Written by 2023-24 AFA Intern Mackenzie Timbrell

On Friday, March 22, I had the pleasure of joining teaching artist Lina Montoya at PS19 on Staten Island. Today we were visiting three fourth-grade classrooms. In each classroom, Lina was teaching the students how to use watercolors to paint landscapes. The kids loved this activity and were excited to use this new form of paint to express their creativity. Most students tried to follow along with the example that Lina had put up on the projector, but some students went completely on their own path and tried to create a whole new scene. It was really interesting to see every child have their own artistic style with the prompt of drawing a landscape. I think that Lina using watercolor for this activity was a great idea because it gives the children so much freedom with how they want to use the paint. It was so heartwarming to see so many students smiling and showing their peers their artwork. At the end of the day all the students helped Lina to clean up and the class ended. It was such a privilege to join Lina and see the students of PS19 interact with watercolor!

Here are a few photos of the students’ watercolor landscapes
as well as other projects from this residency! 

This residency was funded in part by the Linden Arts Fund For Children.  Arts For All is grateful for their support!