A recent project for Hillcrest School’s Grade 2 class taught students about some of the artwork that exists in the community and the talented people who created these projects.
Teacher Brian Hayes said the goal was to identify key pieces of art from around Estevan, and then have students reinterpret them in their own style.
One day after school, Hayes went on a drive around the city, and took pictures of all the art he could think of. Among the highlights were the murals found on different businesses around the city, the Estevan Soldiers’ Tree monument and other tree carvings, the sculpture out front of the Estevan Leisure Centre, the metal sculpture of band students between the Estevan Comprehensive School and Spruce Ridge School, and some of the art found around the Estevan Art Gallery and Museum.
“I think I came up with 17 pictures for them to use for the project,” said Hayes.
The students then traced the lines of the pictures onto a transparency, and then Hayes photocopied the transparency to create a colouring page for the students.
“They just used their own colours, and made it their own,” said Hayes.
He was very impressed with how it turned out. When he looks at the pictures, he can see a little bit of Estevan, but he can also see the kids’ personalities shining through in the pictures, which is what he wanted.
“It made for a lot of good conversation. I showed them the pictures and they said ‘I remember that” or ‘I know that,’” said Hayes. “They couldn’t always pinpoint where they saw it, but they knew they saw it around town.”
Hayes has been living in Estevan for over a decade, and he finds that when these things are so ingrained in the community, you stop thinking about them or even stop appreciating them.
Estevan is very rich in great artwork, and this project helped him to remember that.
