THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, March 17, 1996 TAG: 9603150212
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JANELLE LA BOUVE, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 72 lines
Art teacher Joan B. Balahan is always on the lookout for appropriate settings to display the drawings and paintings of her students.
``I want other people to see their art,'' said Balaban, whose career as an art teacher began six years ago at Crestwood Middle School.
When Norfolk International Airport requested art from Chesapeake students, Balaban jumped at the chance.
``I asked for March because it's Youth Art Month to celebrate children's art,'' Balaban said. ``I thought that would be a good way for our school to participate.''
Dedra R. Carter, the airport's director of employee and community relations, and a former public school music teacher, said the airport is an excellent place for the public to view art.
``I often notice passengers who fly in and out,'' Carter said. ``They always find their way to that board, and they always have beautiful comments about the work done by students.''
The airport shows student art year-round. In the past, mostly work from Norfolk Public School students was shown there. Since Carter decided to offer the opportunity to other cities, requests and art have come from schools throughout Hampton Roads. But Carter has never been approached by anyone from an elementary school.
All year, Balaban has been saving certain pieces of student art from her six classes which includes about 125 sixth, seventh and eighth graders.
This is the second year that air travelers have viewed art made by students from Crestwood.
The current exhibit includes a mixed-media portrait by sixth-grader Nachelle Griffin. Tiny, red lips on the figure are set off just a bit to one side of the nose.
Seventh-grader, Sean Quinn's interpretation of a mixed media portrait, includes a crushed aluminum foil background, wallpaper, yarn and construction paper. Quinn's second entry, a piece made with markers, showed movement in an illusion of royal blue and white rectangles.
An ink drawing of a tricycle by seventh-grader, Melinda Marcelo, has a lot of detail including wheel spokes. The vivid colors, such as purple, hot pink, green and yellow, incorporated in Brent Boyd's marker version of a tricycle, seem to bounce off the page.
The other students whose work is included in the airport showing are Amanda Bushinski, Larry Cook, Julia Corprew, Judy Creef, Lynda Drew, Lindsey Echternach, Nicole Ellis, Jonathan Emry, Heather Grose, Kim Jones, Kevin Josie, Breon Mitchell, Julina Morillo, Blair Oswald, Sheena Parker, Darrell Robinson, Brandon Smith, Michelle Taylor, Jennifer Turner, Donald White, Jonathan White and Andrew Zapetero.
Art students cover a lot during their classes. Balaban's sixth graders learn about perspective.
It's not an easy concept, but they learn it, she said. They study about primary, secondary and tertiary colors and learn to mix colors to make their own color wheel. They learn about line drawings too.
``The definition of a line is the path of a dot through space,'' she said. ``It's really fun.''
For some short assignments, she uses Paul Klee's premise about taking a dot on a walk or journey. Dots can become buildings, airplanes or soccer balls, she said. In tempura painting assignments, students make use of lines, dots and contour drawings.
The art curriculum also includes working in the abstract, working with clay and at least one craft assignment. ILLUSTRATION: Photo by GARY C. KNAPP
Sean Quinn, 13, created two of the works in the young artists'
exhibit at the airport.
by CNB