FARMINGTON – Because of a collaborative effort between Regional School Districts 9 and 10, children’s book illustrator Ralph Masiello held a workshop at Mallett School last week for students in the Gifted and Talented visual arts program.
“It’s so hard to get good enrichment programs for kids in rural areas, so by combining our districts we were able to bring him here,” RSU 10 Gifted and Talented teacher Sue Boyce-Cormier said.
Boyce-Cormier was just one of the organizers of the day, helping run a rotation of activity stations for the kids including drawing self portraits, making a group mural and creating a giant art puzzle. Other workshops were run by RSU 9 Gifted and Talented teacher Deborah Hiltz.
“It’s really nice to get all the kids together,” Boyce-Cormier said.
In order to encourage the kids from different school districts to interact, teachers had them make “art cards” prior to the workshop. The cards were drawn on by students with an added message and their name and could be traded with other students throughout the day, similar to baseball card trading.
With Masiello, students listened intently to step by step instructions on how to draw dragons, insects and other imaginative creatures. Masiello travels to schools all over New England and beyond, inspiring kids to get creative and tap into their artistic talents. His website includes his “official” biography followed by his “unofficial” biography, telling visitors to his site that he “was hatched from an opal colored dragon egg that lay in a dung heap on a skunk cabbage farm near my parent’s house.”
“Are you reading? Are you writing? Are you drawing? Are you getting outside and enjoying nature?” Asks Masiello on his website.
The kid-centered illustrator brought not only creative inspiration to young artists in the region, but also a sense of permission to be goofy, unique and a little different.
