Las Vegas Day School holds annual student art fair

It may have been after-school hours, but the multipurpose room at the Las Vegas Day School was filled with people enjoying the annual art fair April 16.

There were pastels, water colors, marker and pencil drawings, but the art fair also included items like short stories, collages and soft art pieces. Displayed on tables and adorning the walls were examples of each student's work. Some students had more than one item on display.

"We feel it is very important for every student to have the opportunity to display their work," director Neil Daseler said. "This reinforces the importance of art and ultimately gives each child a chance to take pride in their accomplishments."

What projects were the hardest for the younger pupils?

"Sometimes, just sitting still long enough to listen to directions," said Becky Crowe with a laugh.

As art teacher for grades one through six, Crowe chose which pieces appeared in the art fair. She said her favorite entries were the flower series done by the second graders, which were created earlier in the year when they were learning about Georgia O'Keefe. The youngsters worked from tear sheets of flowers.

"The pictures are uninhibited," Crowe said. "The kids really got into what they were doing."

In fact, Crowe liked them so much, she submitted them to an international children's art exhibit online. The students' work now appears on www.artsonia.com and will stay on the site for three months.

A poster by Alyssa Smith, 12, was submitted to a competition for the Lion's Club peace poster contest. It contained no words because it was an international competition, but she got her message of world peace across in a unique way. Her colored pencil illustration depicted a submarine sandwich filled with faces of all cultures, including Japanese, Dutch, African, Indian, and American. The sandwich is topped with olives, made to look like miniature earths on toothpicks.

"It's supposed to mean we're all one, we're all united," Smith said. "I was looking at a magazine ad for food and the idea (for the illustration) popped into my head."

Other entries into the fair were painted clay piggy banks in the shapes of animals. There was a cat, dog, ladybug, turtle and raccoon. There were geometric designs on black backgrounds done by third graders and pastel scenes by second graders, one of whom borrowed from Van Gogh's "Starry Night."

On the back wall were paper maché spirit masks, depicting the essence of various animals. One mask, representing a rain spirit, had a real plant growing from its top.

Another display showed illustrations of everyday items "morphing" into something else. A wine opener, for example, transformed over a series of seven panels into a yellow parakeet.

As if to remind students of where art can take them, posters of notable artists like Chagall, Gaughan, Lange and Picasso were tacked high on the wall, as though they were overlooking the students' work.

The masters would have been surprised at the display of dry prints on one wall. The signs of the times were showing -- where students once whittled wood blocks to create prints, these designs were scratched into CDs.

Peter Gentile, 9, a fourth grader, showed off a paper mask he created. It was black with various geometric shapes attached in no particular pattern.

"I tried to make it weird," he said in a matter-of-fact voice. "That way, it could be whatever people wanted it to be."

An eighth-grade display showed realistic pencil drawings. On closer inspection, it was revealed that half the picture was from a black and white ad while the other half was created by the art students, matching almost perfectly.

"Our Art Fair is designed to enhance the children's as well as the parent's awareness and appreciation of art," Daseler said. "When you see the astonished looks of the people who visit the art fair, one better realizes the full extent of our art program."