What does the Dallas Museum of Art and ESD’s Lower School have in common? Both are adorned with Yayoi Kusama artwork.

Our littlest Eagles recently had the opportunity to create an art installation inspired by Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama and her current DMA exhibit “”All the Eternal Love I Have for the Pumpkins.” Primarily using dots to represent infinity, Kusama’s vibrant work struck a chord with our Beginner and Pre-K students when they learned about this artist in class and decided they wanted to have an “infinity room” as well.

They began their project by putting white paper on the walls and floor. Next, we placed donated furniture and decor, which we painted white, in the work area to create the illusion of a blank canvas. Every class, students would come in and place colorful dot stickers everywhere to “obliterate” the once pure white space.

“When teaching our youngest students, I try to incorporate artists who might be exhibiting in the the Dallas area,” says Amber Stautzenberger, ESD’s Early Childhood Art teacher. “This gives students an opportunity to experience for themselves what or whom they learn about.”

And the experience isn’t over! According to Mrs. Stautzenberger stickers are still being applied every day. Once Primer and Kindergarten classes saw the installation, they wanted to join in on the fun. Soon, students and teachers from all grade levels were contributing.

The collaborative work between the Early Childhood students and their older peers was a unique learning process, and Mrs. Stautzenberger plans to continue with this kind of project every year in hopes of sparking creativity and fun art memories with her students.

“Hopefully, this type of artistic experience is something they can always remember.”