ROGERS — A partnership between Oakdale Middle School students and Pupuseria Metapan makes everyone happy said Rosa Herrera, part-owner of the family restaurant.
Students will celebrate a new display at Pupuseria Metapan, 208 S. Eighth St., at 6:30 p.m. March 28 and a solo display for Samantha McClain, a seventh-grade student, will open at the Rogers Public Library at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.
At A Glance
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• An art-focused teen program meets at 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Rogers Public Library. Past sessions have included crafts such as a mosaic picture frame and drawing lessons.
• Samantha McClain’s solo art show will open at the Rogers Public Library’s Teen Scene at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
• A 10-student art show from Oakdale Middle School students will be held at the Pupuseria Metapan restaurant at 6:30 p.m. March 28.
Source: Staff Report
Customers at the Salvadorian restaurant comment on the bright colors and ask who created the art lining the walls, Herrera said. The restaurant was open about a year when an Oakdale teacher approached the family about letting students display their work on its empty walls.
“We feel so glad to make them happy,” Herrera said.
Parents and students came to the opening, and patrons love the bright colors, she said.
“We lose nothing,” she said.
Logan Douglas, a sixth-grader, said he is proud to have his work featured in the restaurant. His piece, chosen by art teacher Angela Nhu, is a memory quilt that represents the time he scored eight soccer goals in a single game.
“I was surprised because I didn't think it was that good,” Logan said.
A hallway art display at Oakdale means a job well done, students said. A display outside of school is an honor.
“It means we did better than we thought,” said Sai Panabakam, a sixth-grader.
Displaying their pieces publicly gives students a real world connection between art and function, Nhu said. T-shirts, posters, textbook illustrations, even her classroom chairs, are designed by working artists.
“All of those things that are beautiful in our world are designed by an artist,” Nhu said.
As a teacher she tries to pair literacy standards with art, but part of what students learn is problem solving. They get the goal and the tools, but they must work independently.
“That's the challenge as an artist is to make something new that nobody has ever seen before out of the materials and inspiration given,” Nhu said.
Every nine weeks a new display of student work goes on display in the Teen Scene room of the Rogers Public Library. Art for the space was hard to find, said Evan Day, young adult librarian. He recruited Nhu to supply student work a couple years ago. Grades and artwork qualify the student for the program, Day said, but the opportunity is great for young artists.
“Not everybody gets a personal art display when they're in junior high,” Day said.
“For me, to display art it's a wonderful opportunity,” Samantha said.
Viewers can expect bright colors and fantasy creatures like a werewolf, Pegasus, or a part-bunny, part-tiger in her work, Samantha said. Art is almost like a story, and she said she likes to illustrate the stories she writes.
Using student work gives students a connection to the library and the community, Day said. Other artwork is displayed on bulletin boards around the young adult area. Library patrons often comment they wish they had that opportunity when they were young.
“If a student has art work, there's a good chance I'll be willing to display it,” Day said.
For students in Nhu’s class, part of the joy is in making their displays.
Sixth-grader Ariana Mejia and her classmates just finished a 3-D cityscape inspired by artist James Rizzi. Each class lets her make new things, Ariana said.
“You always look at everything differently, never the same,” she said.