Elementary students showcase artwork in private gallery

According to staff at the Oaks at Pleasant Gap, a senior-living community, one resident hasn’t been out of their room in more than six months. That changed earlier in the spring when an art gallery was displayed at the facility of work done by kindergarten through fifth-grade students at Bellefonte Area School District – and the resident stopped by to see it.

Elementary art teachers Amy Shoemaker and Elizabeth Stover selected 2D artwork from about 150 students at each of the district’s elementary schools to showcase in the private gallery. Stover said she was contacted by the chaplain about the opportunity of making the event possible. This was the first art show elementary students were a part of since 2020, when COVID-19 pandemic restrictions prevented many events from happening.

“It was just a really nice way to cheer up residents and bring them out, and give our students a chance to show what they’ve been working on,” she said. Stover works at Bellefonte and Benner elementary schools.

Displayed for about two weeks in March and April, art mediums included a variety of drawings and paintings from watercolor, to chalk, to oil pastels and more.

“I’m hoping to be able to do this in the future and continue this partnership because it was mutually beneficial for us all,” said Shoemaker, who works at Marion-Walker and Pleasant Gap elementary schools.