Kids Artwork Takes Over Part of the Erie Art Museum

"It's really cool, it's just so wonderful," said Virginia Riddle, a 6th grader at Cambridge Springs Elementary. 

"I thought it was great, we all did a great job," said Sophie Jageman, a 5th grader at Villa Maria Elementary. 

The program is called "Kids as Curators," which brings the Erie Art Museum together with three local schools and artists to teach students critical and creative thinking, through art. 

"It's just a great way to bring the arts and culture into their curriculum and to show them that art is not just a form, but can be in other parts of their education," said Carissa Snarski, the museum's director of marketing and public relations. 

Each's school's project has a different theme that aims to teach the students something in addition to art. For example, Lincoln Elementary students used exclusively recycled materials.

Their centerpiece is a life-sized lion, the Lincoln Elementary school mascot.  

"We did recycling lessons, why we should recycle, and also some math lessons to see how many bottles we'd need and collect to fill a life sized lion," said Gaby Randall, a 5th grade teacher at Lincoln. 

"I just think that if you use your head, you can create a lot of things," said Luke Alward, a 5th grader at Lincoln Elementary.  "I thought it was really cool that we got to see it in the art museum," he said. 

Cambridge Springs Elementary 6th graders created murals and videos to portray the perception of time, a subject that really got students thinking.

"One night it just kind of clicked and I thought of a whole new way to think about it. My hand just started scribbler and its really great," Riddle said. 

Villa Maria Academy students built models around the theme, "broken dreams and mended seams."

All the projects also play a role teaching teamwork.

"I learned that it's important to work together and you can't do it all on your own," Jageman said. 

The displays will be up at the Erie Art Museum until March 15th.