Art in a big way found its way to Wayland Union High School on Thursday, March 20, when students in the art class of Scott Gundersen were able not only to see some of the works of Picasso, Pasqualini and H. Hoffman, but were able to hold them too. A death mask from Sir Walter Scott was passed up and down rows of students as was a historical document signed by King George IV in 1824, establishing a commercial treaty between England and Prussia. The students were able to handle the Czar’s Tea-Glass spoon displaying the artwork of Peter Carl Fabergé, who lived between 1846 and 1920.

Christian Thomas Lee, 43, the founder of Art in Schools, shared some of his art collection with students Thursday afternoon after first introducing them to an energetic flemenco tune on his classical guitar. It was as a renowned Concert Classical Guitarist in the world of music that Lee achieved his fame.

The mission of the Christian Thomas Lee Collection of Fine Art is to serve in a collaborative process with select schools and professional arts organizations, in integrating the fine arts into the classroom setting for the educational and inspirational benefit of children.

While it was purely coincidental that Lee’s appearance at Wayland Union High School happened to be on Maundy Thursday, the opportunity to view and hold H. Hoffman’s easily recognized painting, Christ on the Mount of Olives, was not lost on some of the students. One was heard to say to a friend, “It feels so weird to be holding this in my hands on the day before Good Friday.” Hoffman was from the Austrian School of painters, Lee told the class, and it was believed this work, oil on canvas, was done in about 1888.

The students seemed to be more familiar with the work of Pablo Picasso as an original by the creator of “Cubism,” Pour Bernard, drawn in 1954, made the rounds.

Other treasures the students were able to admire and handle was a pipe belonging to King Edward VIII, who abdicated the crown so he could marry his American sweetheart.

Lee attributes his love for the arts as a “gift from my family. As a child I was afforded opportunity to frequent museums, hear great concert artists and frequent the local symphony. It was an evening concert with Carlos Montoya that cemented a driving desire in a young man’s life to become a classical guitarist,” he said. “It was an afternoon in a museum of Rodin that birthed a desire to explore and live in a world of art in the same young man.

“That young man was me … and now I have the opportunity to visit with thousands of children a year in schools across the U.S. and overseas, and share with them the same gift that was afforded to me.”

Gundersen said that Lee was visiting with a friend of his at Gun Lake, and it was the friend who put him in touch with Lee and arranged for the visit to Wayland Union High School.

“What a great experience this has been for the students,” Gundersen exclaimed.

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