ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Call it Crayola's Class of 1984.
The work of elementary school pupils created in classrooms across the United States during the 1980s are part of a new exhibition at Allentown Art Museum.
The "Dream Makers: A Creative Legacy" a partnership with Crayola, features 59 vintage paintings, collages and mixed-media artworks curated from Crayola's archives.
It will be on display at the museum, at 31 N. 5th St., Allentown, through March 2.
The artwork on display is part of the first "Dream Makers" exhibition which took place at the museum in 1985.
Crayola's "Dream Makers" program operated in U.S. schools from 1984 to 2013 to encourage art experiences in the classroom.
'Creativity' and the brain'
The crayon company's current classroom endeavor, Creativity Week runs through Sunday, Feb. 2.
As part of the "Dream Makers" exhibition, staff at the museum will participate in Crayola's Creativity Week and offer free, guided, art-making classes from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. through Sunday.
"Creativity taps into another part of your brain that can open up possibilities..."Abigail Simmons
"We talk about creativity when it comes to artists all the time, but creativity affects every single field that you're in, regardless of if you're a scientist, mathematician, actor, artist, all of those fields require creativity," Abigail Simmons Director of Education and Public Engagement at the art museum said.
"Studies have shown that people who have an artistic background, people who are willing to find solutions to things, will be more successful regardless of the field that they're going in.
"Creativity taps into another part of your brain that can open up possibilities regardless of, you know, the focus of your, what your lens might be looking at."
Themes of world peace, trust
Although the pieces were created by elementary students in 1984, they remain relevant today, said Allentown Art Museum curator Rei Ukon.
The themes of the art explore subjects like imaginary places, trust, world peace and aspirations for the future.
"No two artworks are alike, so it's hard to try and curate them based on how similar they look."Allentown Art Museum curator Rei Ukon
"This artwork is super interesting, because there's so many different mediums and forms, and some of them are spot on," Ukon said. "No two artworks are alike, so it's hard to try and curate them based on how similar they look."
Ukon divided the colorful and vivid works onto four walls and hung quotes on top of each wall.
For instance, the first wall's quote states, "So this is place where I can dream," followed by the second one, "It's interesting to be an artist, you can create your own imaginary world."
"I went with a thematic way, and that kind of opened up the pathway to it kind of all fell into place," Ukon said.
"Once I started to do that, and focusing less on what's visually on the paper and more so the sentiment behind it, then it all kind of started falling into place. The curation process kind of went naturally from there."
Staff from the art museum and Crayola have begun reaching out to the artists, now in their 40s, featured in the "Dream Makers" exhibit.
According to the museum, a handful of them lived in the Lehigh Valley.
Admission to the Allentown Art Museum is free. For information on the exhibit, visit the venue's website.
