Art through the eyes of a child

It has been said art is in the eye of the beholder. Nowhere was this more evident than during the recent visit by the University of Wyoming’s Ann Simpson Artmobile (Artmobile) to Saratoga.

Saratoga Art Teacher Noel Shepard’s elementary art classes were introduced to the Artmobile Oct. 23 at the Platte Valley Community Center.

The first graders sat down to listen to a story read by Sarita Talusani Keller, the Artmobile Educator. The students were given clipboards, paper and pencils and asked to draw what they saw on a particular piece that Keller had picked out in the collection.

The students were busy drawing what they saw in the artwork by Maile Andrade. It was a screenprint of a hurricane that had swept through the island of Kauai in Hawaii. After studying and drawing the art, the students were asked what they saw.

As first graders, they were very perceptive in what they saw in the art piece. They talked about a portal, a tree, a tornado, a bird and dirt. One student went into detail how she saw people being sucked up into the portal and then being thrown out. As Keller talked to each first grader, each one would describe, some in great detail about what they saw. Other students, who were shy, would use one-word descriptions.

Later in the morning, 15 home-schooled students ranging from elementary to high school students came to visit the artmobile. These students were able to spend more time with Keller and she had several activities planned for the students.

The activities included studying a piece and writing down as many words that each student could think of that described the art work. It was a competition to see who could come up with the most words, which excited one student, Emma Vannett, as she jumped up and down at the chance to compete with the other students. In the end she came up with 27 words to describe the artwork she had chosen.

Bryndal Berger had the most words for the middle school students. Braycen Berger had the most words from the elementary-aged students.

Next, the students were given a note-sized piece of paper and Keller asked them to draw something to coincide with the name of the exhibit “Message received: Transmissions Across Time & Space.”

“In the past, we have done different exhibitions,” Keller said. “One was about architecture, one about people, work and play, and then one about land.”

It seemed obvious to Keller that the current exhibit evolved into what people in Wyoming think about their future and what is important. She wanted to represent the future and the past and how they collide. “It kind of has a futuristic time travel vibe.”

Keller said it was a lot of fun, because young people are reading a lot about science fiction, but it is fun to imagine it as “our own future here.”

Once they completed their drawings on the paper, she introduced the students to other media to draw the work on - which included black scratch board and compact discs.

Keller has been the curator of the artmobile for 6 and one-half years.

She said the collection is chosen by her from the Art Museum inventory, which belongs to all of Wyoming.

The artmobile offers an opportunity for people who are not able to travel to Laramie and see the museum in person.

Every two years she puts together a collection of art that has to do with a theme she has chosen.

One piece in the collection was by former Saratoga resident photographer Martin Stupich.

The artmobile was brought to Saratoga by the Platte Valley Arts Council, with grants from the Wyoming Arts Council and the Laura Jane Musser Fund.

Nancy Ford, a member of the Platte Valley Art Council board arranged for the Artmoible to come to Saratoga. She also coordinated with the schools and the homeschool population to attend the exhibit and participate in the programs led by Keller.

The Ann Simpson Artmobile Program has been in existence for 43 years and is funded by the Ann Simpson Artmobile Endowment established by the Julienne Michel Foundation and with the support of Helga and Erivan Haub, Ann and Alan Simpson, and an anonymous donor. The artmobile van is provided by Genesis Alkali, LLC, Anna and Al Simpson, Rocky Mountain Foundation and other generous donors. Additional support is provided by Genesis Alkali, LLC, Union Wireless, Wyoming Public Radio and the Wyoming Arts Council through the National Endowment for the Arts and the Wyoming State Legislature.