Vol. I, No. 5: 1. This Month's Art: Kids Invitational Art Show at The Ferrisburgh Artisans Guild

It took me four years to paint like Raphael,
but a lifetime to paint like a child.
Pablo Picasso

If the essence of Spring is renewal, then Spring has already burst into flower at the Ferrisburgh Artisans Guild's Kids Invitational Art Show. Four elementary schools -- Addison, Charlotte Central, Ferrisburgh and Vergennes -- have come together for this exhibit of highly original, beautiful and inspiring work.

THE ARTISTS Whose Work Appears on DownStreet This Month
Edie Amblo	Kyle Hamblin	Sky Montgomery	The Schools ... and
Josh Baker	Charlotte Hardie	Dominick Mucklow	The Schools ... and
Amanda Blake	Lindsay Hartley	Sonya Oosterman
Meredith Bradley	Kendra Haven	Alana Oren
Kate Costello	Chris Holwager	Molly Presson
Helen Cowan	Allyson Kilbride	Katie Sokolowski
Lauren Eddy	Caleb Ladue	Josie Stout
Kaitlyn Evarts	Sophie Larson	Constantin B. Sullivan
Caitlin Ferland	Izak Lazarowski	Eliza Thompson
Samantha Flynn	Michael McEnerny	Loren Urban	The Teachers
Kayla Gatos	Corey Melnick	Lucy Weaver	The Teachers

The artists, all in grades 3-8, give us a fresh look at the familiar and show us how to see magic in the everyday. The show was put together by the three art teachers from the four schools: Alice Bourgoin (Charlotte), Alison Parsons (Ferrisburgh & Addison), and Laura Pettibon (Vergennes).

Why the show? "I just love kids art," exclaims Alice Bourgoin. "This makes the kids feel so important." Jessica Udvardy, director of the year-old Ferrisburgh Artisans Guild, adds, "We wanted the kids to experience what it's like to be an artist. ... [This show] adds a lot of life to the gallery."

Kendra Haven & Mom

Accompanying each work of art is a short printed commentary written by the artist. Teacher Alison Parsons admits it was very difficult to get the artists to write about their work. "I'm glad we did, though. The writing is so beautiful." The comments by the artists, poetry in itself, give us unusual insight into the children's creativity. What comes across, among much else, is a lack of self-consciousness, a deep respect for subject matter and medium, and the pure pleasure of the creative act.

In his intricately detailed Still Life, Sky Montgomery's vase seems ready to leave the paper on its own. In his written commentary he states, "…for the atmosphere I wanted to create something that had some kind of strange aura." Of his futuristic Cubes, Izak Lazarowski says, "I started off with just cubes, and then they started to look like bits of information." And in reference to her otherworldly Raven, artist Meredith Bradley explains, "The raven is such a mysterious, peaceful bird symbolizing magic and things of the past."

Brendan Pierce's Ringmaster stands with five other clay figures in the Circus Figures grouping. He comments, "I especially like smoothing and shaping the figure when I am working with clay." Lucy Weaver writes about the making of My Clay Unicorn. "I thought, 'Hooray. I get to work with clay!" And Daniel Flynn, who created the haunting Landscape of a Winter Snow Blizzard, notes, "I like pastel because you have to take your time."

For students of these four schools, art means learning-about themselves, other cultures and other artists. Eliza Thompson's delicate, playful Trapeze Artist was inspired "when we watched a movie about Alexander Calder." After an introduction to the paintings of Monet, Kendra Haven painted her luminescent Monet Tree. Charlotte students learned about spirit dolls and created their own symbolic figures. Myths, motifs, mothers, circuses -- all contributed to the Kids Invitational Art Show. But it's obvious that the teachers' encouragement did, as well.

The Teachers Talk Art: Allison Parsons, Alice Burgoin & Laura Pettibon

Loren Urban's exuberant Bird is barely contained on its canvas. She says, "I really like the way my art teacher inspired me to do this bird portrait."

Self-exploration is a common theme in this show. The artists learn who they are through their art. Dominick Mucklow's beautiful Lionfish is a kind of self-portrait. "The reason I chose the lionfish was perhaps because it represented me as a person," Dominick writes. And when you stare into the yellow eyes of the wolf in My Storyteller, you may be staring into the artist's eyes, also. "I chose to make a wolf because I think wolves are gentle and independent and I feel that I am a wolf in many ways," remarks Alan Oren.

Every single work in the Kids Invitational Art Show is stunning in its energy, beauty, color and originality. The world that the children show us is warm, rich, alive, worth celebrating.

Come out of the cold, gray winter, then, into this world. It will tide you over until Spring.

We invite you to peruse a sampling of the Kids Invitational Art Show in this month's DownStreet Gallery. But this is something you really ought to see at first hand, at ...

If you know of any artists or craftsmen/-women whose work you think deserves attention, don't hesitate to let us know. Simply e-mail us at

And just in case you were wondering, self-promotion is acceptable. ...
The e-mail should contain your name, address, and a phone number where we can reach you, as well as some brief background about the art or craft. If you are recommending that we cover someone else's work, you should ask that person for permission, then also include his or her name, address, and phone number.