Pennsbury superintendent selects student art work for permanent display
By Samantha Bambino
The Times
Before Pennsbury School District superintendent Dr. William Gretzula entered the education field, he longed to one day become a professional animator. Obsessed with Disney and constantly sketching and drawing, he used to tell people how he “dreamed in cartoons.” Though life took Gretzula on a different path, he never lost the sense of wonder that art always ignited in him. So often, he explained, adults lose sight of that childhood curiosity. They stop asking questions and suddenly become too cool to sing, dance, and let their creativity show.
But not him. Today, Gretzula works diligently to help Pennsbury students recognize and hone their artistic talents so that hopefully, years from now, they’ll also hold fast to that bright-eyed view of the world.
Each fall, Gretzula hand picks approximately eight works of art created by students in the district. For one year, the pieces sit proudly on display in his spacious office before they’re moved to the ever-growing gallery spanning the administrative hallway. Currently celebrating its 20th year, the display boasts more than 120 paintings, drawings and sculptures.
On the afternoon of Wednesday, Oct. 24, in the Pennsbury Administration Building, teachers, administrators, family and friends gathered in the second floor conference room to help Gretzula and art curriculum coordinator Ruth Anne Schultz recognize the eight students whose pieces were selected for the gallery.
“Hopefully 20 years from now, someone who you don’t know is going to walk about the halls and really admire the work that we’re celebrating here today,” he told the students. “You’ve already made a legacy here at Pennsbury that will survive probably all of us.”
According to Gretzula, each of the works of art were chosen because, for him, they represented a few common, vitally important ideas.
“Some of these pieces simply represent the theme of change and just being able to go with that flow and expect it, kind of roll with it,” he said, gesturing to a landscape painting created by Eleanor Roosevelt Elementary second-grader Makayla Jean-Charles.
He then brought the room’s attention to a glass head by Pennsbury High School senior Christina Holstrom, which featured countless colors and piercing red eyes. To Gretzula, the mixture of tones symbolized the great melting pot that is the public school system.
“In our community, in our district, we have incredible diversity. I don’t want people to just be tolerant of the differences we have in our community. I want people to truly appreciate the richness of that mosaic, what it brings, different thoughts. I don’t care if it’s age, gender, race, religion. It doesn’t matter,” he said. “I see every student when I look in this face.”
Though “diversity” wasn’t the theme Holstrom was going for while creating the head, Gretzula explained how that’s one of the beautiful things about art.
“Once you create it and give it away to other people, the observer or the listener is the person who’s going to start to interpret it and make sense of it for their own lives,” he said.
Schultz then invited each student to provide some background on their respective pieces. First was Jean-Charles, who was joined by her art teacher Pam Soda. Despite being the youngest of the students in attendance, and despite being the last one in her class to finish her landscape painting, experienced artists would do well to listen to her words of advice.
“That’s not a bad thing,” she said of taking a longer amount of time on her piece. “Some people think it’s a bad thing, but it’s really not because you’re putting a lot of hard work into it. If you think you’re done, you’re never ever done. You could always add more.”
Next, Holstrom was invited to say a few words about her glass head. She shared a similar sentiment to Jean-Charles, admitting she was also the last one in her class to finish, and commented on the superintendent’s description of her piece.
“I really liked Dr. Gretzula’s interpretation of this because I wasn’t thinking that at all, for one thing. But one of my favorite things about art is that anyone can have any interpretation they want. And overall, it was just very random, I just kept building with the colors. There was really no specific inspiration behind it,” she said.
As for William Penn eighth-grader Ryan Kennedy, who was joined by his teacher Blair Greiner, his perspective lines cityscape of New York held a personal connection — since his mother works in the Big Apple, he often travels there.
“Mrs. Greiner said I took some risks by doing some interesting shape building and making the Statue of Liberty,” he said. “You have to take risks, try new things.”
Also present was Pennwood eighth-grader Gemma Conti, along with her teacher Becky VanLieu, who discussed the process of her radial symmetry piece. First, students designed what they’d like to see on paper. They then took rubber blocks and a curved metal tool to carve out where they wanted the designs to go, before rolling ink onto the paper and adding color.
Several students were unable to attend, but their art was still recognized. Abigail Krispel, an eighth-grader at William Penn, constructed a miniature terracotta warrior. According to Schultz, Krispel was also one of the last in her class to finish, and was the only student to add a sword.
Jason Shaffer, a fifth-grader at Afton Elementary, made an abstract portrait inspired by artist Sandra Silberzweig.
“I like to try to find artists who maybe had some kind of challenges in their life that they’ve overcome,” said teacher Trisha Baehser. “I think it’s important for students to know that we all face challenges. We don’t just sit down and make perfect art the first time we try.”
Speaking on behalf of her student Amy Gonzalez, a former Walt Disney Elementary student who recently moved out of state, was teacher Aphrodite Crane, who discussed Gonzalez’s 8-week-long metal relief piece.
“The kids would get kind of frustrated because it required a lot of using the tools in order to get the effects that they wanted to get,” she said. “This student in particular believed that their project wasn’t all that great. And when they found out that it got selected, they were just in complete shock, but also actually believed they were worthy of creating beautiful art.” ••
Samantha Bambino can be reached at [email protected]
