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Wednesday, January 06, 2010

Ontonagon Area art students exhibit Community Collaborations murals at Arts Center in Hancock

HANCOCK -- Community Collaborations, an exhibit of murals inspired by folk art, is on display in the Youth Gallery at the Copper Country Community Arts Center in Hancock during the month of January.

An art project created by Ontonagon Area Schools 7th grade art students, the murals, or "3-D paintings," depict four of the communities included in the Ontonagon Area School District: Ontonagon, White Pine, Rockland, and Mass City/Greenland. Students created the collaborative works during approximately 30-55-minute art class sessions. The project was a labor of love and included the help of many people.

Ontonagon 7th grade art students work on a "3-D painting" of their community. (Photos courtesy Community Arts Center)

"With this type of team teaching opportunity, we could tackle more ambitious and complex projects," said Jill Miesbauer, a teaching intern from Northern Michigan University assisting art educator Melissa Hronkin.

Next, guest artist Randy Wakeham inspired the students with his paintings and professional advice. Board of Education President Dean Juntinen took photographs of the landmark buildings in each of the communities for the students to use as reference. This really helped the students with their realistic drawings of the buildings.

Ontonagon art students exhibit their mural of the Mass City/Greenland community.

Scott DeHut, an aide for some of the students, provided guidance and leadership for some of the groups. This art project was about collaboration and community building at many levels. Artists in the real world do not work in isolation: there are many types of skills involved in their process. The folk-art-inspired 3-D paintings mimicked this real-world process and provided students and teachers with many opportunities for reflection and higher-level thinking skills to solve the challenges that presented themselves each day.

The Community Arts Center is located at 126 Quincy Street in Hancock and is open Tuesday-Friday, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m., and Saturday, 1 p.m. - 5 p.m. Call 482-2333 for more information.

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