Art exhibit travels to B-V
Works from kids around the worldBy Kate York, kyork@mariettatimes.com
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About the exhibition
The International Children's Art Exhibition breaks children's art from around the world into traveling exhibitions in the U.S., Canada, Western Europe, South America and Japan in an effort to promote peace and understanding.
The U.S. Tour this year is beginning at Barlow-Vincent Elementary, where 200 pieces are displayed in the hallways until Sept. 30.
VINCENT - Ducks, devils, polka-dot giraffes and one elephant getting a pre-parade bath all greeted students at Barlow-Vincent Elementary this week, where more than 200 pieces of children's art from around the world are now hanging in the school's hallways.
The nine-city, 10-month U.S. tour of Pentel's 38th annual International Art Exhibition is beginning at Barlow-Vincent, where the pieces will be displayed until Sept. 30. After that, it travels on to sites in Iowa, Arizona, Wisconsin, Tennessee and California.
"It makes our school look really cool," said fifth-grader Emma Yabs, 10. "Not very many schools in the United States and everywhere get this kind of artwork."
Barlow-Vincent didn't have any winning pieces of artwork this year, but it remains the winningest American elementary school in the international contest, said art teacher Sandra Young, who has been entering her student's work since the fourth or fifth year of the contest, judged in Japan.
Over the years, there have been more than 200 winners at Barlow-Vincent Elementary and Warren High School, where her sister, Sylvia Young, teaches art, she said.
"We've already started working on next year's pieces," Sandra Young said. "We're going to give it our best shot."
In the meantime, the exhibition is open for public viewing during school hours and is being used as a teaching tool by the Young sisters.
"I bring the kids to look at the art and she brings her students from the high school," said Sandra Young. "What is so amazing is that everything is so much the same. Kids from all over the world create the same kind of art - there is always a lot of emphasis on their environment."
Barlow-Vincent eighth-grader Andrew Vincent, 14, said he's not much of an artist but he always likes to look at the pieces and even helped hang them this year.
"I really like seeing the pictures from different countries and the diversity," he said. "I like them all, but I really like to look at the ones from older kids and sometimes just to see how close their picture is to a real person."
Yabs said her favorite piece this year is a painting of a sunset hanging near the school's office, but what really amazes her is the young age of some of the most talented artists.
"It's really neat how some 6-year-olds can be really good like a 9-year-old," she said. "I see that a lot."
The exhibition is open to children ages 3 to 15. For the 38th annual exhibit there were 70,000 entries from 33 countries and territories.
Yabs has already finished her entry for the 39th exhibition, a watercolor painting of surfers on a beach.
"I came in every day before school for two weeks to work on it," she said. "I love art. I love the different tones of colors, so it's really nice to have all this color in the hall."
