‘Budding Artists’ are Blooming at St. Mark’s

What does a hungry caterpillar, a green monster and a colorful elephant have in common? Children from St. Mark’s Preschool created this unique collage of characters as part of the “Budding Artists” Exhibit which currently is on display at St. Mark's Episcopal Church.

The Marco Island Center for the Arts wanted to promote learning and literacy with art and children’s love for books. Watercolor artist and St. Mark’s member Cheryl Costley, who also serves on the Center’s Gallery Committee, recruited fellow parishioner and retired art teacher, Cynthia Dayton, to help bring these characters to life.

The pair provided the art supplies including canvas, brushes and paint and worked with St. Mark’s Preschool Director Peggy Totten to make a creative plan to engage the kids. Preschoolers could choose from one of three popular books as inspiration: “The Very Hungry Caterpillar” by Eric Carle, “Go Away, Big Green Monster!” by Ed Emberley or “Elmer” by David McKee. With St. Mark’s Preschool teachers working one-on-one with the students, they first read the book they selected with them and then allowed the kids complete freedom to interpret their favorite page or memory of the book onto the canvas. 

“This was the first time many of them were painting on real canvas and with acrylic paints,” said Costley. “When I look at these paintings, I see just wonderful and exciting works of art that are childlike, innocent and free,” she added.

Preschool Director Peggy Totten said, “Each student was given complete creative freedom, no prompting or suggestions from the staff. It delights me that they were so excited and so incredibly proud of their work. This was an amazing learning experience for all of us.”

St. Mark’s Preschool uses the natural curiosity of children to teach math, reading, and critical thinking skills and takes a whole-child approach to early education. Teachers and support staff work together to meet the intellectual, social, behavioral, and emotional needs of each and every child we serve. Research has shown that art can have a huge impact in children’s lives including helping them excel in school, in social settings and for their own personal development.

These thirty-five works-of-art hung in La Petite Gallery at the Marco Island Center for the Arts earlier this summer and now hang in the Loo Louvre curated by St. Mark’s Artists in Residence. If you missed the exhibit at the Center for Arts, you are invited to view it at St. Mark’s any Sunday following the 10:00 AM service until September 9th. Please contact St. Mark’s at 239-394-7242 for more information.