Night of the Arts Draws a Crowd at Horbelt

More than 600 people turned out Thursday evening for the Robert L. Horbelt Elementary School's fifth annual Night of the Arts, showcasing student talent in the venues of visual art and music.

All 430 students in the kindergarten through fifth-grade school had at least one piece of work on display, and with some students being featured in various genres, the number of exhibits topped out at around 1,000 pieces.

Each year, the school selects a theme around which the students base their work. According to Stephen Strouse, the school’s music teacher, themes in past years have included "Jazz," "Flight," "Water," and "Yo, Leonardo!" – a tribute to popular artists both past and present.

Tonight, however, the theme was "Animation," and the art focused on Disney characters from Mickey Mouse and Buzz Lightyear to Nickelodeon characters such as SpongeBob SquarePants to renderings out of each child’s own imagination.

"Art is about understanding," said Scott Kiewe, the school’s principal. Kiewe, who got into the theme by donning a comic strip tie, discussed the cross-curricular nature of the event.

"This is not an instead-of," he said, "it’s in line with everything else we are doing."

It’s not only the art class that gets involved in the show; the entire school collaborates so that the work showcased spans multiple genres of art.

A "Digital Illustration" section  headed by the school’s librarian, Arlene Kadlubowski, featured animation portraits that had been drawn using the computer.

"I’m not an artist and can’t draw at all," Kadlubowski said. "I just show the kids how to use the computer’s drawing tool bar, and…," she gestured to the results: The students' work adorning every inch of usable hallway space.

The teachers give the students a direction to go with, Kadlubowski said, but it’s the kids' own imagination that harnesses the finished product.

The hallways were filled not only with student art work -- everything from free-drawn still-lifes to digital illustration to comic strips painted on pieces of uncooked lasagna -- but also with teachers representing various charitable organizations.

Autism Awareness sold puzzle-piece pins created by the Student Council for $1, with proceeds going to the Autism Awareness parent organization. Leaders in Training, a fifth-grade community service group, were supporting local nonprofit Re-Clam the Bay by selling clamshells for $1 in an effort to purchase a giant clam for New Jersey’s "Clam Trail."

Keeping with the night's art theme, each clam shell was decorated at the behest of the buyer, and a large mosaic of shells is planned for the school this spring.

While the halls were filled with plenty of samplings of student art, the cafeteria contained a majority of the exhibits. There was an interactive aspect to the exhibit as well, with at least 10 double-sided easels, all with plenty of paper and colored pencils, so that students and parents alike could try their hand at caricature-style portraits.

Much of the cafeteria’s perimeter contained portraits of popular animated characters, each piece uniquely hand-drawn but colored in similar schemes. More than 50 styles of free-drawn Mr. Potato Head and Buzz Lightyear portraits were on display, as well as new characters that students concocted from their imagination.

In one corner, a table was filled with various renderings of SpongeBob SquarePants, incorporating the use of blocks of Styrofoam, recollected Quaker Oats cylindrical containers, and anything else that would have been trash but instead was transformed into art.

"The kids really work hard, and everyone chips in a little," said Annette Tynan, the school’s art teacher. Tynan was alluding to the immense amount of time that parents and teachers sacrifice to make the evening a suceess.

Aidan Paulhus, 7, stood proudly with his father by his "Untitled" piece. "I think it’s fantastic for the kids," said Aidan’s father, Mike Paulhus, 45. "Mrs. Tynan does a great job with them every year. She’s excellent."

Before the evening wound down, the fourth- and fifth-grade chorus, led by Stephen Strouse, performed "Animation Sensation," complete with animated videos projected above the singers.

Science enrichment teacher Bonnie Harris pieced together a seamless video medley of popular Disney movie clips that matched the pace of the chorus. The medley spanned Disney songs from Song of the South’s "Zip-a-dee-doo-dah" to Toy Story’s "You’ve Got a Friend in Me."

During the choral presentation, Wayzeta Strouse, wife of Stephen Strouse, looked on as nearly a year’s worth of work went into effect. According to Wayzeta, a music teacher in Toms River, she and her husband begin thinking about the next year’s theme before the summer even starts.

"One thing I’ll say about this school it that it’s very much a family," said Wayzeta during the chorus’ quick intermission. "It’s amazing."

When the performance ended, a relieved Strouse shook hands with parents and congratulated his chorus. "I pushed the kids to their limit," he said. "And they came through admirably."

In closing the program, Kiewe focused his gratitude on the community as a whole, and singled out the incredible work and the sacrifice of free time that the teachers and parents make in order for the event to be as good as it can be. "The difference," Kiewe reiterated, "is parent support."

"The idea of this is a community event," Kiewe had said before the show got underway. "We want to showcase the children’s efforts." He added, "We’re lucky to have this talent."