Artwork inspired by Picasso, Chagall and Kahlo rotating through an exhibition at the Chehalem Cultural Center

Written by Seth Gordon, Newberg Graphic
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Seeing something through the eyes of a child can be simultaneously nostalgic and hopeful, both revealing and inspiring.

Thanks to a partnership between the Chehalem Cultural Center and the Mabel Rush Elementary School art literacy program, people in Newberg will have the opportunity to experience that up close during the center’s ongoing exhibition of student work.

“Inspired by the Masters” features the work of students in all grade levels at the school, all of which was inspired by Pablo Picasso, Marc Chagall and Frida Kahlo.

The show is broken up into three parts, as the gallery displays art based one legendary artist at a time. The exhibition on Pablo Picasso just ended its two-week run Tuesday, with a series inspired by Chagall set to be displayed Feb. 9-23, followed by a Frida Kahlo self-portrait exhibit March 2-15.

“It’s really fun to see how what they learned about inspires what they then create,” arts and public programming coordinator Erin Padilla said. “They do such a good job. It’s just cool to see Picasso through the perspective of a child. It’s pretty awesome.”

For the Picasso series, parent volunteer and program coordinators Carla Cox and Shelly Didway had students use pastels on black paper to portray animals from a cubist perspective.

“With Picasso, it was all about perspective and color,” Cox said. “So we let them play with black paper and pastels. Their work is super fun.”

In their segment on the work of Chagall, Cox and Didway focused on the role of dreams in his work and that of other surrealists.

After taking them through a visualization exercise, Cox and Didway tasked the students with creating a whimsical and dreamlike landscape by laying down colorful washes of water color on top of which they drew with black ink.

Touching upon Kahlo’s well-known self portraits, the students created their own, adding things they like in the periphery to make them even more personal.

“Shelly and I are always so impressed with how beautifully the kids absorb information, how well they take that information and then create art,” Cox said. “We’re always happy with what they create.”

All of the works displayed are from last school year, as gallery schedule at the cultural center is quite full.

Padilla said the gallery has never had an exhibit in this format, featuring different works by the same artists according to such a strong thematic structure.

“I’m really excited about it just because we get a lot more artwork in a small space than we usually get,” Padilla added. “I think the way they broke up their programming through their art literacy program just works really well for that.”

The art literacy program has produced some big projects that have been put on permanent display at Mabel Rush, but showing at a public gallery is a whole other level for the student artists.

“Our kids are always really excited about seeing their work at the cultural center,” Cox said. “We’re really fortunate. We have kids who feel good about art and their involvement in the arts. I’m happy that they’re excited about it.”