Through the end of April, everyone is invited to stop by the Chesterton Art Center and view the work from the past year that our young student artists have created. Through the Screen is homage to their work beginning in September of last year until now. Lessons were taught exclusively and virtually on Zoom, hence the title “Through the Screen.”
The focus was on modern art movements, starting in September with Impressionism and moving through the western art history timeline each month through to Pop Art.
Students from preschool through high school logged on each day from home for a live instruction in an interactive class with Instructor Jennifer Aitchison. Parents from all over the area and even out of state, picked up their red bag of art supplies at the beginning of each month. Some of our students attended for a couple months and many stayed through most of the year.
Classes at the Art Center were designed with that choice and flexibility in mind. Each week children met and were able to discuss artwork, trends, news, and personal accomplishments in an open conversational online space. Young artists were challenged to embrace the elements of art and focus on specific skills each month pertaining to the supplies received. Through the virtual platform we were able to "zoom" in on paint strokes of the masters, look at photos of the places great artists come from, walk through virtual online galleries, and learn about figure drawing by drawing directly on the screen. As the artwork came in this month we were amazed by the children’s creations, full of imagination, beauty, and perspective.
The Chesterton Art Center is so grateful to have Jennifer Aitchison as our amazing Children’s Art Education Instructor. Jen brought a terrific hands-on art program to her students amid a pandemic. Jen quickly became a Zoom teacher expert, packing up new art supplies in bright red bags for pickup every month. Knowing how much children needed a creative outlet during the stressful year of being at home away from extended family and friends, teachers, and classmates, Jen went above and beyond to ensure her students had a great art experience “Through the Screen.” The students’ work will remain up through April 30, 2021.
The Chesterton Art Center is located at 115 S. 4th Street in Chesterton. Hours at the Art Center are Monday through Friday from 11 am until 4 pm and Saturday from 10 am until 2 pm. For questions call the Art Center at 219-926-4711 or visit the website at www.chestertonart.org.