In the old days, you could find local children’s artwork by walking around their schools, visiting family homes or seeing special exhibits around town.  Flash forward, and the budding artists are displayed online now.

Ruth Teitelbaum, Montclair Elementary’s art teacher, has shared many creations.  We selected a few works, to show you how much things have changed – and because this art is really impressive.

This first pastel was created by a third-grader and looks a bit like something Pablo Picasso might whip up.  Seriously, look at this angular head and bifurcated face more closely.  Would you have considered drawing this in grade school?

This second work reflected what students had learned about Jackson Pollock.  A bunch of second through fourth-graders were able to splatter tempera paints together, joyfully producing this Pollock-inspired action painting.

Next we have a nice print created by a fifth grader, which strikes me as folk art.  There’s a fish that might be disguising a devil (note the tail), trying to swim upstream.  We’re wondering about that symbolism, hhmm.

Last, here is a colorful painting of a deer foraging in the woods.  Like any budding artist, this fourth grader was inspired by local surroundings.  We like the classics sometimes, plus this deer came out very well.

Anyway, all this art makes me happy about what kids are learning in school.  Art class should be about exploring and expanding horizons – and that’s different than what (latter-day) boomers experienced in the 1960s and 1970s.