van Gogh meets Christmas in New Haven

On December 1st, our students headed to the Knights of Columbus Museum in New Haven, CT to participate in their annual Christmas Tree Festival. This was the culmination of several weeks of working with Mrs. Gina Barber, Art Teacher as the students created the tree decorations reflecting the theme of the Museum, Creches of Italy.

Our students began with an introduction to Vincent van Gogh, learning about his interests and style. They produced sunflowers that adorn the bulletin board outside the art room. The sunflowers would become the garland for the tree. Then they moved onto “Starry, Starry Night” and created individual nativity scenes with Mary, Joseph and the Baby Jesus with the backdrop of the beautiful deep blue sky adorned with glittery stars. Finally, the students, under the watchful eye of Mrs. B. created stars as ornaments and a tree topper.

The visit to the Knights Museum is an annual event for our students. They enjoy the decorating of their tree as well as the tour of the museum. This year they had the opportunity to see a number of crèches from Italy. But the highlight of the trip is always the hot chocolate and chocolate chip cookies!

The Christmas Tree exhibit is open 7 days a week from now until Feb. 1st. There are over 20 trees decorated by school children from around the state.