Eight-year-old Arwen Elmore took a close-up photo of a snow-covered tire during the first snowfall of the season.
"The snow tire reminded me of a chocolate doughnut with icing," explained Arwen, a third-grader at Montessori of Minot, north of Minot Air Force Base.
Arwen's photo, one of several taken by children at Montessori of Minot School, are on display this month at the Beaver Brew Cafe. The youngsters and their parents got together on Monday at the restaurant located at 1100 North Broadway in Minot to admire the framed photos hanging on the wall. Each framed photograph includes a description of what the child wanted to convey and a photo of the child.
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Andrea Johnson/MDN
Isabella Valudes, 5, is shown with her picture of a hay bale, which reminds her of a bird’s nest.
Five-year-old Isabella Valudes, a kindergartener, took a close-up picture of a hay bale.
"I like the eye of the hay bale," she explained. "It looks like a nest."
Six children in grades K-3 at the private school took the photography class this fall. Art teacher Alisa Metzger said she encouraged them to do more than just point and click.
Arwen explained that Metzger encouraged her to "put it in a box," or to frame the picture she wanted to take in the view finder. Metzger also talked with the children about photo composition and about the deeper meaning of art and how it can be used to convey a message.
"Art doesn't have to be perfect," she said.
The children learned about abstract art and looked at works by artists such as Pablo Picasso and Jackson Pollock. One of her young students was fascinated by stories about how Picasso painted. "He said one day we should be like Pablo Picasso and paint in our underwear!" Metzger said.
The kids took most of their photographs outside the school, which is located north of Minot Air Force Base in St. Paul's Lutheran Church.
Dana Elmore, Arwen's mom and head of the school, said the children were thrilled when the Beaver Brew Cafe agreed to display their photos in an exhibition donated to a child's view of the world.