Published on May 16, 2022
On Friday May 13th Lititz Elementary held their Fine Arts Day in person for the first time since Covid-19. Students and staff spent the day attending a variety of presentations ranging from water colors to martial arts.
All students K-6 participated in the day’s festivities with the goal in teaching students about some different career paths within the fine arts.
Throughout the day, students attended 8 different presentations including: Water Coloring, Video Production, Pep Band Music, Pottery, Martial Arts, Musical Duo, Illustration/Design, and The Signature Project.
The water color presentation was led by Andy Smith, a local artist here in Lititz. Andy’s goal is to create paintings that capture subjects which other people may overlook. He enjoys working with light, particularly the use of playing with shadows. His paintings are realistic with an underlying subtle abstract use of the brush.
Bradley Hawkins, with Daley Productions Video Productions, is an award-winning indie film director. He shared several of his short films with the students including ROLLER COASTER, FILLING IN, and CALF ROPE. These three films earned him over 140 awards from around the world. His films have been screened in Australia, Canada, England, Italy, and Lithuania in addition to 19 states throughout the USA.
Warwick’s High School Pep Band showed students the different instruments they play and performed several numbers so students could hear how each instrument sounds.
Students from the Art program at the high school brought along several of their pieces to share with the students. Students saw graphic design work, pottery, and several different painting styles.
Brennan Ganteaume, owner of Lititz Martial Arts (formerly known as Lititz World Tang Soo Do), showed students a variety of Tang Soo Do moves. Students were thrilled to watch Brennan kick, jump, shout, and show them the ropes.
There was a music performance from Katie & Micah Bender. Katie and Micah Bender are the children of Mrs. Gretchen Bender, our long term library substitute at Lititz Elementary. In this session, Katie played a guitar and sang for the primary age (K-2) students. Micah played the cajon and sang. Both Micah and Katie are Warwick graduates so it was awesome to have them back to visit!
In Scotty Reifsnyder’s presentation, he shared some of his Illustration/Design work with the students. Scotty has received accolades for his creative sorties from American Illustration, Communication Arts, and Print Magazine. You may recognize his work from popular brands like Mountain Dew, Chronicle Books, Disney/Pixar, Time Magazine, and more!
Lastly, students were able to attend an hour-long presentation sponsored by the Warwick Education Foundation and led by Patrick Dunning. Patrick has spent the past 30 years working on ‘The Signature Project,’ which is a 76 ft x 36 ft multi-faceted work in progress mural, comprising 171 canvases layered with hidden secrets. Throughout his presentation, he shared some of the hidden messages within his paintings through the use of x-rays, magnetic fields, and ultraviolet light. As Patrick continues traveling and sharing his story, he keeps collecting the signatures of people he meets. These signatures are used to create the mural. When he reaches one million signatures, the mural will be complete!
Overall, it was a great day with lots of opportunities to learn about careers in the fine arts. Students were nothing but smiles as they left each session. A huge thanks to all of our presenters and the staff at Lititz Elementary who helped organize and make this day a success!