Amy Fisher’s students’ animal art
Kids who love art Three MAG Creative Workshop instructors on teaching art to kids BY DONNA DE PALMA
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here’s nothing like a visit to a local art museum for a kid who likes, even loves, art. I know because I was that kid, then a teen, who’d walk through the museum in awe of the paintings on those walls hoping one day to paint something of significance. To be escorted around the Memorial Art Gallery by instructors who want to communicate their unique love of art is a singular opportunity. Kids in and around Rochester who take classes at MAG’s Creative Workshop have that chance. I spoke to three MAG Creative Workshop instructors—Amy Jarnagin Fisher, Faith Gruver, and Ben Leyer—to ask them how they turn kids on to art. Their answer was, in each case, the same. Kids who take classes at MAG’s Creative Workshop are already turned on to art. Some develop an interest in art because there is an artist or art lover in the family. Amy Jarnagin Fisher instructs the summer camp program
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Spring 2021 | 585kids.com
at MAG. “Art Day School is an art teacher’s dream come true. During day school, the museum’s entire collection is accessible. Each year, we explore different themes. One year, we looked at mythology from around the world. We learned about dragons, Norse beasts, maritime lore, and gargoyles seen in French architecture. For another theme, we explored humor in art: the use of irony, juxtaposition, scale.” Fisher says she is amazed at the passion and focus of the kids she instructs. “These kids are enlivened by history and culture when they view works in the museum. They look forward to museum visits then are equally engaged when they return to the studio,” she says. Her younger students’ imaginations are sparked by suits of armor, mummies, an ancient piece of bread, and musical instruments in the museum’s collection. Teens are enamored with a painting entitled, “The Collector,” depicting a curiosity