The opening reception for "Art Imagined, Art Real," an exhibit of drawings and paintings by students of Patty Hancock is on Saturday, October 21, 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. at Unity Gallery, in the Library of Maharishi University of Management. The exhibit continues through November 17.

The work in this show is by students age 4 through 84. Patty’s teaching approach cultures growth of skill while maintaining respect for the artist's natural imagination and developmental level. Patty emphasizes “part real, part imagination.”

The exhibit is a combination of a traditional gallery-style show, with each artist showing his or her best work, and an educationally interpretive art show which was first tried in 1996 in a collaboration between a Palo Alto, CA school district and art education students and faculty at Stanford University. Documented through the National Association of Art Education, this type of show aims to “help people understand the relationships between thinking and the creation of visual art.”

“This show will help people appreciate the unique art and consciousness of children,” comments Matthew Beaufort, professor of art history. “Children’s art has inspired many modern masters, including Paul Klee and Picasso.” The show will also give all of Patty’s students an opportunity to showcase their talents.

An artist in her own right, Patty is currently showing her natural oxide paintings on clay at Entrée Cafe and Wintermoon Pottery in Fairfield, and at the Chait Galleries (Contemporary Art of All Mediums) in Iowa City.

Patty is originally from Redding, Connecticut. She studied with professional artists at Hampshire College where she receiving a B.A. in The Value of the Creative Process to the Individual. She also studied at the Silvermine Artists Guild in Silvermine, Connecticut. She received an M.A. in Educational Administration from Maharishi International University (now Maharishi University of Management) and is certified to teach Art K-12.

Patty moved with her family to Fairfield, IA in 1985 and has been teaching art privately here since 1986. Her article “Comparing Sources of Content in Children’s Art” was published in School Arts magazine, the leading art education publication for classroom art teachers. She also has written book reviews for the National Art Education.

Unity Gallery hours are Monday–Friday 9:45 a.m.–4:00 p.m. and 7:15–9:00 p.m., Saturday 9:45 a.m.–4:00 p.m., and Sunday 7:15–9:00 p.m. For more information call the Department of Art and Design, 641-472-7000, ext. 5035.