Roslindale Students Shine at Open Studios

Morgan Seto, age 10, a Philbrick Elemetary School 5th grade student, proudly stands besides his 3-D self-portrait, which he stylized as a monkey face.

By Kim Foley MacKinnon, Town Correspondent

There were more than 100 artists featured during last weekend’s Roslindale Open Studios, but the youngest entrants might well have been the happiest to be there.

“I had a wonderful time doing this,” said Philbrick Elementary School fifth grader Morgan Seto, who came to see his artwork displayed in an exhibit at one of the neighborhood venues along the Open Studios route. Seto, who designed his 3D self-portrait to look like a monkey, said he didn’t get art class in third and fourth grades, so was happy to have it this year.

Seto’s school, as well as the Bates Elementary School, Conley Elementary School, Irving Middle School, Sumner Elementary School, and the Boys & Girls Club of Boston at Sumner Elementary School, all participated in the show through a program made possible by the Roslindale Arts Initiative, working with the Eliot School of Applied and Fine Arts.

While the show itself was an exciting event for the kids, there is a much big picture. With funding from a grant received this fall, arts teachers from the Eliot School are working in the classroom at several Roslindale schools to help provide arts education.

Nina Vansuch, Roslindale Arts Initiative coordinator, said the idea is to incorporate visual arts into the core education of all public elementary and middle school students in Roslindale.

“We’re looking at how arts curriculum is presented at schools,” said Vansuch. “The goal is to make Roslindale an arts destination for schools.”