art installation at ECC
Each week our children go outside to check on the progress of our one lone pumpkin
growing in our garden. The fall cleanup and the growing season may be coming to
an end, but new excitement came to our garden recently. A beautiful garden gate
was installed to keep our children safe and to contain this sacred space.
Noted local artist Tom Nussbaum came to school to create a very special art installation on the fence. Happy whimsical creations now adorn the garden gate. The artist spoke to the children about the process of creating the art and gave them the opportunity to ask him questions and comment on what they saw: “It’s a bird,” “a toucan,” “two of them are meeting and holding hands.”
We know they will have more ideas and observations as they continue to explore the area. It is a thrill and an honor for our school to enhance our environment and to continue to inspire our students.
The children have benefited immensely from interacting with other artists this year and we look forward to that theme continuing. On a visit to the Montclair Art Museum, the fours were delighted to see some of Nussbaum’s other work and let the docent there know that they met him!
Recently our school began to study and apply some of the principles of the Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education. One of the features of the Reggio approach is the importance of the role of space. The physical environment fosters encounters, communication and relationship. The artwork on the gate has already
inspired interesting observations, comments and dialogues from the students, the parents and the teachers.
The role of the parents is another essential component of the Reggio approach. Parents are considered coresponsible partners in the children’s learning. When parents visit the artwork on the gate and engage their children in conversation, the learning is continued and inspires new ideas.
Come visit, be inspired, reflect and wonder.
