The colorful artwork of children and young teens will be put on display for all to see in the Zoller Gallery beginning today.
Children ages 4 to 14 -- who participated in weekly art classes taught by Penn State seniors in the art education program -- created the pieces of art on display. This exhibition is the result of the fall semester of art classes, which will begin again in the spring.
"There were different themes for each age group," said Christine Thompson, professor of art education. "The 5- to 6-year-olds have the theme of changes in seasons and weather; the 7- to 10-year-olds have the theme of places of play; and the 11- to 14-year-olds have the broader theme of change."
Most of the children's parents work or are graduate students at Penn State, Elizabeth Latham (senior-art education) said.
There are also children, however, who travel far distances just to participate in the classes, Thompson said, adding that the children worked with both contemporary and traditional media.
"One day, we had them make their own pinhole cameras out of cereal boxes and soda cans and showed them how to play with different exposure times," Lauren DeMoss (senior-art education) said.
There are also a variety of different pieces in the exhibit, including sculpture, murals, painting, drawing and bookmaking, Thompson said.
"Some of the older students made funerary objects out of paper and then burned them and put the ashes into jars," Thompson said.
She said the art education students teaching the classes learned just as much as the students in the program.
Seeing their artwork up on display is very exciting for the kids, Thompson said. "There are 80 kids involved," she said, "and I am sure most of their parents will come to see them, so the room will probably be packed."
