Emerson School Unites

Through Abstract Art

October, 2009

After every last paint splatter was scrubbed from the gym floor, 228 acrylic covered raincoats collected, and almost every colorful shoe wiped clean (or not, depending on how ‘cool’ it looked), the Emerson Elementary School gymnasium exhaled in admiration at the 8 beautiful canvases that quietly hung from its walls like it was more than a lunchroom, today.

“You can’t tell where one person started and one person ended. We are all together on this piece of canvas and the only way we can do it is together,” says Sue Loesl, the Adaptive Art Specialist that worked closely with Abstract Artist Tom Kiebzak to plan and implement this school-wide project.

Students spent the first of two days with Kiebzak and Loesl learning about abstract art, testing out the various tools they would use for the project, and of course, decorating their painter’s hats. This day of preparation really got students and teachers excited about the project so that when the big day came there was already a colorful buzz in the hallways.

“Are there any rules to abstract art?” one student asked Kiebzak. “There are no rules to abstract art,” Kiebzak quickly responded. The student seemed pleased with the answer.

“We are broadening their horizons of what being an artist and working with paint can be,” says Loesl.

In consistency with the mission of Arts @ Large, this project was designed to include students of all learning and physical abilities. Students with special needs rotated throughout the day and worked side-by-side with their peers throwing, rolling and scraping paint.

“Integrating art is so vital to a child’s overall curriculum and who they are as a child. It really opens up some of these kids’ creativity in an inclusive setting,” says Loesl, who used a variety of tools from rakes to squishy sponges to make sure every student had a chance to participate.

When all was smeared and splattered, 8 canvases created by 228 students and 40 school faculty members celebrated the beauty that can be produced from unity. The Betty Brinn Children’s Museum of Milwaukee has even asked to display a few of the canvases in their atrium. Emerson plans to take their students on a field trip to see their work on display.

“My vision for the project was to bring abstract art into a school setting to show students there is more to art than just drawing a thing,” says Kiebzak.

Abstract art did become more than a thing at Emerson School. It became more than a house or a boat or a sunset, it became a canvas that allowed students of all abilities to come together and create.