Kids create storytelling artwork

Amanda Lehr (left) and Jared Herbst

Kids in the ST-ART Club at Washington Middle School have created original artwork to promote the upcoming St. Louis Storytelling Festival. Some kids drew on their own storytelling experience for art ideas.

Thirteen-year-old Amanda Lehr actually had performed at the annual festival. "I read the story, 'The Legend of Lightning Larry,' when I was in fourth grade," she said.

This year, the 25th annual St. Louis Storytelling Festival will be held May 5-8. There are dozens of storytellers performing at 24 different locations throughout St. Louis.

Young kid storytellers have their own separate performance. The Ruthilde Kronberg Youth Storytelling Concert will be Saturday, May 8, beginning at 10 a.m. It'll be in the Cowboy museum section under the Gateway Arch.

The storytelling festival is a great place for kids and their families. To learn more about the festival and how to attend, go to www.umsl.edu/~conted/storyfes/

Melanie Martin (left) and Erica Bushman

The Washington Middle School artwork will be on display at the entrance of the Arch's underground museum. Washington Middle is in the Mehlville School District.

Amanda said the "Lightning Larry" story was about a frontier "gunslinger", who helped convert bad guys into good guys. But, for her storytelling poster, she pictured an adult mouse reading the story of "Stuart Little" to a bunch of little mice.

She did her poster art all in black pencil. "I like color but I have trouble blending the colors together. I'm more comfortable in black and white," she said.

Thirteen-year-old Jared Herbst was one of the art kids who mentioned storytelling experiences from elementary school. "We had a storyteller come regularly. Ours told a lot of Native American stories," he said.

For his poster, Jared used colored pencils to draw a stylized "village storyteller" performing for kids. His artwork showed all of the people with their eyes closed.

"Eyes aren't my greatest strength but, in this poster, the closed eyes are part of my style," he said.

Thirteen-year-old Erica Bushman said the main character in her poster was patterned after "a lady storyteller I saw on TV."

Erica said she likes to tell stories. "I tell stories to my younger cousins when I visit them in Texas. I love to read to them," she said. Erica said cousins like ghost stories before they go to bed.

The storyteller in 12-year-old Melanie Martin's poster art is a horse. "I have an Indian horse taking two girls out for a ride at night and telling them a story. The story is about stars," she said.

Kira Klein (left) and Emily Martin

She used markers, color pencils and crayons for her artwork.

Thirteen-year-old Kira Klein's poster art also has an Indian theme. It shows an Indian woman telling stories to small Indian children. "I know they had stories about the Earth and their ancestors," she said.

Kira said storytelling has been a part of her life. "My parents and grandparents read and told me stories when I was little," she said.

The eighth-grader said, "When I baby-sit, I tell the kids stories. I also read stories to my younger brother and sister."

Fourteen-year-old Emily Martin drew on the movie, "Finding Nemo," for her poster. Her crayon drawing shows an adult turtle telling stories while swimming with baby turtles.

Emily is the older sister of Melanie. Emily said she'd like to work for the Disney company in movie illustration when she grows up.

Fourteen-year-old Alisha Matthews took a Arctic theme for her poster picture. She has an Eskimo telling a story to a bunch of penguins. Asked about the idea, she said, "It just popped into my mind; I wanted to do something fun."

Kate Stieren (left) and Alisha Matthews

She was another of the art kids who was exposed to storytelling in elementary school. "The woman was a fantastic storyteller," Alisha said.

But, her big hobby is golf. Last month, she competed in a youth tournament in New Orleans. Asked about a career, she said, "I want to be a pro golfer on the LPGA tour."

Thirteen-year-old Kate Stieren said the storyteller in her poster "is modeled after a storyteller who came to our elementary school. We all loved that." But, Kate admitted she took some liberties with the storyteller in her poster.

"I had my storyteller as an eccentric woman with funky jewelry and clothes," she said.