Students at Lenihan Intermediate School made a special trip to the Marshalltown Arts and Civic Center (MACC) earlier this week for the second annual Classical Splash, a special collaboration between the MACC, Julie Thede and Lenihan Art Teacher Nick Beard.

“The orchestra teacher, Mr. Claussen chose two orchestral arrangements, one to be performed by a small orchestra for each grade (fifth and sixth). While listening to the piece, students will envision what the music ‘feels like,'” Beard explained. “We then have a discussion on what the Impressionist approach would look like with what they envisioned. We then tour the gallery to get a fuller understanding of what Impressionism is.”

From there, the following few weeks are spent exploring ideas on canvas boards provided by the MACC. When the artworks are completed, Beard will select 100 works (50/50) to take back to the MACC, and a panel of judges that will decide the top 20 of each grade.

Once all the work is chosen, the winners will have an opportunity to come to the Classical Splash reception at the MACC, for which a date has not yet been announced.