Omaha daily bee., 1896-09-01
OMAHA SCHOOL cHILDREN's WORK
Exhibit thai Interests Parents of the
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tional exhibit at the fair grounds ought
to be sufficient to convince the most skepti-
cal that Nebraska is entitled to high rank.
In spite of limited space and other incon-
Veniences which h~arassed the people who
gathered the exhibit, they have brought
together an object lesson which is regarded
with more than ordinary interest by nine
one of ten of the people who visit the
grounds. 1t is the most practical illustra-
tion possible of the high standard public
school instruction which has been reached
in Nebraska, and while it has been found
impossible to fully represent much of the
work of the schools, it affords a thorough
idea OF what has been accomplished in
branches which have more recently been
added to the curriculum Of the schools. The
exhibit Is found in a more appropriate place
than last year. 1t occupies the south end
and part of the one side of Textile hall
ana it would fill the other end, too, if all
the material which has been provided could
be given place. AS it is, a vast amount of
interesting things have had to give way, but
the space available contains the cream of
the offerings. 1t serves to give a very
thorough exposition of the work of the
Omaha kindergartens, drawing classes and
the manual training department in addition
to the regular state exhibit and those of
the Omaha Commercial college and the
Creighton Medical college.
Among THESE the Dllllla SCnOOl nave the
largest and apparently the most popular
showing. Half of the people who visit
the fair almost refuse to believe that the
drawings which cover the side of the build
ing have been done by school children and
by very young children at that. They go
q little further and see pieces of cabinet
work that not one skilled mechanic out
of fifty could accomplish and when Mr..
Wigman assures them that they are the
work of boys, some of whom have been less
than one year in the manual training de-
partment, they shake their heads in
Credulously and seem to think they have
been imposed upon. But from first to last
the exhibit represents the work of the
children's heads and hands. The ideas are
sometimes crude, but most of them are
meritorious and much of the work is Of
| such a degree of excellence as to justify
the doubt that the children have really per-
formed it. The teachers who are in charge
Of the exhibits take all this as a matter
of course. They say that they have long
expected that not one person in a hundred
knows how much children can do if they are
| properly taught and they declare that still
better results are possible when the interest
of the parents is more largely engaged
in the so-called ''fads'' of school work.
SPECIMENS OF DRAWING.
The bulk of the space occupied by the
Omaha schools is devoted to the drawing
exhibit for which the supervisor of draw
ing, MISS Alice HUE, Is luIStly response
Bile. The people of Omaha have had several
opportunities to view the work of the pupils
i'm the informal art exhibits which have been
given in the city hall, but there are
| thousands to whom the drawings are a con-
| tinual source of wonderment. Why, |
| cant draw like that and | have been study
ing for years. said a woman yesterday
afternoon and she has quite a local reputa-
ton as an artist, too.
The exhibition includes a small showing
of the work of each grade from the little
tots of the first grade up to the High school
pupils and there is room for a difference of
opinion in regard to their high proportiOnate
merit. Among the High school Contribu-
| lions none m more general approval
than that of Miss Nellie Mcmillan. 1t in
cludes a sketch of a tray containing a tea
pot, napkin and other appurtenances of a
light lunch and a broken basket of ripe
grapes. Both are in water colors and the
light effect on the grapes is considered
especially praiseworthy. Jesse Burns has
two good crayOn pieces in sepia. One is a
sketch of Homer and the other a study of
a child's head. Edith Burgess contributes
a very pretty water color and a sketch in
charcoal and John Olsen Is the author of
a very Commendable pen and ink sketch
from life. of a young man seated in an easy
chair. The exhibit also includes two very
pretty pastels, one of a basket of potatoes
and the other a basket of ears of corn.
The eighth grade includes exhibits from
a dozen schools which are fairly balanced
in point of merit. Prominent in the Mason
school exhibit Is an original wall paper
design by Nettie Galloner. Alex Gordon of
the Park school has a pencil sketch of an
elaborate banquet lamp which shows the
result Of much painstaking. The Lake
school shows some excellent sketches of
hands and feet from life by Henry Neal and
June Anderson. One of the best wall paper
designs In the exhibit is from Walnut
Hill school, and the Central two very good
pencil sketches, one a tea set and the other
a set of scales. The feature of the LothrOp
exhibit is in the figure sketches from life,
which bears the names of Walter Haddock,
Florence Lewis, Maud Keys and Clarice
Miller. They are remarkably true to life
and attract as much favorable comment
as any part of the exhibit. The Central
Park school is represented by pen and ink
sketches, those of a dilapidated hat and
shoes being conspicuous, and the Comenius
shows some very good figure sketches. Ban
croft has some excellent conventional de-
signs In wall paper and a nature piece
by Florence Jordan OF the Lincoln school
rounds out a very commendable exhibit.
ATTRACT MUCH ATTENTION.
Among the pieces which represent the
seventh grade is a very neat wall paper
design in sepia and gilt by Catherine Cor
don of the Park school, Emily Wareham
and Edith Webb of Lake have some very
cTeditable pencil work in object drawing
anu most OF the eHnlDlt OF the Lincoln
school is devoted to pencil studies in stih
life by Grace Oakley, May Hanley, Hilda
Lee and Rosa Gill. Harry Squiers pencil
sketch from life of five boys in a game
of marbles, which attracted so much at
tention in the last city hall exhibit, repre-
sents the Central school, and beside 1t
hangs a very creditable sketch of a Gothic
church by the same artist. Mary Holder
Of Kellom contributes an excellent pencil
sketch of a group of vases, and the Amber
school has a showing of pencil sketchea
from objects, in which the shading Is ex-
ccptionally good. Other items are an orig
inal wall paper design by Grace McDann OF
CASTELAR, and a drawing of a church b.
Mabel Smith OF Central.
In the sixth grade, the Omaha View school
shows some very fair charcoal figures from
life, and Cass has nature and figure work
in pencil, The Columbian is represented
by figure work, in which that Of Aubrey
Clark 10 especially commendahle. A unique
sketch OF q city street, with a row OF
buildings on each side, is the work of John
Schoenrogg of the CASTELAR,, and the Leaycu-
worth and Franklin schools complete tic
exhibit.
The Windsor school presents one Of the
strongest exhibits in the fifth grade work.
Ernest DeGraff has an excellent pencil
sketch of a washtub and kindred utensils.
Victor Johnson and Nellie Kreider contrib
ute figure work, ana Corner Nsstor Is the