Schoolchildren showcase Christmas art in Springville museum exhibit

Challenging the popular notion that kids view Christmas most viscerally as a list of expectations for Santa, artwork now on display at the Springville Museum of Art reflects the devotional spirit of the holiday through the eyes of children.

The museum's 24th annual Christmas Lamb Show features the work of 70 Utah County students, ages 6-10, from among 350 entries received.

Inspired by the story of "The Christmas Lamb," when a young boy visits an art museum and sees a painting of the baby Jesus — then ultimately learns that the holiday's true meaning comes through giving rather than getting — the contest is open to students from Nebo, Provo and Alpine school districts.

And the exhibit, like several other local devotionally based Christmas events, is free to the public (see accompanying box).

Virgil Jacobsen, the museum's assistant director and curator of education, said the exhibit has become a treasured part of the holiday season for patrons, hundreds of whose children remember what it was like to have their artwork on public display.

Because public schools usually forgo specific teaching about the Christmas story, students' conceptions about the origins of the holiday most often "come from the home," he said.

Some reflect simple concepts: an angel, a manger or a star, usually imbued with personalized symbols like hearts and other decor that hint at an expanded sense of the holiday's meaning.

Other pieces delve much deeper, connecting concepts that are often lost on many adults during the Christmas season.

For example, an entry by sixth-grade student Alison Vance from Rees Elementary in Spanish Fork, could be passed over as a black and white pencil drawing — until viewers look at what is being conveyed.

Her drawing depicts the biblical annunciation to Mary by an angel that she will become the mother of God's son. As Mary listens to the angel's words, images foreshadowing Christ's life are depicted in to the side: a stable, a lamb and a cross, with a crown of thorns and a whip at the base.

The pieces reflect the imagination that stirs within children about topics that have become dear to them, Jacobsen said. "It's part of who and what they are, and art is part of the fun of being a child."

Vicki Gehring, a retired art teacher from Provo's Grandview Elementary and a member of the statewide Art Partnership Committee, said art promotes creative thinking and self-expression. "Most of what kids do in school is very structured and they're told what they are supposed to do.