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The newest exhibition at Wellesley College’s Jewett Art Gallery opened Tuesday, June 26. The exhibition features work by the children of the Wellesley Community Children’s Center, which is housed on the Wellesley College campus and serves children ages three months to five years old.
Daniela Rivera and daughter Mila with the Yellow Room’s bird-inspired canvases.
WCCC puts on an annual art show for the students and their families, with art displayed in the halls and rooms of the center. This is the first year that the art has also been displayed in a gallery space.
On the exhibition’s opening day, WCCC students took a trip across campus to see their art on display. The children loved seeing their art in a new space and having one more opportunity to see it displayed before they bring it home.
“In here [the art] looked a teeny tiny bit different … because it’s in a different building," said Orange Room student Keira. "I like the way it looks on the wall … It’s all in one place. It’s not all mixed up.”
Steph Gillette, Wellesley College Art Department Program Coordinator and mother of Green Room student Russel, was also glad the children got to see the exhibition: “I’m excited that they got to see [their art] hanging in a way that elevated it from the walls where they would normally see their work to a real gallery space … to see it in that context with all of their classmates is very exciting.”
Steph Gillette and son Russel with the Green Room’s marble paintings.
This is the Jewett Art Gallery’s first time exhibiting children’s art. “It’s just so light and refreshing … when I started putting it up, I thought, ‘this is actually so cute, beautiful, colorful’… it’s a ray of light in the gallery,” said Director of Studio Art and WCCC parent Daniela Rivera.
Her daughter Mila, a student in WCCC’s Yellow Room, thought having children’s art on display is a welcome change: “They were prettier [than the gallery’s usual art] because they were cooler. It was lighter colors, so that’s why I think it’s prettier.”
The WCCC exhibition is on display at the Jewett Art Gallery at Wellesley College through the end of July. The gallery is free and open to the public, Monday through Friday from 10 to 4. Viewing outside of these times may be possible; contact Gallery Director Samara Pearlstein at spearls2@wellesley.edu.
