Amazing Starry Night

The Starry Night is an oil on canvas by the Dutch post-impressionist painter Vincent van Gogh. Painted in June 1889, it depicts the view from the east-facing window of his asylum room at Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, just before sunrise, with the addition of an idealized village.  It has been in the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City since 1941, acquired through the Lillie P. Bliss Bequest. It is regarded as among Van Gogh’s finest works, and is one of the most recognized paintings in the history of Western culture. 

Well, taking a leaf out of it, Bahrain Elementary School students created ‘The Starry Night Over Bahrain’ using bottle caps. Bahrain School Elementary Art teacher Mrs. Michelle Constine says: ‘ The bottle cap mural was a fun recycling project that turned our old caps into a wonderful piece of art.  The students were asked to collect bottle caps all year long.  They collected until April and then we were ready to sort the colors.  We needed to know how many caps we had of each color so we could come up with our design.  I asked the students to draw their ideas for our large board.  We finally decided on doing a pointillism version of Vincent van Gogh’s “Starry Night”.  My 5th grade students drew the picture on the board and many of my 4th grade students painted the mural.  Once the mural was painted and caps sorted, the bottle caps were glued on by all the students at Bahrain Elementary School.  It was wonderful to see all the students working together!  They were so excited about seeing the mural come to life day by day.  They were learning about art history, art styles, teamwork, and recycling all in one project.  The students did a great job and I could not be more proud of their teamwork!  Here is what a few of my students thought about this project.’

Cayci L., 4th grade, says: “I thought it was amazing.  I enjoyed painting.  We had to organize the bottle caps and place them in certain places.  It was so cool.  This is a one chance opportunity and I enjoyed doing it with Mrs Constine.  I love art!”