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My kindergarteners on their way to see Andy Warhol at Gagosian. Not too sad, are they? It's always been a HiArt! tradition that when one gallery hops, one must physically HOP. You can see how deliberate her work is. Ask a five year old what they're making and they'll tell you in great detail. The studio is amazing place for kids. They have space and light everywhere they turn. The kids' first gallery visit was to see Donald Baechler at Cheim and Read. There isn't a more hospitable gallery in Chelsea and the kids were instantaneously at ease. You can see how she's fleshed out each of her ideas. All throughout the class we're talking with every kid -- not so much to instruct, but to elicit. And to let them know that we really SEE both them and their work. Most kids work on the floor, and love to stretch out, but not this guy. By the second studio session he'd figured out exactly where and how he wanted to work and just set himself right up. You can tell that they're pretty revved up about the Warhol connection -- and that was even BEFORE Chairman Mao was sold for $15million! We've been studying Mozart's Cosi Fan Tutte and for this page -- Discrivermi ogni giorno -- I asked the kids to write letters in school and bring them along for us to incorporate in our artwork. When the kindergarteners arrive they need to eat lunch -- so we either chill out or talk about Cosi and eat. When the kids saw Donald Baechler they just immediately loved it. It was like they'd been going to galleries their entire lives. I just can't get over the pleasure he's getting from these images. We have fantastic resources at the studio. And the kids know they're free to use whatever they need. Can you tell how much he loves to have his picture taken? What a guy. This very soft spoken young man is a phenomenal artist. He came to 241 about a month into the semester and found a place for himself. These are very good kids. I've never seen them exclude anyone. As I said, Andy Warhol really blew them away. They literally spent over an hour just drawing at the show on 24th Street. The kids were just mesmerized by Dan Flavin at Paula Cooper. It's incredible how children on the same project, with the same materials, come up with completely different solutions. When she walked into the studio the first time she just wept and refused to move. Well that lasted all of about 10 minutes. This is what I mean by the effect of space and light. You can see how focused he is on his work. Kids can work in the studio for 1.5 hours without even realizing time has passed. Kids have relatively unlimited access to materials, as you can tell from this over-the-top first encounter with glitter paint. The detail, the layering, his 3-dimensional paper constructions, the incorporation of the 'letters' are all astonishing. The composition of this page is stunning, don't you think? Look at the background, the brushstrokes, the use of the letters, the correspondence with the Warhol. Five years old. Amazing. He really is upside down. What can I say? Dan Flavin knocked their socks off. Every day with these kids drives home the fact that just because they come from an underserved neighborhood doesn't mean that they're run-down kids. They're not. This boy is the picture of promise: great intentions and tremendous intelligence. It's up to all of us to make sure that nothing gets in his way. This is Warhol's Last Supper. I asked them if they knew who Christ was, but they didn't. It must be instinctive: the Last Supper held them captive for at least 3/4 of an hour. Sydney Chastain-Chapman is a wonderful artist, and how fortunate are these kids to have someone of her talent working with them? It's a win-win situation. Great for the kids, great for our resident artists.Amazing Work!