Looking for sunshine on a cloudy day? Visit the Livingston Public Library this March for an artistic journey into the world of color!  

From March to May, the Library’s display case will feature rotating artworks created by elementary and middle school students of the Livingston school district, under the guidance of their art teachers.

Students from Harrison Elementary School, Hillside Elementary School, and Riker Hill Elementary School collaborated to create an art display for the month of March,  inspired by what makes our world so bright—color! The works featured in the entrance display case are a selection of two dimensional and three dimensional artworks created by Kindergarten through 5th grade students.  

Harrison’s Kindergarten class created a multimedia art project inspired by Monet’s water lily collection. This impressionistic lesson encouraged students to create light using color. Our 1st graders used the “Y” tree method to create a colorful replica of stained glass. Students were encouraged to use color to express their feelings. Van Gogh’s still life floral works inspired our 2nd grade students to create this multimedia art lesson project. Students used one color to create different values in the vase. 

Hillside Elementary students used clay building techniques and inspiration from Surrealists to transform an everyday door into something magical! Fifth graders were challenged with color theory and problem solving when adding color to their sculpture. Students were only given the primary colors and black and white; it was up to them to mix the hues seen on their magical door sculpture. 

Riker Hill Elementary students found inspiration in the art of Jasper Johns and his series of Usuyuki prints. Usuyuki has different meanings in Japanese such as  “light snow” or “passes quickly”.  4th grade students were inspired by the falling, disappearing quality of snow in Johns’ cross-hatching prints. They experimented in similar styles with watercolors to create an analogous colored background. Then they were challenged to print lines on top of their background to show a sense of balance. These artworks show a non-objective style of art that was refreshing to many students. 

Art teachers Melissa Mondanora of Hillside, Nidhi Benjamin of Riker Hill and Caroline Synder of Harrison Elementary instructed students and set up this exhibit.

These cheerful works of magical doors, charming water lilies, and colorful prints by our elementary artists can be enjoyed through March 30th during Library hours.