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MOUNT PLEASANT, N.Y. Westlake Middle School art teacher Nanci DiNome recognizes the importance of showcasing students work to members of the greater Mount Pleasant community.
When youre young, you always hang up your good work on the fridge at home, DiNome said. I wanted a way to put that on a bigger scale.
Thats why DiNome partnered with the TD Bank on Marble Avenue near the border of Thornwood and Pleasantville, where each month she displays the art work of her sixth grade students. For the past five years, she has displayed her students artwork in the bank during the first week of each month.
I realized that TD was doing a lot of community outreach in our schools at some of our events and I thought, why not do some community outreach to them, DiNome said.
She said the real gratitude comes from the family members that view the students work.
Its great for the kids because they can invite their parents and siblings to go and check out their artwork and take pictures, DiNome said. Its a real confidence booster for them.
Joseph Corrao is one of DiNomes students and said he was proud to have a painting he worked on displayed for many to see.
I like that its something that I did myself and that I worked on in school and now other people outside of the school can see it, Corrao said.
DiNome also displays her students artwork online on a website called Artsonia. Yet students say they prefer a tangible display.
Its one thing to view it online but its much cooler to go and actually see the physical painting or art, sixth grade student Sophia Dimiceli said. Its like a museum.
Limited space in the bank requires DiNome to select only a few paintings to feature each month. However, she said her goal is to feature a piece from each student at least once throughout the year.
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