Student Artwork Exhibit Is Now on Display at the Guggenheim Museum

By Samantha Neudorf April 22, 2016

About 1,500 students from 12 public schools around New York City in grades 2-6 had the opportunity to meet with teaching artists from the Guggenheim Museum and now have their artwork displayed at the Upper East Side space.

A Year with Children is an annual exhibition presented by the Guggenheim’s Learning Through Art (LTA) program, which allows students to explore art techniques and express their creativity.

This year’s exhibit was unveiled on April 21, and student representatives from each school were present to speak upon the artwork their class made with an LTA educator.

Danielle, a fourth grader from PS 8 in Brooklyn Heights, explained that she created a three-dimensional tunnel book about the duration of a school day. Each student took three photos to represent something important to them, then traded the photos with other students. The overall piece was inspired by the work of Leslie Hewitt: a contemporary artist featured at the Guggenheim. One of Hewitt’s series involves layering photos, creating textures with a variety of materials that pop out at the viewer.

“We were only allowed to use collages and oil pastels,” Danielle said. “We were not allowed to use paint because we were not allowed to use marker. The only thing we were allowed to use marker for were the frames and special details.”

Leticia, a fourth grader from PS 130 in Bayside, created a painting of a bird magician in a city background that was initially supposed to be a rainbow.

“I had no idea what to do for these two, so I did something crazy!” Leticia said.

The art program is now in its 45th year. Kim Kanatani, deputy director and director of education at the Guggenheim, said in a statement, “The Learning Through Art program at the Guggenheim has worked with New York City public schools to offer hands-on experiences in the visual arts that otherwise might not be available to students. LTA firmly believes in the importance of integrating the arts across the curriculum and has also contributed important research to the field of education.”

A Year With Children will be on display from April 22–June 12.

Main photo: Danielle, a fourth grader from PS 8 in Brooklyn Heights, presents her class's artwork at the Guggenheim.

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