Spitler art students make a splash with Glow Exhibit

Spitler art students make a splash with Glow Exhibit

Pirate News is a presentation of Hart Public Schools in partnership with Oceana County Press.

By Allison Scarbrough, News Editor

HART — A wave of talent and creativity washed over Spitler Elementary School this month in conjunction with National Reading Month.

It just so happened that this year’s reading month theme, “Dive into Reading,” and the school’s art exhibit theme, “Under the Sea,” combined superbly. 

“It wasn’t planned that way,” Spitler art teacher Shanda Sturtevant admitted with a laugh. “I thought it would be cool to do an ‘Under the Sea’ theme. It just worked out perfectly.”

First through fourth grade students crafted approximately 300 separate underwater-themed creations for a magical Glow Exhibit.

“We used all glow-in-the dark materials,” said Sturtevant. “We used neon tempera paints, glow-in-the-dark oil pastels and glow-in-the-dark watercolors. We purchased some black lights for the exhibit and used some black light flashlights to check our progress as we worked on it. The kids had fun with it.”

Parents recently had the opportunity to tour the mesmerizing exhibit in Sturtevant’s classroom during parent-teacher conferences. “We had an art contest at the same time, so any parents who came to the exhibit also had the opportunity to vote in the art contest.” Contest winners were fourth grader Caleb Lopez and second grader Benjamin Fitch.

“We focused on what artists do to get ready for an exhibit — presenting artwork in a professional way; putting labels on things; and giving your artwork a title. Some of the students came in during their recesses to make sure their artwork got done.

“Kids who might struggle academically, you get them in an art class and some of them are phenomenal artists. It gives them that space to shine.

“My goal in elementary art is to spark that love of art.”

Contributed photos by Shanda Sturtevant

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