8/3/2019 From The Springfield Republican

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E;xplori,ng lilte through artLocal schoolsshine spotlighton creativeside

By KEVIN HODGSONSOUTHAMPTON Seven-

year-old Scott Kantor, runningfrom desk to desk, is advisinghis f irst-grade classmates on aproper response if the visitorasks them about their art classat the Beverly L. LarrabeeSchool."Tell him you eat, live andbreathe art," Kantor says to hisfriend, NicholasSaltmarsh,as helightly pokeshim in the side.But Saltmarsh, a smile on hisround 7-yearold face, shakeshishead with ar defiant "no" andthen softly recites his own phi-losophyon art: "I like pretendingto do things I can't do yet be-cause 'm just a kid. I can dothat throughmy drawings."As if out of exasperation,Kan-tor finally tells the visitor hissaying and then further artic-ulates the thought. "My parentssay I love art too much. Everytime I get home, want to.drawsomething.'

Moment of prideFor ar t teacher Leslie diCur-cio, it's clearly a mornent ofpride as she rcatches her stu-dents espond o questions n theimportanceof art in their lives.And in this month, which isdesignated National Youth ArtMonth, it is more relevant thanever, diCurcio said. Events arescheduled ll month for studentsas a way to highlight art in theschools."We want to draw attention tothe fact that art is part sf thestudent's ull education,not justanother luxury," diCurcio said,with an obvious eference o thecuts art programs are experi-encingacross he region.As part of the celebration, hehalls of the school are lined withhand-drawnpostersand the caf-eteria will be serving foodswithartistic thernes.Also, the Guild Art Center,ofNorthampton, is displaying thestudents' "Dreamcatcher" cre-ations, which are based on anAfrican legendof a mother spin-ning a web ov'er the baby's cribto scareaway bad dreams.And the youngsters haveworked hard on crayon works ofart that now glace the sides ofhundredsof grocery bags beingdistributedat both the Big Y and

trees, lollipop bushes,and lico-rice stick plants;Shealso seemsto have a grasp of the budgetcuts that have dwindled downthe art program.

"I want to have t (art class)more," Flynn said sadly. "Weused o have t every week,bu tnow its only every other week.want to stop it from getting\4'orse,"

CREATIONS : First-grader Bethany Motyl concentratesas she cuts a pieeeof paper in art classyesterday at the Beverly L. Larrabee School n Southampton,during National Youth Art Month.the Pure Foods supermarkets intown.

Brenna Flynn, 6, crafted asmall scene on her paper bagwhich featured ice cream cone

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