Grade school artists mimic art styles for hallway mural

A mural of colorful paintings, from golden sunflowers to colorful masks, line the hallways of Palouse Elementary.

For the past school year, Green Frog owner Tianna Gregg has volunteered an hour every two weeks with the 24 fourth and fifth grade students in Jay Iverson’s class at Palouse Elementary.

Each session, Gregg works with the children to mimick the work of a selected artist.

Art in the styles of Jackson Pollock, Georgia O’Keefe and Paul Kline decorate the hallway.

Gregg adores the time she spends working with the children.

“I’m so inspired by what I see those kids do. It blows my mind,” she said. With a laugh, she said she calls the project the “Hallway Art Gallery.”

Children work with their imagination as they explore the works of the artists. Using their imaginations helps them build up skills for problem solving, Gregg said.

“I think art has a lot to do with using your imagination to problem solve. It crosses over into a lot of areas to problem solve,” she said.

The children will occasionally see the work of an artist and feel skeptical about their ability to mimick it. Gregg said it is incredible to watch them loosen their minds and pursue the creation of an exact image.

“We talk about people who have overcome lots of hardships, as artists usually have. They see they can do it just like this person did it. They are just as important as those artists were,” she said. Gregg’s daughter, fifth grader Emmy Lou, is in Iverson’s class.

Iverson said the class from Gregg has helped his students branch out and explore different art mediums.

“They love it. They love doing it and having a real good time with it. Sometimes it’s getting them to think outside the box. Everything doesn’t have to be coloring and pencils. It’s getting them to explore into something they haven’t done before- pastels, crayons, chalk, water colors- just a variety of ways to express themselves.”