MONROE, CT — On Thursday afternoon, seniors Amelia Manicke and Laura Micu were among a class of Masuk High School art students preparing their work for display at the DaVinci Festival, a biannual event transforming their school into two floors of galleries featuring technology and art from students in grades k-12.
In one piece, Manicke drew a portrait of herself resting her head on her hands while watching the flames of two candles. Another drawing is a family portrait of hands.
“That’s me,” she said of one hand half-covered by a sleeve. “That’s my father, my brother, my grandmother and grandfather.”
Micu’s self portrait uses shadows and light, which combined in the drawing to show the detailed texture of her hair.
“It’s definitely nice senior year having our own exhibits to do,” Micu said of the upcoming festival.
“I always looked up to the seniors when they had their board set up,” Manicke said, adding she feels lucky that the biannual festival will happen during her last year at Masuk.
The DaVinci Festival will be held from 3 to 7 p.m. this Friday and 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Saturday.
“I think it’s great,” senior Olivia Malewicki said of the festival.
Malewicki was surrounded by her work, which included a pastel drawing of her dog, Daisy, and a colorful picture of hands representing family among the display.
“It’s a lot of work people don’t recognize as much,” Malewicki said. “This is a time for people to appreciate the arts, rather than sports or other things. It’s a good time for parents to see the hard work you’re putting in.”
Christian Kloter, a junior, made still-life drawings of his younger brother, Kai, to illustrate the proverb “see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil.” In one drawing, Kai is covering his ears for “hear no evil” and in another he’s covering his mouth for “speak no evil.”
The third drawing was the easiest to do. For “see no evil” Kloter didn’t do a sketch, so there really is nothing to see at all.
In another drawing, Kloter used what he liked from 15 references to sketch a barn swallow.
Olivia Neel, a junior, layered different colors of paper to show a sky at sunset, right in between day and night with elements of both.
Of the DaVinci Festival, Monika Gagnon, a Masuk art teacher, said, “this is the time to showcase my students’ hard work, from regular classes to independent studies. It’s really a great time to cherish their work and for them to reflect on their creative process.”
It’s an evolution
Inside the Masuk gymnasium, art teachers from the district’s three elementary schools, Jockey Hollow Middle School and STEM Academy set up displays for their students’ work. Michael Crowley, director of instruction and professional development, watched all of the activity.
“The art teachers are a well-oiled machine,” he said. “My job is to make sure they have all the materials they need to make it happen. We have a phenomenal art staff in Monroe.”
Crowley said the DaVinci Festival includes a wide variety of mediums and technologies, from drawings, paintings and photography to robotics, construction technology and architecture.
On Friday, he said students from Masuk’s culinary arts classes will prepare and serve hors d’oeuvres to guests.
There will be live music performances on Friday, Crowley added.
He said every student in grades K-8 submitted a piece of artwork for the festival.
“It really showcases our arts and tech ed programs in a way that celebrates the creativity and perseverance of our students,” he said of the festival.
Jen Silva, an art teacher at Stepney Elementary School, showed rows of paintings of potted roses her fifth-graders made. Her first-graders made cityscapes and, beside each piece were smaller, more detailed cityscapes created by older children.
“It is a more detailed pop art by third graders,” Silva explained.
Fourth-graders’ pottery covered one table. “It starts as a plain circle and they go from there,” Silva said.
Some students turned their circles into doughnuts with colorful frosting, while others transformed them into animals. “My favorite is the bunny ears,” Silva said, pointing to a ceramic piece made into a rabbit’s face featuring one floppy ear.
She said her students always look forward to the DaVinci Festival.
“They get so excited,” Silva said. “I love seeing the joy on their faces when they come in and see their artwork. This year I have a kindergartner at Fawn Hollow.”
While setting up displays, Silva said she took the time to spot her son’s artwork.
“We’re lucky to have a district that values the arts,” she said.
Christine Scarpati, an art teacher at Fawn Hollow Elementary School, showed artist studies her students did.
Third-graders’ artist study was based on “The Goldfish,” a famous painting by Henry Matisse. Another project consisted of weaving yarn in designs over Chinet paper plates.
Fifth-graders did printmaking works of snowflakes. Other projects included ceramic designs using imprints of real leaves and artist studies of French painter Berthe Morisot and pen and ink works by Jen Aranyi.
While Morisot persevered as a female artist in the 1800s, Aranyi, a contemporary artist, became famous on social media when her artwork went viral.
Many students are eager to greet their parents and other guests coming to see their work Friday and Saturday.
Scarpati told her fourth graders, “it’s your special day. They love you and want to see you. All you have to do is stand by your art and hear compliments. You are the celebrity. This is your show.”
Superintendent Joseph Kobza was among several administrators stopping by the Masuk gym to admire students’ artwork before the show.
“I think it’s such a great display of the quality of work that our students put out every year under the instruction of our art teachers,” Kobza said. “I love going through this in sequential order and just seeing the growth from kindergarten through elementary and middle school, culminating with AP work at Masuk.”
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