Dads and kids awarded art lessons
COSHOCTON – The Coshocton County Fatherhood Initiative wanted to make sure the younger students who drew pictures for their recent contest had the same chance to win prizes as the older ones who wrote essays.
While third through sixth graders were asked to write an essay about their father or father figure, kindergarten through second graders drew pictures about them. Hundreds of pictures were returned and with the help of Anne Cornell from the Pomerene Center for the Arts the entries were narrowed down to 30. Of the 30 who were selected as winners, 11 fathers and their kids took part in art lessons offered by Cornell as an award for their submission in the contest. The young artists also were invited to join the Pomerene Center’s art club.
“This gave them a different way to communicate with each other,” said Ed Gallagher from the fatherhood imitative. “There are more ways to express what is going on in your world other than Facebook and this electronic world we live in now.”
The art classes were offered for four weekends. The first lesson was on portraits. The second was on painting cars and trucks. The third was a color study and the fourth was on graffiti. The art they produced will be on display at the Dogwood Youth Arts Celebration in May.
Cornell’s favorite project was the portraits.
“The dads had to paint their child and the child their dad,” she said. “It was both detached and really intimate because they had to sit back and look at someone very familiar to them in a different way.”
However, she enjoyed watching them work together on all the projects.
“It was incredibly powerful,” Cornell said. “These first and second graders were concentrating really hard and the dads were right there with them. Their kids were identified for having something and this gave them a chance to celebrate that with their dads.”
Category: Arts & Entertainment
