Judson art show all about communication

Some people draw landscapes. Others paint portraits, or sculpt, or put pencil to paper.

“Art reminds me of memories,” said Park Village Elementary School second-grader Aimee Aguilar during the May 17 Judson ISD Districtwide Art Show at Rolling Oaks Mall.

Hundreds of pieces of art, as well as musical numbers from a half-dozen school groups and clubs, kept students’ families and friends busy, winding through and around displays and looking for that one name on that one piece of art.

Aimee and older brother Angel, a fourth-grader, made it a family affair with little sister Aria, 4. Parents Angel Sr. and Rochelle Aguilar looked for their children’s artwork on display in the Park Village section of the mall.

“The thing I like to draw most is, when I have to make some squares, or any shapes, and color them any color,” Aimee said.

There’s also a lesson to be learned from art, she said.

“My teacher said that she couldn’t draw herself. But today, when she showed us a picture of her drawing herself, it was actually that good,” Aimee said. “So instead of saying something that you can’t do, just believe in yourself.”

Kitty Hawk Middle School sixth-grader Erich Memola was equally thoughtful about his pencil drawing, his symmetrical and futuristic “Cartoon City” drawing.

“I based things off what things could be like, or the way things are,” he said.

His Cartoon City is a glimpse into the future, featuring a downtown city block with a movie theater showing “Godzilla XV, now in 27D” and a billboard advertising “the iPhone 72s.” A large hotel hovers overhead, while a boarded-up motel sit to the far left of the paper.

“I find art calming and relaxing,” he said. “We’ve done a lot of different mediums, like colored pencils, charcoal, oil pastels, water color … my favorite is charcoal. I’d like to see if I could set a few things up to do a still life, or if not a still life then maybe some ocean or forest scenes.”

With just one semester of art class as a foundation, Memola said he has already signed up for art as a seventh-grader.

“I am going to do art for as long as I can,” he said.

Holly Falkenberg and Ron Muniz, art teachers at Wagner High School, were on hand to answer questions, direct some of the wandering traffic, and greet their art students. While the two split teaching duties for Art I classes, Muniz handles some AP and urban art classes while Falkenberg teaches drawing and painting courses.

Muniz talked about what it takes to motivate students to uncover their talents and develop skills that could help them get into college or allow them to express themselves.

“The No. 1 thing is getting to know the kid, find out what they want to say, because art is about communication and expressing ideas,” Muniz said. “It’s developing that good rapport, that relationship, so you can find out what motivates them.

“If you know what they want to say, you can help them say it,” he added.

Falkenberg said kids are often hard to read, but there are times when their satisfaction or appreciation shines through.

“The key is having patience with them and not expecting quantity, but quality,” she said. “When they go home and they take something with them that they really love, that’s when I feel like I’ve really been successful in teaching them — when they love their art.” jflinn@express-news.net