeare Goes to the Circus."
"Excited!" Crestview seventh-graders Jocelyne Riehl, Britney Beaver and Alainna Pyatt chorused when asked how they felt about the upcoming exhibit.
The three are among the 27 gifted pupils in the elementary and middle school art classes who will have their artworks on display at the Butler's Salem branch for four weeks, beginning Saturday. The exhibit is the first at the Butler for the Crestview pupils.
Extensive planning
They have been busy since October preparing for their exhibit, and met recently at the Butler to learn how to hang their framed works.
Michelle Pelino, middle school art teacher, said preparing for the exhibit is much like planning a wedding. Pupils quickly learned there is much more to it than creating the art works.
They had fund-raising events to help defray the cost of art supplies. They have been working on invitations, programs and publicity and refreshments.
For the opening reception, pupils will wear costumes that fit the exhibit theme. The opening reception is at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Butler.
While pupils were in Salem to hang their artwork, they also visited the Salem Community Theater, which has offered to lend them costumes, Pelino said.
They began preparing for the exhibit by deciding what the themes would be, then what each pupil would paint or draw, and what art medium they would use. They made several sketches before beginning to work on the finished product.
The Cleveland Contemporary Museum for the Arts donated the frames. Pupils attended a workshop at Always Yours Framing in Canfield to learn how to properly mat and frame their work, then spent last week framing their works and attaching wire hangers to the backs.
Eighth-grader Britney Green chose Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" for her painting. "I'm just a hopeless romantic," she said.
tullis@vindy.com