McGuffey participates in rural arts program
Sixth-grade students in McGuffey School District made the map that hangs in the lobby of the Washington County Transportation Authority in Washington.
Resident artist Hiromi Katayama offers instructions before sixth-graders at McGuffey start to paint.
Resident artist Hiromi Katayama watches as students practice painting with sumi ink and bamboo brushes.
Sixth-grade art students in McGuffey School District last year worked with resident artist Hiromi Katayama to create a giant map of the United States that hangs in the lobby of the Washington County Transportation Authority, 50 E. Chestnut St., Washington.
The students made the map to show that Washington County is a gateway to interstate transit, since Washington can connect with Morgantown, W.Va., and Pittsburgh – and beyond.
Students practiced with sumi ink and bamboo brushes before beginning the map-making process. The map is a representation of what students thought was interesting about each state, choosing to include, for example, the state bird or state insect.
The map was painted with nihonga, a traditional Japanese paint brought directly from the country.
Some students at the high school level painted large murals and canvas paintings, which hang at Citizens Library, Intermediate Unit 1 and the McGuffey campus.
All of this was made possible by a grant called the Rural Arts Collaborative. McGuffey is participating again this year with artist James Simon.