SOUTH HADLEY – Boston-based artist Bren Bataclan was the artist-in-residence at Plains Elementary School this week, taking drawings and ideas from the student body of 340 pre-schoolers, kindergartners and first graders to incorporate into an animal-themed mural painted just inside the entrance to the school. The artist residency was funded through a grant from the Michael E. Smith Endowment for Excellence in Education.
According to grant writer Renee Pitre, a speech language pathologist at the school, students worked from the idea that all the animals could be found at the Hitchcock Nature Center in Amherst – with notable exceptions, like a tiger (the school mascot) and a fantasy “doghead-dragon,” thrown in for good measure.
Kevin Gutting can be reached at kgutting@gazettenet.com.