Window of opportunity for Bentworth art students
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Students Faith Fischer, right, Isaac Neff, Kaden Mansfield and Ryan Chastin work on their window with a ballroom theme Thursday at Bentworth Middle School.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Student Lilly Schultz paints a panel of a window Thursday at Bentworth Middle School.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Students Kara Reynolds, left, Meadow Cushey and Neshawn Baden work on their window Thursday at Bentworth Middle School.
Celeste Van Kirk/Observer-Reporter
Student Acelynn Cole puts the final touches on her group window with a romantic theme at Bentworth Middle School on Thursday.
Bentworth’s middle school students are getting a new view of art history through donated windows from the historic Brownlee House.
The students are using old windows from the historic building for a new art class called Windows to the 19th Century.
“I thought I would be more excited about this than the students,” said art teacher Jessica Burkley. “But I’ve seen a lot of enthusiasm on their part.”
Last year, the Washington County Community Foundation restored the Brownlee House in North Strabane Township to make it their new headquarters facility. The “six over six” windows had to be replaced, but President and CEO Betsie Trew didn’t want to throw away the old ones.
“I couldn’t put the windows in the dumpster,” she said. “It just didn’t seem right. We had to find a home for them.”
Trew reached out to Burkley at Bentworth and asked if she could use them for her art class.
“You would have thought that we offered her $1 million – she was so excited,” Trew said. “I knew she’d be able to do something creative with them.”
Burkley’s class received the 32 windows in September and have painted 23 of them so far. More than 90 students have participated. Their assignment is to create a window scene into the 19th century, when the Brownlee House was built. It’s a group project, with each group getting one window and multiple panes to paint.
“They have lots of ideas,” said Burkley, who’s been teaching at Bentworth since 2010. “Their learning is definitely enriched by the project. I see them learning more in general when it comes to mixing colors and applying paint, and I see them solving problems in unique ways.”
Many of the supplies for the project also came through donations. William and Saundra Stout, the couple who donated the Brownlee House to the WCCF, gave $1,000 to Bentworth for supplies. The WCCF also gave the students an additional $1,000. With the donated money, Burkley purchased the students oil paints to use on the windows.
“I made sure I bought them the best of the best oil paint,” Burkley said. “They’ve never used oil paint because it’s so expensive. You would have thought they won the lottery when they saw that paint.”
Burkley said oil paint is what would have been used in the 19th century, so it fit perfectly with the project. She said she also got each student his or her own apron.
“It was like they were being given something special,” Burkley said. “We’re a small, rural district, so it was nice for them to have that.”
The students are expected to tour the Brownlee House May 8 and put their windows art project on display May 22 at the middle school.
“It’s a cool project for sure,” Trew said. “Not everyone would see what you could do with those windows.”