ART TAKES CENTER STAGE AT TRINITY

Students at Trinity Lutheran School recognized the names - Leonardo, Raphael, Michael Angelo and Donatello - the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

But art educator Rhea Sprecher explained that the quartet of cartoon crimefighters is named for an equally famous group of Italian artists.

The life and times, paintings and inventions of Leonardo da Vinci were among lessons by Sprecher Tuesday. She also talked about Grant Wood and his "American Gothic" and Vincent Van Gogh.

The school set aside an entire day for art education to help introduce its revamped art program, said Principal Robert Hartmann.

"We've been studying the art curriculum and decided this was a good way to kick off the changes we have made," Hartmann said. In addition to the one-day workshop by Sprecher, the school has invested in new supplies and materials to enhance art education.

On Tuesday students from kindergarten through eighth-grade sat in the gymnasium for hours while Sprecher spun tales of Leonardo da Vinci and his desire to fly; the toll of wars on art work, and trouble with peeling paint.

"It's a father and his spinster daughter," Sprecher said about the American Gothic painting. "Everyone thinks it's a farmer and his wife. Now these children know better."

Sprecher said for too long art, especially at the elementary level, has been project oriented. Students turn out better work when they have some background and understanding of great artists.

"Who am I to teach painting?" Sprecher said. "To learn great painting, you should go to the masters."

Sprecher researches the masters and then brings the information and enthusiasm to schools. She leaves suggestions for projects and discussion spinoffs from her workshop.

"Teachers don't have time to do this research," Sprecher said. "We will do three artists today. That's three months work of art for these teachers."

Students took notes during Sprecher's presentation, but teachers were writing notes just as furiously.

"Watch as I present college-level material to these children and they understand," she said prior to the session on Leonardo da Vinci.

She was right: students listened and watched slides and videos about his work.

Leonardo da Vinci designed flying machines, including a set of wings modeled after bat wings.

The design was adapted in 1939 and debuted as cartoon character Batman, Sprecher said.

Da Vinci's "Mona Lisa," the most famous painting in the world, she said, could actually be a self portrait of da Vinci. "I don't know. You have to decide for yourself," she told students.

"Students need to understand the artist as a person, a fellow human. It's not just art, it's life," said Sprecher. "Once they care about the artist, they can look at the work, understand it and then love it or not."

The end result is better student artwork and better appreciation for art, Sprecher said.

"These children will be taking their parents by the hand through a book store and say, `That looks like a Van Gogh.'"