Teagan Chisholm-Godshal, a 6th grade student at Westfield Intermediate School, reimagines “Portrait of George Washington Taking The Salute At Trenton” with her brother Finn, a Highland Elementary School fourth grader. (PHOTO SUBMITTED)
WESTFIELD-The portraits are striking – in their colors and complexity – and have caught the attention of city residents recently on the Westfield Public Schools Facebook page.
Westfield Intermediate School (WIS) students in the fifth and sixth grades were given an assignment during the week of May 11 by their visual arts teacher Melissa VanHeynigen – to recreate a famous portrait or self portrait.
Clara Hubbard, a sixth grade student at the Westfield Intermediate School, has a modern twist to the painting “Lady with Ermine” by Leonardo da Vinci, 1489-1490. (SUBMITTED PHOTO)
“The assignment included paying attention to light sources, texture, clothing, the foreground and background in the original portrait,” said VanHeynigen, who teaches visual arts at WIS along with Kayla Reno. “I also asked students to make a modern twist to their portrait.”
Westfield Intermediate School sixth grade student Mateo Colon recreates “The Astronomer” by Johannes Vermeer 1668. (SUBMITTED PHOTO)
Students were given basic instructions on portraits, including a tutorial by VanHeynigen about attention to detail. In addition, students were asked to view a short video about “The History of Portraits,” created by the Australian Public Broadcast Service, that spans centuries of portraits beginning in the 13th century and leading up to today’s selfie portraiture photography.
“Students were asked to recreate the portrait using things one would have at home and take a picture of it,” said VanHeynigen. “Students then had to screenshot the original painting and share both, as well as include pertinent information about the original portrait.”
VanHeynigen emphasized to students – “the more creative you get the better.”
VanHeynigen concedes that teaching lessons like this remotely can be challenging so she continues to create videos that will connect with her students.
Kaitlyn Goulette, a sixth grade student at the Westfield Intermediate School, recreates “Portrait of a lady” by Rogier van der Weyden, 1460. (SUBMITTED PHOTO)
“Living through this pandemic has taught me that we all miss the personal connection and relationship building that occurs in the classroom,” she said. “Students will go the extra mile if they have a teacher who will connect with them.”
John Sardinha, a sixth grade student at the Westfield Intermediate School, recreates “Boy with the Soap Bubble” by Edouard Manet. (SUBMITTED PHOTO)
With this latest art assignment, the results are apparent that students went the extra mile for VanHeynigen.
“With some of the projects the students used family members or the family pet as the subject,” said VanHeynigen, noting that sixth grade student Owen Moore reimagined “The Girl with a Pearl Earring” painting by Johannes Vermeer with a dog wearing a dog bone earring.
Owen Moore, a sixth grade student at the Westfield Intermediate School, reimagined “Girl with a Pearl Earring” by Johannes Vermeer, 1665. (SUBMITTED PHOTO)
“Devlin Boss recreated a photo of Andy Warhol,” added VanHeynigen, noting, “he got the lighting right with his black and white photo.”
Westfield Intermediate School fifth grade student Devlin Boss reimagined the portrait “Andy Warhol” from 1973. (SUBMITTED PHOTO)
VanHeynigen said she relishes her role at WIS because she also coordinates art assignments with visual arts teacher Kayla Reno.
“As a team we coordinate projects that students can do in their homes,” said VanHeynigen. “We create our own slide shows with the assignments posted on Mondays and due on Fridays.”
During the school week VanHeynigen answers countless emails from students and conducts Zoom meetings where discussions take place on design, building a vocabulary, and then kicking off the next project.
“You can teach on a computer but the personal connection is what is missing,” said VanHeynigen. “It’s hard these days to find that connection but we are doing everything we can to be a good teacher for our students.”
As testament to the selfie portraits turned in with the original famous portrait, VanHeynigen made a connection that students embraced.
“My students have truly captured the lighting, texture and fine details that make up these recreated masterpieces while also having fun,” said VanHeynigen. “I’m so impressed with their effort and pride in their work. In such difficult times their creativity and resourcefulness has proven art’s vital role in our lives.”
Yamil Lorenzo-Garcia, a fifth grade student at the Westfield Intermediate School, recreates his vision of “Portrait of a Man in a Red Turban” by Jan van Eyck, 1433. (SUBMITTED PHOTO)
“Mona Lisa” by Leonardo da Vinci is recreated with a modern twist by Westfield Intermediate School sixth grade student Victoria Bich. (SUBMITTED PHOTO)
