District News

Students and artist join forces to work on mural celebrating Canajoharie arts

 

March 16, 2012

 

Winslow Homer. The Arkell Arts Museum. The talented chorus students at Canajoharie High School. The mural at the local post office dubbed “Invention of a Paper Bag in Canajoharie” by Anatol Shulkin.

All are parts of the artistic history of Canajoharie, and all are now part of the mural currently being created by students at Canajoharie High School along with art teachers Michelle Egelston and Kathy Van Loan, and visiting mural artist David Fichter. It is the seventh year in a row the teachers and students have worked on a large artistic project.

The colorful 8-by-28-foot mural, called, “Igniting Creativity through the Arts” features scenes from around the community and district celebrating the area’s rich artistic history and programs. When it’s finished, it will hang on a first-floor wall at the high school.

"Our latest project provides our students with a wonderful opportunity to work collaboratively with peers, faculty members, and a renowned artist,” said middle school principal Thomas Sincavage. “The finished piece will be proudly displayed for future generations of Canajoharie residents to enjoy."

More than 100 students from the seventh and eighth grades worked on the mural before it moved to the high school this week. Fichter, a graduate of Harvard, is at the school helping the students along with Mrs. Van Loan.

“The kids loved painting it last year and they love doing it this year,” said Mrs. Egelston. “The most rewarding part is to see my kids with a professional artist. And the kids who might not have as much success in other subjects really flourish when they paint.”

The mural also depicts the “Empty Bowls” clay project, a recent kayak project by the high school technology class, the district’s photography and culinary arts classes, and the Canajoharie cougar. An image of Michelangelo’s hands from the Sistine Chapel sits at the center of the mural, representing that they are about to “create a spark and ignite creativity,” Fichter said.

This project was made possible in part through an Artists in Schools Grant, a program funded by the Arts Center of the Capital Region through the New York State Council on the Arts, a state agency. The Canajoharie PTA, Canajoharie teachers, and Montgomery County Retired Teachers also donated money for the project. Mrs. Van Loan and Mrs. Egelston worked on writing the grant together.

Mrs. Egelston said the project is designed to take a “constructivist approach to learning,” building upon each student’s prior knowledge. She said the project connects well to projects from previous years.

Eighth grade student Saymia Pinder said she looks forward to painting the mural because of the love she has for art. She called working with a professional artist “very rewarding.”

“I really enjoy animals and I love painting and drawing,” she said as she took a break from painting a cougar. “I have five notebooks full of drawings at home. And when I paint this mural, sometimes I step back and I can say ‘wow, I painted that.’”

Fichter said the students have been very engaging and a lot of fun to work with. He said murals often tell stories that are told in other ways, and the current mural tells the story of a small town with an interesting history.

“That history is important for kids to understand. There’s a lot of creativity here and the mural can highlight that,” he said. “The students are aware that this town and school have rich cultural resources, and this raises more awareness of what resources are right here.”

Mrs. Van Loan says Fichter has been a big help to the students and always takes time to explain things to them.

“If a student is mixing the wrong paint, he will stop and help them,” she said. “He is just so helpful to the students and teaches them so much.”