DATE: Friday, June 6, 1997                  TAG: 9706050221

SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON   PAGE: 16   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY BARBARA J. WOERNER, CORRESPONDENT 

                                            LENGTH:   69 lines

ART TEACHERS DISPLAY THEIR TALENTS AT EXHIBIT

Virginia Beach art students who every wondered if their teachers had any talent got their answer recently - yes.

A recent exhibit by the teaching artists of city public schools at the Frame-Up Gallery off Princess Anne Road proved that the teaching of art to students at various grade levels enhances the artistic edge instead of dulling it. Art teachers and their families thronged the reception at the second annual ``Teaching Artists Show.''

Just inside the front door of Frame-Up, stood a 6-foot jellyfish constructed out of papier mache, pvc pipe and a variety of colorful fibers. ``I enjoy the funny side of life and my art tends to be whimsical,'' said its creator, David Vukelich, art teacher at Green Run High School.

``Most of the work I do is done as an example for my students,'' he said. Sometimes I need to show the kids a process and they watch it evolve as I go.''

Vukelich is known for keeping his art room doors open long past quitting time at Green Run High School. ``I'm there to teach and if students want to learn I'm there for them,'' he said.

Robyn Vasile, art teacher at Bettie F. Williams, Windsor Oaks and Newtown Road elementary schools, is used to people emptying their dryer filters and bringing the contents to her. Her current medium of choice is lint and for that reason many know her as the ``lint lady.'' Her pieces in the exhibit were constructed entirely of lint and framed like a drawing. One, was a rendition of the Cavalier Hotel.

``I was an art teacher in a middle school in 1993 and I lost my position,'' said Vasile. ``I was determined to do something with all the lint that we had collected for a paper-making project.''

When she acquired a teaching job in an elementary school she discovered that lint would not be allowed in the classroom because of the airborne dust. So she decided to do something on her own. Now, she blocks out several hours at a time as she shapes, cuts and pulls the material. She wears goggles, a face mask and covers up with only her hands exposed to the lint.

``You shouldn't use lint around children and you've got to be careful yourself and make sure you've got the right ventilation,'' she added. Threaded throughout the exhibit were more than 30 small classroom chairs turned into individual expressions of creativity. ``I taught the chair workshop but didn't think to do one myself,'' said Cindy Moneta, fine arts chairperson at Ocean Lakes High School. ``I have a zillion ideas when I finally get to go home and make one myself.''

According to Moneta, the chair workshop came about upon the discovery of the small wooden desk chairs that were sitting in storage. ``I thought it would be a shame to discard them and I wanted to use them in art,'' she said. The chairs, some colorful, others whimsical or bizarre, were popular with the teachers. ``The first workshop was so successful that they begged for a second one,'' Moneta said.

``We tried to have as many teachers represented here as possible,'' said Anne Wolcott, fine arts coordinator for city schools who coordinated the teaching artists exhibit. ``This not only gives them an opportunity to exhibit their own work but, it is a chance for them to get together socially.''

Sandie Burr, art teacher at Shelton Park Elementary School, agreed that the exhibit gave city school art teachers the chance to be seen as artists.

``It's good to have this outlet to exhibit our work,'' she said as she pointed out one of her waterlilies done in monoprint to her 7-year-old son, Shayne. ILLUSTRATION: Photos by BARBARA WOERNER

Shane Burr, 7, looks at the jellyfish Green Run High School art

teacher David Vukelich created from paper mache, pvc pipe and

colorful fibers.

Teachers displayed classroom chairs that they turned into artwork.

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