Discovering that eyes are the windows to the soul, each of the 305 students at the A.F. Ames Elementary School in Riverside looked within and at each other during their art classes last week.
Welcoming artist Kevin Olis during their artist-in-residence week, the students are collaborating with Olis on a project titled, “Behind the Eyes: Self Portraits.”
Last week, Olis sketched each student’s head and the students drew in their eyes, nose and mouth on a piece of plywood. Olis will work out of his studio to cut out the background around each child’s head. When he returns to Ames later, in approximately a month, the students will paint their own self portraits using acrylic paints.
The project is one of many stimulating artistic, educational opportunities at the kindergarten-thru-fifth grade school.
“Through cultural arts, which are PTA-sponsored programs, we’ve delved into areas such as drama, opera and dance,” said Ames Principal Colleen Lieggi. “This year, for our fine arts again, I contacted Kevin to see what projects he was working on. Not only is he a talented artist, but he also is very engaging with the students. He teaches them the technical aspects of art.”
The project, which will feature all of the students’ faces and a few Olis character-additions like A.F. Ames and Where’s Waldo lined along a wall like a sports grandstand, will be permanently displayed in the school’s second-floor hallway by the cafeteria.
“Twenty years from now when we come back, it will be really cool to be able to see ourselves and how we drew ourselves,” said fifth-grader Jane Alm. “We will have tons of memories. It has been really funny and interesting to see how everybody drew their faces.”
During the creative process, which often called for Olis holding five classes a day to sketch the entire student body, the eager art students clearly enjoyed the challenging fun of drawing their faces.
Many kids used pocket mirrors to study their features, which resulted in facial contortions ranging from serious to silly to sublime. Reflective of the Greek aphorism, “know thyself,” the students’ reflections literally offered a few fun moments of introspection.
“It was fun getting to draw our eyes, nose and mouth,” said fifth-grader Conor Klump, who also plays the saxophone and basketball in his spare time. “The eyes were the most challenging part.”
Olis, who worked as a junior high art teacher in Palatine for 18 years, is working on his third co-creation with the Ames community. In 2002, Olis and the Ames students made a sculpture project. A year later, he returned to craft a dolphin-themed mural with the students called “Under the Sea,” which proudly adorns the walls of the cafeteria.
“Ames is tremendous in getting artists to come in and work with the entire building,” said Olis, who has worked with over 160 schools. “I think what separates [Ames] is their willing to put their cultural arts fund money into these projects. The state of Illinois provides grants for projects like these, and Ames is all over it every time.”
While it remains to be seen if there is an aspiring Monet or Matisse among the Ames crowd, the students have already learned some key lessons from their collaborative masterpiece, notably an appreciation for art and the art of teamwork.
“I think we’re all portrait artists and we are all here creating each other,” Olis said. “Anytime, we can look at ourselves and at each other and see our similarities, that’s rewarding. Everybody working together and creating something special is really the magic of it.”