People started arriving at the rarely used gym in the Abington School District Administration building at around 2:30 p.m. Tuesday for the kickoff of the fifteenth annual Abington Art Fest.
About 700 pieces of artwork, representing each school in the district, will be on display through Thursday March 8. The media range from paint, to ceramic to Styrofoam cups.
Check out the pics above.
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According to Howard Baxter, supervisor of music and coordinator of elementary art (who was sitting near the entrance greeting parents and students), the festival started out as a showcase for elementary school students; the event is held at the same time each year as elementary school students have half-days because of parent-teacher conferences.
The festival then opened up to each school in the district ... and was originally going to be sorted according to school, but Baxter said parents, teachers and students like to see the “progression” of the artwork; a piece of artwork done by a high school senior may be placed next to that of an elementary school student.
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“The parents when they walk in here — they think it’s really cool,” Baxter said. “Some parents really don’t know what their kids are capable of."
Baxter lauded the district’s art program, and added that he didn’t have the chance to have art classes when he was a child.
"I wish I was an art teacher,” Baxter said. “I grew up in Alabama and didn’t have art classes like this. I’m not saying I would have been a great artist, but I think I kind of missed out in learning some skills.”
Daniel Kelly, a kindergartener at , got a jumpstart on taking advantage of art classes. His parents accompanied him to the festival, and took pictures of his first painting ever, “Primary Color Skyline.“ It's tempera on paper.
“I like my art class," Daniel said. "And this is my first painting. It’s houses with a lot of windows with all of the lights on."
Check out Daniel’s painting, and others, in the photo section of this article.
To see a list of each school's art teachers, .
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