Young artists from the Downingtown area got a chance to showcase their abilities last week as the school district celebrated Youth Art Month through “artist day” and its annual student art show, writes Ginger Dunbar for the Daily Local News.

The celebration is held each year at the West Bradford Elementary School, and this year’s marked two decades of the artist day program, originally created by West Bradford art teacher, Mary Frances Giunta.

“The intent is for the program to be a celebration of art,” said Giunta, “a day to focus on the visual and performing arts as well as the creative spirit.”

Presentations for the program vary every year and it has managed to successfully expose students to the beauty of art and connected them with a wide range of art styles, subjects and media. For this year, the theme is “celebrating the arts through the windows of our backyard.”

The event started with a visit from Victoria Wyeth to the school, where she talked about the artists in her family, among them famed Chester County painters Andrew and Jamie Wyeth.

Local community artists, some of whom are graduates of the Downingtown Area School District, also generously volunteered their time and talent to engage with the elementary students and to chat about art.

“Artist day is an opportunity for conversation between artists and students, a way to advocate for the arts by exposing students to demonstrations in the arts and what artists do in the real world, and allows the opportunity for students to connect with artists in a way that may not be available to them otherwise,” noted Giunta. “This educational day brings the importance of the arts to the forefront and shows students what an integral part art plays economically, socially as well as educationally in our society.”

The other element of Youth Art Month, the program that encourages support for school art programs, showcased the artwork created by students during the current school year. Giunta pointed out that this gives students the opportunity to display their work and to share their creations with others.

“We transform the hallways of our school to resemble a real art gallery,” she enthused.

Read more about the Youth Art Month celebration here.