Alumna, art education students introduce grade-schoolers to new campus art exhibit

Trustee and retired teacher Rosie Hymerling ’67 helped Professor Lisa LaJevic’s students teach local elementary school children about the contemporary Inuit art now on display in TCNJ Art Gallery.

Words by Tracey Regan

At an introductory viewing last month of the Inuit prints and drawings on display at TCNJ Art Gallery, Professor Lisa LaJevic‘s art education class received some unconventional, but sage, advice on how to approach the unfamiliar works of art.

“Choose an image and write a poem about it,” advised one of their instructors, Rosedale “Rosie” Hymerling ’67, a retired kindergarten teacher who has been introducing New Jersey children to art for more than four decades.

Hymerling, who is also a trustee of the College, had volunteered that evening to help the students in the class—Principles, Practices, and Materials in Art Education—themselves prepare a hands-on lesson around the exhibit.

Indeed, just a few weeks later, the students became the experts introducing sixth-graders from Hedgepeth-Williams School in Trenton to the stark and singular images of fish, whales, birds and people that at first brush feel like conduits to a remote world. Another lesson for adults with developmental disabilities from The ARC of Mercer County is planned for later this month.

Creative expression, Hymerling noted during her January visit to campus, is a gentle and effective way to draw out youngsters who may be afraid to voice an opinion.

“Some children can’t tell you why they like a piece of art, but they can express themselves through poetry. There is no right or wrong with that sort of expression and so they feel accepted. It’s their interpretation,” she said.

The exhibit, Contemporary Inuit Art from Cape Dorset, showcases 26 works by artists from the Kinngait Studios in Cape Dorset, a hamlet in Nunavut, Canada, that is known worldwide as the “Capital of Inuit Art” for its enduring and revered creative output. The 11 featured artists in the exhibit, which is on loan from a private collection, span several generations and include a mother and son.

The studios are part of the West Baffin Eskimo Co-operative (WBEC), which was incorporated in 1959. It was the first Inuit-owned co-operative formed with start-up assistance from the Canadian federal government to offer employment and retail services. It is unique among them for its sustained focus on the arts and artists of the community.

“The co-op’s focus is on fostering unique work by individual artists, rather than a set of products by anonymous artisans,” said Sarah Cunningham, the gallery director. “While you can see many similarities in the artists’ techniques and subject matter, you can also unmistakably see each artist’s very personal vision and distinct style.”

Suzette Martinho, a junior majoring in art education, focused during the class on Ningeokuluk Teevee’s colorful and abstract Bed of Kelp.

“I was not familiar with Inuit art and didn’t know what to expect, but it’s quickly become a favorite,” said Martinho, who called the images “simple and meditative.” She added, “The kids will have little knowledge of this culture and it will be exciting to teach them about it.”

She will ask them to use their own imaginations as transport to this new world.

“The Inuit carry out their myths and legends in graphic form and I’m going to ask them to devise their own legends, with themselves as the heroes within those legends,” she said. “I may ask them to imagine themselves in animal form.”

All photos (c) Dustin Fenstermacher.