News Room

Bentonville elementary school students contribute to community art project

BENTONVILLE, Ark., May. 6, 2009 – Students from seven Bentonville elementary schools shared their creativity with the community at the construction site of the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art Thursday, May 7th at 3:30 pm. A third and final set of art panels featuring students’ paintings has been installed on the fence bordering the museum’s construction site. Known as the Fenceworks Gallery, the art installations are located on “J” Street near John DeShields Blvd.

Crystal Bridges Museum Head of School Programs Niki Ciccotelli organized the final installation and invited teachers and students to view their works and others on the fence at the event. “Working with these talented students and teachers has been a real pleasure,” Ciccotelli said. “The elementary art program in Bentonville is thriving, and through its work, serves to honor both our past and our future. This project has given me first-hand knowledge of the kind of art education that students receive in Bentonville. Students are exploring, learning, and creating – and applying these skills, no doubt, to their other subject areas as well. It’s very exciting to see.”

One of the art panels also serves as a memorial tribute to Deb Lee, a Washington Junior High art teacher who passed away last year. Napoleon Dezaldivar, the teacher who took Lee’s place, commissioned fellow teachers to produce a panel to honor her. The painting depicts a tree that was planted in Lee’s memory in October 2008. Dezaldivar chose a tree as the subject for the painting because he said it represents “new growth, hope and life.”

“Not only was this to be in memory of Deb Lee but also a statement by those who participated,” Dezaldivar said. “The different parts of the tree we each painted are a sign of an exciting and collaborative new growth of new art culture that is taking off in Benton County and Northwest Arkansas.”

The other panels and participating schools are: