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The Butler brings art to fill void in school
liberty
At his desk in Joanne Sura’s fourth-grade classroom at E.J. Blott Elementary School Friday, Isaiah Short was very much into his art.
Carefully, he cut a word from a vocabulary list.
“Is that ‘portrait’?” he double-checked. It was. So he glued it onto the page in his new notebook next to the picture of the white dog with the ring around its eye sitting — no, posing — next to a basket.
It was a picture of a painting, actually. To be more specific, not just any painting. It was a portrait. The difference? A portrait is a picture of a person or an animal posing.
Isaiah, 10, was completing his first art lesson from the Butler Institute of American Art’s Good Neighbors program.
Twice a month, docents from the Butler come in to give formal instruction to four E.J. Blott fourth-grade classes — two each trip.
“The Butler writes a grant to assist schools like Liberty, where they’ve had to cut back on art,” explained docent Sharon Diehl.
“This is a way to get formal art instruction,” said principal Mike Palmer.
In Sura’s room, one of two that received visits Friday, docent Donna Cooper led students in an hour’s lesson that included a survey to determine what they already know: Vertical lines make you feel restless, peaceful, or strong and still? “One, two, three, circle!” she said.
“A primary color is, red, purple, orange or green?”
Did the students know, Cooper asked a little later, what a museum is?
After several guesses, it was established: It’s a building that holds a collection, and their new neighbor, the Butler, is an American art museum, meaning that’s all there is to be found inside.
Neighbors visit each other, and that’s what will happen in November and May, Cooper told them. They will come to the Butler to see some of the works of art she brought pictures of Friday to show them.
What is a sculpture? She asked them. Something that is carved.
What is a drawing? A sketch that doesn’t usually have color.
What is a painting? It can be on paper. It can be on canvas.
Cooper showed an example of a seascape done with a palate knife.
“The foam on the waves looks like they’ll get you wet,” she said. “It’s almost 3-D.”
Isaiah can’t wait to go to the Butler. What does he look forward to seeing most?
“Statues!”
What is Gabbie Ranalli, 9, looking forward to?
“I wanna look at the picture of the waves.”