Kids Turn Classic Paintings Into Talking Art at Sterling Morton Elementary

Everyone has  heard the expression, "if these walls could talk, what tales they could tell."

Well, what if the world’s great works of art could talk? Could they tell tales as well?

That's exactly what happened Wednesday at .

About 50 fourth-grade students participated in a Talking Art Museum, the brainchild of art teacher Mrs. Jacqui Spetrino, who launched the annual event six years ago.

For the past seven weeks, students worked in teams of four and researched an artist, painted one of his or her famous works and wrote an essay about the artist. Many of the students even gave up recess to get their projects done on time.

On the day of the art show, two students from each team took turns dressing up up like the artist. The other two students, also taking turns, placed their painted faces through a hole of the artist’s framed work that their team created in art class.

 Once the spectators – students, teachers, moms, dads, granddads and grandmoms – strolled by to view each painting the painting (or the student, more precisely) would talk about the artists and their work. They even took questions from the spectators.

Some of the famous works students created were Andy Warhol’s Tomato Soup Can, Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night and Claude Monet’s Irises.

To add an additional flourish to the Talking Art Museum show, Marisa Guerrero played classical selections on the cello.

"I learn something new every year from the kids when they do  research on their artists," said Spetrino. "The kids look forward to participating in this event.   I think it's one of those things they'll remember forever."