A total of 80 East Aiken School of the Arts kindergartners visited the Aiken Center for the Arts earlier this week.
They got to see a lot of artwork, learned how pottery is made and much more.
Teacher Ashley Walpole said Sophia Ergle liked the field trip, because the child saw a "real artist" use watercolors to paint daisies.
"Her favorite part was creating her own monkey artwork and selling it," Walpole said by email. "She loved the cash register and imaginative selling of her monkey art."
The center has a community outreach program, providing tours, artist demonstrations and interactive art students, said Director Mary Coleman. It was a pleasure, she said, to have the East Aiken children watch teaching artists demonstrate ceramics, acrylics and watercolor art.
"It made my day having these kindergarten students at the art center," Coleman said. She expressed her appreciation that Barbara Smoak and Susie Ferrara of Savannah River Nuclear Solutions participated in the tour. SRNS is a corporate donor to the Center of the Arts.
"This is such a wonderful facility," Smoak said. "The arts for all kids give them the opportunity to create, explore and think differently."
She said the children at East Aiken get that exposure every day. Her older children were students there, Smoak said.
East Aiken teacher Vicky Thompson said the children brought home a goody bag of art supplies.
"Most of our children have never visited an art museum," she said. "They especially enjoyed the pottery demonstration. We all know, as educators, that children imitate our actions and attitudes. I know that our excitement about the arts at East Aiken is building, with a love of the arts in students growing also."
Senior writer Rob Novit is the Aiken Standard's education reporter and has been with the newspaper since September 2001. He is a native of Walterboro and majored in journalism at the University of Georgia.