News : First lesson in art is creativity, says Kindergarten teacher Otto

'There's no stopping Art when Art is inspired:' Mrs. Otto reads her favorite book to K students.

'There's no stopping Art when Art is inspired:' Mrs. Otto reads her favorite book to K students.

Art Ninjas: Mrs. Otto teaches Kindergarten students the importance of eye contact while listening.

Attention, parents of VS Kindergarten students: If your child comes home and tells you that the art teacher said it's OK to color outside the lines, it's true.

The first lesson in art, says Lindsey Otto, who has been teaching elementary art for a 14 years, the last 10 at Vinton-Shellsburg, is creativity.

“I want them to color outside the lines,” says Otto, just a few minutes before welcoming a class of Kindergarten students for their very first art class.

While art lessons do eventually include things like symmetry, color wheels, shapes and order, those rules also can limit creative thinking and imagination -- the most important part of art, says the teacher.

After graduating from Center Point-Urbana, Otto went to Wartburg College, planning on becoming a teacher of either art or science.

“I discovered that I enjoyed my art classes much more than my science classes,” she recalls, and her decision was made.

Mrs. Otto introduces herself to the Kindergarten kids in the hallway outside her classroom. After playing a few games while waiting for the bell, she teaches them the rules of being an “Art Ninja,” showing them how to quietly enter class while silently mouthing words to get their attention. She continues the “Ninja” lessons as the children gather around her, telling them how to sit cross-legged on the rug and raise their hands if they have questions or comments.

Day 1 of Kindergarten Art includes two things.

First, Mrs. Otto reads the children her favorite book on the subject. Simply entitled “Art,” it concisely tells the story of a young boy named Art, and the things he loves to draw and color.

“There's no stopping Art when Art is inspired,” the students hear the teacher say as she reads.

The book describes Art's love of Art, and ends with a colorful picture the youngster had created from a variety of shapes.

The second big part of their first art class is a self-portrait. Each student was asked to draw a picture of himself or herself. Mrs. Otto will keep the papers, and on the last day of school, will ask the students do draw another self-portrait. This, she says, will help them see the progress they have made – and she adds, Kindergarten students do learn fast and make much progress.

From the creativity perspective, Mrs. Otto witnessed much imagination in the first batch of pictures she examined.

“These are all my friends,” says one boy, who drew several figures along with his own portrait.”

“I am drawing a zombie, and a man being scared by a zombie,” says the boy sitting next to him.

Another Kindergarten girl drew a tornado.

After 10 years at VS, Otto has been able to see the progress of her students as they advance through elementary school and then to middle school and high school. She has been amazed at the talent shown by local students and the news they have made with their art work.

And it all starts on that little rug, where those art ninjas gather to learn to color outside the lines.

Soon, Mrs. Otto will begin adding photos of this school year's art projects to the VS Elementary Art Facebook page.