Lessons in creativity, kindness
Maui
artist teaches children compassion for animals through art classes
February
28, 2016
By CHELSEA DUNCAN - Special Sections
Editor (cduncan@mauinews.com) , The Maui News
There are wild horses, smiling
dolphins, busy bees and curious chimpanzees. Each animal comes to life in the
paintings of children who've been taking Maui artist Barbara Steinberg's
classes over the past several weeks, and each animal represents a lesson not
only in art, but in kindness.
Steinberg has been sharing her
expertise with children in Kihei for the past 10 years through her Animal
Kindness Club Art Classes, where she seeks to spread her passion for animal welfare
and students pledge to be kind to all creatures.
"The reason I combined . . . my
love for art with animal kindness is that I feel children's art can change the
world," she said. "It can be used to inspire us all through the
purity of children's art to save endangered species."
Article
Photos
A few of the many animals painted by
students in Barbara Steinberg’s Animal Kindness Club Art Classes over the past
several weeks include a hammerhead shark by Daisy Queirolo, 11;
Her most recent 17-week,
after-school keiki watercolor and drawing class wrapped up with a final art
show last week at the Kenolio Recreation Complex's Bridge Room, attended by 60
family members and other guests. Each of her 22 students was awarded a certificate
of excellence for his or her three best paintings. Children completed one
animal painting per week of endangered species found in Hawaii, Africa and
Asia.
The next class session begins this
week and will be held from 3 to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through June 22. Another
final art show will reveal the latest colorful creations.
Parent Simona Patierno said her
9-year-old daughter, Christina P. Lam, has been taking classes with Steinberg
for almost two years and has learned to draw increasingly detailed renderings
of her subjects.
"She has added dimensions and
'pathos' as her comprehension for what she is representing has developed,"
Patierno said, adding that she appreciates how Steinberg's classes occasionally
integrate classical music and audio-video presentations.
She said it's apparent the art
teacher truly cares for animals, and her students. During class, Steinberg
usually roams from student to student trying to help without imposing her
style.
"Once she gets to know a
student and his (or) her family, she will go out of her way to try to help that
child to be successful," Patierno said.
Jihye Boyer's 9-year-old daughter,
Rose, has been taking Steinberg's classes for two years. The mother and
daughter were impressed with the artist's focus on her students and her love
for painting wild animals, Hawaiian plants and sea life.
Boyer said the combination of
animals and art allows for a full story to develop, of love and imagination.
Her daughter's paintings always have a back story, she said, such as a cheetah licking
her cub, nurturing and caring for her in the forest, or an Alaskan white wolf
coming home to a cub greeting her in the den.
"Those stories truly touch my
heart, create enjoyment for Rose and bring the whole process alive," she
said, adding that her daughter has been inspired to become a marine biologist
and loved learning about famed primatologist Jane Goodall while drawing gorillas.
Steinberg, who has also taught art
classes in public and private schools for more than 25 years on Maui, as well
as in her private studio, said she also teaches students to be good to their
own pets.
"We teach that we all are
guardians for dogs and cats and horses and pets, not owners," she said,
"as to own a dog is like owning an object that is disposable. But we are
guardians instead, and adopt a dog for its entire life."
Steinberg said she enjoys watching
her students' talents and appreciation for animals blossom throughout her
classes. Some students have taken her classes for four years, and many of her
recent graduates will be continuing on with the next session.
"The paintings rendered by
children in my class give us the feeling of being free in the glory and
magnificence of the wild," she said. "We all need to become more
acquainted with the creatures who share the Earth, from the chimpanzee, the
polar bear, to the smallest squirrel."
To sign up for Steinberg's classes,
which are part of the Department of Parks & Recreation's Community Class
Program, and for a list of supplies needed, call 269-6845. The cost is $155 for
all 17 weeks, and the class is open to children ages 5 to 12. For more
information, visit www.barbarasteinbergart.com.