The Rest is Up To You

Like many kids, third grader Cohen Morano likes to watercolor. What's different about Cohen's paintings is that his father, Aye Jay, sends them out into the world to be embellished and altered by a stellar roster of artists and illustrators. The resulting collaborations between Cohen and a host of hip partners—including Gary Baseman, Shepard Fairey, Paul Frank, Barry McGee, Chris Ware, and Mark Ryden—form a striking and playful body of work. The Rest Is Up To You conveys a sincere message about the importance of making art with children. Families and art buffs alike will be inspired by what Cohen and his heroes have created.

 The Rest is Up To You

That is exactly what the collaborative effort between the first and fourth grade artists was all about.  First, the first grade artist learned about abstract and formalist artworks, then with water colors they created two different works that were abstract; just shapes, colors and lines.  Then the fourth grade artists studied the work of  Sandrine Estrade Boulet to work on ways of seeing.  Then I gave the fourth grade two paintings from a first grader and the "rest was up to them".  I will hand back to the first graders one piece and the fourth grade gets the other. Here are the results.