Museum celebrates tradition of teaching art to kids

In the Carnegie Museum of Art’s Hall of Sculpture, a vibrant display of contemporary art sits… In the Carnegie Museum of Art’s Hall of Sculpture, a vibrant display of contemporary art sits nestled among tall marble columns. The placement of ancient Greek statues towering over abstract pastel portraits creates a stunning juxtaposition.

Even more remarkable? None of the artists are more than 15 years old.

The museum’s latest exhibit features work from 163 student artists. All are students of The Art Connection, Saturday art classes for kids offered by the museum, which celebrates its 80th anniversary this year. The Art Connection classes began in 1928.

‘What really sets this program apart,’ said Ellen James, the museum’s assistant director of marketing, ‘is that a few notables got their first training here. People like Andy Warhol, Philip Pearlstein and actor Jeff Goldblum all were students here.

‘It’s something that’s been a part of Pittsburgh for a long time. It’s still teaching children how to observe and study art. It’s a very rich class. It’s also nice since art sometimes is the first department to go in school districts who are trying to cut back with a tight budget,’ said James.

Students can sign up for a class on their own, or teachers can recommend students they believe would enjoy the classes. Art teachers often suggest students they believe would benefit from an extra art class per week, James explained. Students in grades five through nine can enroll, and each class is divided by grade.

‘Each grade has its own theme for the class. For example, fifth grade’s is ‘Art in Nature,’ and they’re looking at the natural world and how it inspires all sorts of art making,’ she explained. ‘They’re doing painting, clay, drawing, decorative art — they even painted a chair. It really runs the gamut and gives the students further experience in all sorts of media.’

The exhibit displays the wide variety of techniques the students learn from their classes. Techniques on display range from relief prints and reverse glass painting to collages and one-point perspective drawings.

‘Art and Everyday Life’ — a particularly vivid exhibit from the seventh grade class — shows student-decorated books and chairs adorned with feathers, paint, paper mache, newspaper, shells, string and other commonplace items.

Students had the opportunity to write a statement on a card expressing their feelings toward art, their experience in the class and the work they produced. After reading through a few, the impact The Art Connection has on its participants is clear. Almost every student gushes about the friends they made and the things they learned in the classes.

‘Every year we have a display of the students’ work, but this year is a rather momentous anniversary — it’s big to get to 80 years in anything,’ said James.

On April 5, the museum held an exhibit reception for past and present students and their families.

‘You should come in and take a look because you could be viewing work by the next Andy Warhol,’ she said. ‘Art Connection is one of the many prides of the Carnegie Museum. We’re really happy to be celebrating 80 years of educating children.’