Health & Fitness
School's Annual Art Show Transforms into an Elegant Affair
Carden Day School of San Jose outdid itself at its Art Show. It was so classy, the students weren't even invited. It was a celebration of the talent of our young artists.
When my son brought the invitation home from school, I was wary. Carden Day School of San Jose, where he's in the sixth grade, was having an Art Show in the auditorium. No problem, I enjoy those. Ah, it was Thursday evening, May 19, a school night. Hmm, surely they'll provide child care. Whoops, the invitation said tongue-in-cheekily to wear a "little black dress" and/or tuxedo...and book a babysitter! Grrr. I went from enthusiastic to cranky.
The school was staging an art gallery opening featuring nearly 600 individual pieces of art from every student, Kindergarten to eighth grade. Carden has an art show every year but this was the first full-blown soirée with no kids allowed. I bristled momentarily at the inconvenience of this bit of parental theater, but it was important to our family to be supportive so we made creative childcare arrangements with our gracious classmate mom Elizabeth Edgerly, and my wife Paulette and I made our way to the school at the appointed hour. I left my tuxedo (and little black dress) at home, but I did put on one of my "good" sweaters.
The auditorium was almost unrecognizable. Large hinged wooden panels were discerningly arranged throughout the room. Every surface of the panels was covered with student artwork double-matted with black and brown backing. Framed paintings, drawings, and larger pieces sat on tables, hung on the walls, or stood on the floor. The title of the show itself was "The Seven Elements of Art," meaning line, shape, color, texture, value, form, space, and every element was evident in myriad eye-filling combinations.
School Director Elizabeth Asadi and Principal Antonia Tapos beamed with pride, but the woman of the hour was Art Teacher and dynamo Jenny Dickson-Child. This is her second year teaching at the school and she has true passion for unleashing her students' creative potential. The assembled oeuvre bore evidence of classical pedagogy, for example assignments in pointillism or mimicry of Edvard Munch. However she balances the coldly academic with exercises designed to encourage self-expression such as blindfolded self-portraits or illustrations of emotions. Mrs. Dickson-Child undertook the immense job of creating the fancy displays to show the students that their effort and their visions are valued. "I never wanted to be the art teacher who sends [the artwork] home crumpled up in the bottom of your backpack and you don't really remember it," she said. And by the way, she was workin' her little black dress.
We parents wandered around the room, naturally seeking out our own children's works. Woe to the parent who has to go home and answer, "No," to the inevitable question: "Didja see mine?" However, since we had to hunt we had an excuse to look at everyone's art and to be delighted by it all. I admit that at past school art shows and science fairs, when time is short I have been guilty of bungeeing in, zeroing in on just my son's contributions, then immediately bouncing out without having a chance to widen my gaze. It was a luxury at the Art Show to get to savor everyone's work. Fellow parent Roger Trippel shared with me that he was "enthralled" by his son's portrait in the style of Amedeo Modigliani. "And I had high expectations," he told me. "That says a lot about the caliber."
Another twist to the evening was that all the art was for sale as a fundraiser for our parents' association. I smiled at the sign that encouraged us to buy to "support the artists." My kid's in the sixth grade; I already support him. I wonder if next year the students will vie to see who can produce the most commercial art. Mrs. Dickson-Child would be appalled I'm sure, but the lessons they would learn about the evils of selling out would be priceless.
The delicious refreshments served were catered by the student chefs at Mission College's Hospitality Management Department. This was a happy surprise because my uncle, Haze Dennis, is the Department Chair. He wasn't there but as I chatted with the servers about our connection we all got a kick out of marveling at how small this valley is. It turns out Haze's colleague Heather Rothenberg is another Carden parent.
Parents and teachers mingled, chatted, and laughed. The room reverberated with the rippling hubbub of a really good cocktail party. My crankiness was gone, defeated by the magic of the evening. I left inspired by the hundreds of little creative lights that illuminated the room, each twinkling a glint of brilliance.
