All children are artists

Pablo Picasso said, “All Children are Artists. The only problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.”

It is with Picasso’s thought in mind that the Ohio County Public Library will be displaying the works of some up-and-coming student artists in its art gallery through the end of the school year.

“We wanted to try to highlight all the students’ artwork throughout the county,” said Ohio County Public Library Director Melanie Warga.

Starting this month, the library will feature artwork from a different school with the new display going up at the first of each month.

Assistant Director Jean Westerfield came up with the idea, and Warga thought it was a wonderful thing to exhibit in the library’s Abby J. Embry Local Artist Gallery.

“I thought it was a wonderful idea to be able to highlight all the students in the county and give them an avenue where different people, not just their parents and grandparents, can see their artwork,” Warga said.

Expressing themselves through artwork is important for the young artists, she said.

“It gives them the opportunity to express themselves in different ways and provides them with a way to not only express themselves but show other people their work and take pride in what they do.”

The library went through the art teachers at each of the schools who helped decide what will be displayed and find students who are willing to share their work.

Work from Horse Branch Elementary artists is now on display in the gallery through the end of September.

For their artwork, students wrote their names and added designs with a white crayon and colored over their drawing with a marker. When they did this, it allowed the crayon to show, “similar to a magic trick.” A few students wanted to submit their watercolor projects as well. This process was started by drawing a picture with Crayola washable markers. Once their picture was drawn, they took a wet paintbrush and painted over their drawings. This allowed the marker to “move” like water paints.