“Art is more than just a pretty picture,” explained a second grader. For two years, Nine Mile Elementary has celebrated art through ArtFest; it is a day when the whole school learns about an artist and then replicates his/her art. This year, Vincent van Gogh was selected to study.

To give the students some background knowledge before ArtFest, each classroom read the children’s book Van Gogh by Mike Venezia. It is one of a series aimed at opening up the world of art and artists to children. Many of van Gogh’s most famous paintings are shown to complement the story of his life. It describes van Gogh’s style of thick, short lines, contrasting his earlier, dark paintings, with his later bright colored paintings; in Sunflowers, the ridges formed by the thick paint are very visible, and the book explains that van Gogh often used paint right from the tube.

At the All School ArtFest Assembly on Friday, March 14th, four fifth graders presented a power point slide show that Mrs. Marcie Norstadt and Ms. Dawn Toelken created. It reviewed van Gogh’s life, art, and accomplishments. Students learned that in 1886, van Gogh moved to Paris where he was introduced to impressionism, which brought color, light, and pointism to his later paintings. This power point was also set to the song Starry, Starry Night by Don McLean.

In an artistic tribute to van Gogh, students then created their own renditions of his Starry Night painting. In their classrooms, students were to paint with short dashes, lots of color, in swirling motions to capture his style. “The color makes you feel his emotions,” commented a second grader. “He uses lots of paint, so it almost makes you feel like you’re inside of his paintings. You know how he feels.”

Through ArtFest, Nine Mile Falls Elementary students learn more than just about a person and painting styles. They learn to analyze, compare, and contrast through a different medium. “It [ArtFest] made me look at art and be able to tell from a paining if he [the artist] was happy or sad,” shared one student. Her classmate stated it best, “I just get it more.”