Lets take a walk - HandsOn

ChildArt, July-Sept, 2003 by Cristobal Berry-Caban

The National Mall in Washington, DC was designed by the French architect Pierre L'Enfant. He also designed the City of Washington. His original vision called for long, wide streets stretching through the Nation's Capital. A large marble monument, named after President Abraham Lincoln, is located at the West end. At the East end stands the United States Capitol Building. In this building the legislators or people who make the laws meet.

On both sides of the Mall are museums, other monuments and Federal Departments. Information booths and refreshment stands are situated near its center. A merry-go-round sits on the Mall, as well as a central kiosk for purchasing TourMobile tickets.

The International Child Art Festival 2003 meets on the Mall from September 9th through the 11th. At the festival there will be five major tents. Let's take a walk to see what activities will take place at this festival.

WORLD STAGE TENT

William Shakespeare wrote that "All the world is a stage and all the men and women merely players." So it is appropriate that children from all over the world gather each morning at the World Stage. Each morning we will learn about the activities that will take place during the day and get to know the people who are making this a great event.

Some of the people we will meet are artist George Rodrigue. He is famous for his paintings of a blue dog. Another artist that we will meet is Dean Baer. The "Crayon Artist", Jeffrey Robert will also be there.

At the World Stage we will see dance performances such as the Guild of Nigerian Dancers, musical concerts by Ceylon, Kathy Byers and Laura Corlin and theatre productions performed by organizations such as Kids 4 Broadway and other groups from all over the world.

MURAL PAINTING TENT

Painting a mural is a BIG activity. Most murals are painted on walls. Three famous painters of murals are Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros and Jose Clemente Orozco, all from Mexico. The National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC just a few short blocks from the Mall has art work by all three painters that you can see.

Each day child artists from all over the world will work on a mural. Designed by George Rodrigue, the mural has three sides and looks like a triangle.

Our mural will be created on large panels and assembled on the National Mall, where everyone can see it during the festival. In the next issue of ChildArt we will show you the finished painting.

ARTS AND CRAFTS TENT

Do you want to make art? The Arts and Crafts tent is where you can draw like the painter Degas, create a mural of the sun, or even make a 3-D crawfish!

Many artists will be here throughout the festival to show you lots of different ways to create art!

FESTIVAL SCHOOL TENT

Why should the festival have a school tent? After all we are not here to go to school, we came to show our art work. Well, at the art festival your parents and teachers will go to school!

At the Festival School tent our teachers and parents will learn new things. They will learn art techniques. Parents will also hear new ideas on working with children and teachers will learn more about such things as the environment.

ART EXHIBIT TENT

Is it not wonderful to see your art exhibited? In this tent we will see all the winning art from ICAF's Art Olympiad displayed. See the next issue of ChildArt to learn who are the 2003 Finalists!