52 Weeks: Week 19

Week 19: Art Show

Last Thursday we visited an art exhibition featuring our very own little artist.

Students at Ava's school take part in an art education program with teachers from Kala Art Institute here in Berkeley. Now that the school year is coming to an end (eek!) the educators at Kala have put together an exhibition of work created by all students at Ava's school. Unlike a regular school art show that would generally be on display in a school auditorium, this exhibition is on display at the Kala Gallery. An actual gallery! How cool is that?

Last Thursday was the opening night of the exhibition so we headed to the Kala Gallery to check out the artwork on display.

 

Ava had no idea which one of her artworks would be included but she was a little worried that it would be a painting of a dog that she created in the first week, so long ago. It was her least favorite artwork from the year and she hadn't been happy with how it turned out. It turns out that her "crappy dog" as she called it, was indeed included. She was a little upset at first that they hadn't included what she deemed to be one of her better pieces, but after seeing how dynamic all of the animal paintings looked together she was soon happy. 

We walked around the gallery viewing all of the work on display when we were met with a surprise. Another piece of Ava's work was on display. This time it was an illustrated book that Ava was very proud of. A little while back Ava's class had illustrated their own stories and created books. They even had a publishing party at school! Ava had been really happy with how her story "Ice Cream Monster vs Mud Monster" turned out. She was so excited to see it on display.

Here's a look at the rest of the exhibition. I love that it was set up like a real art exhibition. You could see how proud the kids were that their work was displayed in such a manner. It really did look amazing. And some of the artwork - just, wow! There are some serious little artists at Ava's school.

The best part about this exhibition is that people from outside of the school get to see it too. The opening night was shared with another exhibition so there were plenty of other art lovers there who dropped in to see what the kids had created.

The exhibition runs through Friday May 22nd and is free and open to the public. Opening hours are Tuesday - Friday 12pm - 5pm, and Saturdays 12pm - 4:30pm. Kala Gallery is located at 2990 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley.