Kindergarteners learn to appreciate art

Kindergarteners from Ishpeming were among the first to enjoy guided tours of two exhibits Monday at NMU’s DeVos Art Museum.

The Children’s Art Exhibition features visual creations by students from nine U.P. schools. Monday’s tour group learned to appreciate the art of their peers with the help of several volunteer guides. The exhibit is an exciting capstone to the school year for budding visual artists.

“You know, at the end of the year, at the end of the season, a lot of the sport teams, they have a banquet, and they give out trophies and, you know, they have a big public to-do about it, and it’s really a great way to celebrate the achievements,” said DeVos Director and Curator Melissa Matuscak. “There is no banquet for visual arts, so I think this show kind of fills that need to have a public display and make it a big deal and show that you can be a visual artist and people will appreciate that.”

Students also visited an exhibit entitled “The End Will Look as the Beginning Did,” which was curated by University interns interested in experiencing museum work firsthand. While the interns were educated on how to present the art, the Kindergarteners were given a lesson in how to experience it.

“That’s a huge part of our mission, and we try to accomplish that for a lot of different audiences,” added Matuscak. “So, it can be anywhere from young Kindergarteners coming in to look around and think about the artwork that they’ve made or that their classmates have made, all the way up to senior citizens.”

The Children’s Exhibition is on display through May 25th and “The End Will Look at the Beginning Did” runs until August 24th.

For more information on the museum and its exhibits, visit their website.