"They’re from all over the world; I could not believe what I was pulling out of that box."
Teacher
By: Michael Arges
A feast of fresh new perspectives on art from around the world is on view at the Twin Rivers and Hightstown libraries until Nov. 17.
The libraries are housing displays of outstanding children’s art as part of a project organized by McKnight School art teacher Sharon Heneborn. McKnight is one of seven centers in the United States chosen to host the children’s work, selected from 400,000 entries to an international art competition.
"If you have a chance sometime before the 17th, you just have to come and feast on these pieces. They just made my heart flip when I started pulling them out of the boxes!" Ms. Heneborn said.
It has been a tremendous thrill to see such excellent children’s work representing so many styles and cultures, she added.
"They’re from all over the world; I could not believe what I was pulling out of that box." The works are by children ranging in age from 4 to 15, and they come from a multitude of nations including Indonesia, Russia, the Philippines, Canada, Libya, and even some new countries Ms. Heneborn was not familiar with.
The exhibit is a special inspiration for the students, because they themselves represent a variety of cultures and nationalities, Ms. Heneborn noted. Many of the students recognize artwork from countries they or their families emigrated from. She said a student whose family moved from Russia was particularly excited by the works representing Russian students.
"I didn’t know he was Russian, but when he saw a work from Russia he got so excited," she said. "He wants to bring his grandfather and mother in to see it. The kids are very definitely connecting to these countries."
"People in our community who have come from other countries are granted the opportunity to revisit scenes from their culture and share their memories with their children," noted McKnight ESL teacher Ina Wolfson.
Examining the works on display at the school has given her students a chance to demonstrate their own sophistication in studying art works from different cultures, Ms. Heneborn noted. For example, students in one of her second-grade classes noticed Egyptian and Indian patterns in a work from the Sultanate of Oman. It was no surprise for them to learn that Oman is on the Arabian Peninsula just across from India and not too far from Egypt.
Hosting these art works gives her students a rare chance to see artistic excellence that is on their age and skill level, Ms. Heneborn noted.
"When they go to museums, they’re seeing adult work. This is excellence coming from kids on their level."
Third-grader Regina Enea enjoyed helping pick which art works would hang in the art room at school. "We picked pictures that showed the artistic stuff we work on in art class and the materials we have to work with," she noted.
While they are enjoying some outstanding examples from this year’s competition, Ms. Heneborn’s students are busily preparing their entries for next year’s competition sponsored by Pentel, the Japanese maker of fine art supplies.
The local entries will be sent next week, and Ms. Heneborn noted her students have had remarkable success in the competition, almost always winning at least two medals each year.
While Ms. Heneborn used to avoid contests, because she wants all her students to be winners, she has come to recognize that art competition is an important part of her students’ education.
"They need to participate and learn about the reality of competition early on, while they have adult support around them," she said. "Competition is a part of art; it is a part of life."
One year Ms. Heneborn helped her students understand the realities of competition through an exchange with art students at the College of New Jersey. She asked students in each class to give first-, second- and third- place awards to the college students’ works, and the children found it very difficult to give only three prizes. They noticed that different students and different classes gave prizes to different art works.
"They realized that it was just a matter of judgment on that day, and that the judges also struggled," Ms. Heneborn observed.