Picasso paintings inspire pupils

JEFF GRANIT staff Pablo Picasso was highlighted during January at the Taylor Mills School, Manalapan, where pupils studied the life of the artist and created Picasso-like artwork. The Picasso celebration was the idea of art teacher Robbie Schafler (background), who created a traveling art show that was displayed at the entrance of the school during the final week of the celebration, and treated students to a series of presentations and activities relating to Picasso. MANALAPAN — In January the Taylor Mills School appeared to be a Pablo Picasso paradise to all who walked through the halls. With a month-long project spearheaded by art teacher Robbie Schafler and reinforced by her fellow teachers, the school's entire student body of first, second and third-grade pupils celebrated Pablo Picasso Month.

Throughout January the students were immersed in an aesthetic experience in which they not only created their own art based on the works of Picasso, they learned history, culture, language arts and creative thinking skills while studying one of the giants of art history. The Picasso-inspired works of art that were completed by the pupils and displayed on every bulletin board throughout the school is evidence the children worked hard and learned a lot.

JEFF GRANIT staff Third-grade pupils Riya Prasad (l) and Kelly Long search for information in a Pablo Picasso display at the Taylor Mills School, Manalapan, as they complete a worksheet activity during the culmination of the school's educational celebration of the artist's life. According to Schafler, the bulletin boards showcased examples of portraits and still life works of art in the Cubist style. Inspirational, humorous and sometimes profound quotes by Picasso such as "All children are born artists; the trick is to stay that way when they grow up" could be found displayed among the pupils' artwork.

Many youngsters were motivated to create images of sad musicians after seeing examples of "The Old Guitarist" from Picasso's "Blue Period."

First-graders created floral collages after being exposed to one of Picasso's familiar masterpieces, "Hand with Flowers."

"The originality, beauty, craftsmanship and sophistication of many of the works are quite amazing, especially when one realizes these students are between 7 and 9 years of age. I am personally filled with pride at their accomplishment," Schafler said.

The art teacher started the ball rolling with the Picasso theme by using lessons and fun activities to present art history, aesthetics and criticism in her art class. Other teachers carried the theme through and built upon it by incorporating it into their lessons.

In Spanish class, Laura Igarteburu added cultural enrichment by discussing Picasso's Spanish heritage.

In music class, Amanda Newell added a musical element with the song "Picasso Paints the Blues."

The school's media specialist, Joan Brady, read "Pigcasso Met Mootisse" to first-graders, helping them to link the styles of Picasso and Henri Matisse through the humorous story.

The month-long Picasso celebration culminated in a traveling art exhibit that featured giant floor-toceiling reproductions of some of Picasso's works hanging in the school's main hallway.

Each class was treated to a creative experience that reviewed everything the pupils had learned and allowed them to try out their newly acquired knowledge through question and answer interaction, games, and the use of their art vocabulary to discuss and critique the pieces. It was apparent as Schafler led them through a series of planned activities in the main lobby that the students had retained a great deal of information.

First Schafler's Picasso protégés were provided with clipboards and questionnaires that they filled out while viewing a timeline of Picasso's life. Facts were flying as they efficiently answered questions such as where and when Picasso was born (Malaga, Spain, Oct. 25, 1881), and when he died (1973, age 92). They also touched on events in Picasso's life that influenced his paintings. (For example: the death of Picasso's best friend made him very sad and he showed those feelings by using a cool color during what is referred to as his "Blue Period" - 1901-04. When Picasso fell in love in 1904, he entered his "Rose Period" and used warm colors). The pupils learned that Picasso created more than 20,000 works of art in his lifetime.

The children then moved on to view the large works of art, which included a self-portrait by Picasso. They discussed the style called Cubism for which Picasso is famous. The children knew what this was and explained that Picasso flattened out objects and left out details while showing things from many sides at one time.

One of the largest reproductions, "Night Fishing at Antibes," was a reproduction of a painting that hangs in the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. The piece at the Taylor Mills School was 6 feet, 9 inches by 11 feet, 4 inches — the same size as the one in the museum. The students commented as they analyzed the piece.

One youngster thought it looked like one of the faces was punched in, but unusual features are commonly seen in Picasso creations. Another pupil noticed that the mouth was above the nose on one of the faces and asked why.

"Because it's a Picasso!" Schafler responded with a chuckle.

Another large piece was "Guernica," which the third grade students from Sharyn Fisher's class knew was a picture of people who perished in a war. The children discussed how Picasso painted "Guernica" after he had heard of numerous war-related deaths in Guernica, Spain. He sent the picture to America where many people collected money to help the people who had been impacted by the war.

The children were also quite taken by one of Schafler's anecdotes about how Las Vegas hotel owner Steve Wynn was offered $139 million for one of his Picasso paintings, but ended up putting a hole in it with his elbow by mistake. He had the painting repaired and ended up selling it for a bit less.

The presentation ended with a slide show of Picasso images. During that time each child was presented with a signed certificate that declared him or her to be a Picasso expert. One student read the certificate out loud. The children then took a stroll around the school and admired each other's artwork.

Jessica Gent, the art supervisor for the Manalapan-Englishtown Regional School District, was on hand to observe the presentation.

Gent said, "I am very excited about the program Mrs. Schafler has brought to the school. We are always looking for ways to bring an appreciation of art to the children and with this program and the expertise of the teacher, the children have been immersed in Pablo Picasso and learned so much. This is a program we are looking to continue and are hopeful that next year we'll be able to bring it into the other schools as well, with either Picasso or other artists."

Taylor Mills School Principal Ruth Jacobson said, "Mrs. Schafler is the consummate educator. She not only gets the best artwork from the students, she teaches the history, and they get it. The students were inspired by what she has taught them."

Third-grader Steven Scharaldi said of Picasso, "I think he's the best artist; pretty amazing because one of his paintings was going to be sold for $139 million."

Third-grader Emma Kaplan said, "I think it was really fun learning about Pablo Picasso because he does so many different kinds of paintings."

"I think he's an amazing artist because he hides the things in the picture and we can pick it out," third-grader Alexander Tantum said.

Third-grader Daniel Eng said he thought the works of art were "really colorful and nice" and third-grader Alexandra Cavanagh said she thought that "all of the different pictures were interesting."

As the presentation came to a close, Schafler, who has been teaching elementary school art for 15 years and taught high school and college level art prior to taking a position at Taylor Mills, beamed at her students with pride and reflected on what the experience meant to her.

"I have been rejuvenated as a teacher," she said. "I feel like I have the same kind of enthusiasm as a new teacher. It's very important for a teacher to keep changing and growing or you risk becoming stale and uninteresting. My objective is to keep the children excited and motivated and to enjoy what they are doing."

If the enthusiastic answers and broad smiles on her students' faces are any standard of measurement, it could be concluded that Schafler has accomplished her goal.