MAC displays student artwork

The art and the artists are small in size but large in meaning. “We get to show how we feel with art,” said Bryson Burns, a 7-year-old first-grader from Orchard Prairie School, one of Washington’s oldest and smallest public school districts.

Burns, along with about 70 other students from Orchard Prairie, got into groups of eight or nine and created sun catchers. The artists ranged from kindergarten to seventh grade, and the oldest in each group was the “family group” leader.

They completed nine sun catchers that currently hang at the Café MAC by D’Zaar, located at the Museum of Arts and Culture. “I like seeing it up in my museum,” said Braeden Schierman, 6. “I think other people will like seeing it, too, and the glass is more sparklier there.”

The work will remain in the café windows until the end of July. It is the first time the MAC has let an elementary group hang work there. The school considers it an honor.

Each piece was designed and drawn by the kids and then glass was cut, ground, placed with copper foil and then soldered. Before the project, students were introduced to the works of Pablo Picasso as well as Henri Matisse through photographs and the book “When Pigasso Met Mootisse.”

“We learned how cubism breaks up the known form in unexpected ways, and shows that no one view of an object is the ‘right’ one,” said teacher Kirsten Schierman.

The students learned about the meanings behind works of art, including the incorporation of meanings into their own designs.

Riley Dymond, 7, and his group made “The House.”

“Our group thought a house would be good,” said Dymond, “I liked designing the shapes to fit the house together. Sad, mad, happy – we put those colors in it. It has a little crystal in the middle, that’s the heart.”

Braeden Schierman and his group made “The Heart.” “It’s a dark, sad, broken heart. I like the spinning thing. It’s a crystal, a tear, but it means hope,” he said.

The other sun catchers hanging in the café are “The Coffee Mug,” “The Tree,” “The Butterfly,” “The Flag,” “The Umbrella,” “The Rocket” and “The Catfish.”

The students do a large art project every year. “I know our kids are better, more well-rounded thinkers and leaders because of these art projects,” said Schierman.