I have learned everything I know about Art from my seven year old son. He has a self-taught encyclopedic knowledge of the subject. He knows biographies of famous artists, which museums hold which paintings, when and where they were painted, etc. Its amazing. The Impressionists, namely Vincent van Gogh, are his favorite. We visited the Museum of Modern Art in NYC to see Starry Night, the painting that was on the top of his bucket list to see. After a year or so of studying art, he asked me why all the artists are all dead. I reassured him that there are artists who are still alive but unfortunately, I could not name any. He just wanted to meet a living artist.

Fast forward to last week. I was talking with the *fantabulous* art teacher at my son’s school and we agreed to do an “Artists All Around Us” display in the school. The goal is to have all students realize they are living within a community of great artists. Each quarter, a different artist from the school community will have their art work featured–it may be a student, faculty member or parent.

I am so proud to have my son learn over time that he is indeed surrounded by some great artists. I also hope this will reassure to each student and adult in the school community that you do not have to be dead and have your work in a museum to be a great artist.

The first display features the work by a CCR teacher in the school. Here is  her artist’s statement on the project: “Located on the outskirts of Apex, is a 75 acre farm which has been in my family for over a hundred years. My great-grandfather originally built these barns in the early 1900s. Recently, my dad remodeled the red barn after my brother, Jonathan, passed away. A couple of months ago, my dad and I watched a special on PBS about barn quilts in the western part of NC. We loved the idea and decided to make a “barn quilt” and hang it. This project has since evolved and has been a great way for our family to remember my brother. ” –Jennifer Long

A close up of her work can be seen in this post: http://josphotomojo.com/?p=1708