Artist: Eila Shea, with five student artists

Students: Sigi Du, Ye Chau Lin, Tuyen Le, Huang Chao, Sarah Achilles

Sponsor: Mr. Richard Heiser

Location: Olean Post Office, South Union Street, Olean

In the Artists words: Eila is an art teacher at Houghton Academy teaching 7-12th grade art. For their WINTERIM project, she decided to allow five senior high students to paint one of the squirrels, under her guidance. “The Starry Night” theme was chosen because it had become a favorite of students in her Art History classes. Four of the five students are international students at Houghton Academy. They have come to the school to learn English with the hope of being accepted into an American college after graduation.

Essay: Starry Night, By: Kodae Griffith — I like the Starry Night squirrel’s tail because it has lots of colors on it. I like the colors because they are bright colors and they blend together. The blue makes the sky look nice, like a sunset. The squirrel has stripes and spots on its tail that remind me of water. Starry Night makes me feel calm and happy.  The tail has a moon on it and those beautiful swirly stars. Emma Strong