Clarkston Community Schools’ Visual Arts Department has continued a unique district-wide collaboration for the past eight years.
The CCS Kindergarten Transformation is a legacy project featuring kindergarten drawings transformed by high school artists. Each year, CCS painting, drawing, and digital illustration students select from a collection of kindergarten sketches to reinterpret into a unique masterpiece. High school artists will use Adobe Illustrator, colored pencil, various paint mediums and beyond to imagine a masterpiece from the mind of a young Clarkston kindergarten student.
On Jan. 11, Clarkston High School students were able to connect a little further with the kindergarten artists by actually visiting Pine Knob Elementary. The artists sat together for morning snacks and got creative with a simple art activity to help get to know each other. Some students were even able to share their inspired masterpieces with the original kindergarten artists.
Students and staff celebrated together a district tradition while students connected through art making. A few of these projects will be selected for the annual Clarkston Community Schools District Art Show, which will be held at the CCS Administration building beginning on April 10.
— Anne Baldwin

PHOTOS (from top): Zoe Brazier, Veanna Badia, and Beckham Alley enjoy time together; Thomas Vargas, Oakley Ruskiewicz, and PKE art teacher Kaitlyn Eaton are beyond thrilled with how the art project turned out in the end; Scarlett Hall and Hailey Jones; This collaboration shows the original artwork on the left of Pine Knob Elementary kindergarten student Griffin Cranston and the result on the right of Clarkston High school student Leah Stump. Photos by Anne Baldwin