Artist Of The Month

Noah Manns "It's Our Turn To Lead" award winning poster.

Parma is home to a great many talented individuals, artists and craftsmen, both professional and amateur, who specialize in a variety of mediums. This article is the twelfth in a series which will showcase a Parma area artist and introduce you to many of your talented neighbors.

Noah Manns

Noah Manns is a young artist with a really big smile, and he has good reason to smile. Noah is a third grade student at John Muir Elementary School in Parma. Ms. Szeremet, and Ms. Pavlus are his third grade teachers. They entered his poster in the Planet Aid, Earth Day Art Contest. Planet Aid collects used clothing and shoes and recycles them, which helps to reduce the emission of CO2 and other gasses that contribute to global warming. Planet Aid collects over 100 million pounds of clothes and shoes a year. Their bright yellow recycling donation boxes can be seen throughout the area.

I am very happy to announce that Noah's poster won First Place for the Third Grade Category in Northeast Ohio, in this national competition. Wow! What an accomplishment! The theme was “It's Our Turn To Lead”. The artwork was judged on creativity, artistry, originality, and relevance to the theme. Planet Aid's John Kenny and Dan Deluca awarded his third grade class with a pizza party, and Noah won a gift certificate to an arts and crafts store.

Ms. Szeremet, John Muir third grade teacher, stated, “I think art is such an essential outlet for children to explore their feelings and emotions toward life in general, in and out of the classroom. Students of all levels see and embrace opportunities to explore areas of success and growth. I find students yearn for ways to express themselves, structured in a classroom, or within free time, which enables them to be themselves and enjoy.” Ms. Szeremet also said that Noah finds ways in both writing and art to express himself. “His writing and art enable connections that invoke realistic and comforting feelings. We are really proud of him here at John Muir.”

Noah also attends an after school art class called “Art Exploration” hosted by the Parma Area Fine Arts Council. Mr. Sean Mabin, who is certified to teach grades K through 12, is the instructor. He believes in a discipline based art education, incorporating art history and current events as they relate to the class project. Noah really loves to come to class on Wednesday's after school. He told me Mr. Mabin taught him to draw buildings in perspective, and recently he learned how to draw the bay windows you see in his poster. These classes are small in size, and very affordable, which allows for more individualized attention.

Art is an important part in our children's lives. It teaches them to respect themselves and others, to experiment with materials, to learn from their mistakes, to appreciate the beauty in every day things, to see things from a different point of view, to be innovative, observe, persevere, and most importantly to find their voice through the creative process. And especially for Noah, it put a big smile on his face.

If you are an amateur or professional artist, living in the Parma area, or know of someone who is, and would like to be featured as an artist of the month, please contact me by email at kathrynmabin@att.net.

Kathryn Mabin

Board Secretary of Parma Area Fine Arts Council, Inc, or PAFAC, and Artist/Jewlery Designer, Owner Aire of Oppulence.

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Volume 7, Issue 6, Posted 8:18 AM, 06.01.2015