OGUNQUIT — The Ogunquit Museum of American Art, OMAA, may be closed for the winter, but that hasn’t stopped Education Coordinator Amy Donovan from opening up the artistic minds of local area students.

Donovan has spent the past month launching the 2015 “Picture This!” project, an art education program she is implementing at three area schools. Donovan customized the program for three different age groups: the kindergarten class at Village Elementary School in York, second graders at Central School in South Berwick, and the third grade class at Horace Mitchell Primary School in Kittery.

Working in tandem with school art teachers, Donovan introduces young children to the work of Dahlov Ipcar, a Maine illustrator and author from Georgetown best known for her colorful, kaleidoscopic-styled paintings featuring animals ”“ primarily in either farm or wild settings.

“All of the schools are studying Ipcar, but we customize it to the grade level and tie it into their curriculum. Her work really lends itself to that,” said Donovan.

In York, kindergarten students are learning about the rainforest and understanding the concept of an animal habitat.

“I take a variety of sections of an Ipcar painting ”“ a lion from one, a bird from another ”“ and then we look at them. What is the pattern? What movement does the animal make? Where does it live? Then we show them a few finished paintings,” Donovan explained during a recent phone interview.

This work would normally be hanging in a museum where a child can not touch it. By bringing it into the classroom, Donovan creates a child-friendly experience that allows them to get experimental and messy with the artist, while introducing them to the concept of art in different mediums.

“Art is not always about coloring or painting, we want them to literally experience the art, in every aspect. Comparing and contrasting the animals in the discussion helps them develop critical thinking skills,” said Donovan.

For her third grade students at Horace Mitchell School in Kittery, Donovan used a different medium to capture Ipcar’s animals.

“They know more about animals than I do so the emphasis here is on the medium,” Donovan said.

Donovan’s choice was block printing because the carving element allows students to work in a more advanced way with the idea of positive and negative space.

“Art is a way to prompt critical thinking and creative writing, so I incorporate a writing prompt. They get to really describe their work while also enhancing their literary competence as part of the state’s literacy movement,” Donovan said.

The focus for second graders at Central School in South Berwick is team building. The students here are collaborating to build one giant mural.

“Each group has about 100 kids. I’m going into these schools a lot and eventually they’ll come on a field trip to the museum in May to bring it full circle,” Donovan said.

Meanwhile, art teachers like Kara Morin at Village School continue to build on the themes introduced by Donovan long after she has departed.

“Amy had done a great job initiating a conversation that (my students) can relate to,” Morin said describing how she’s building on that excitement with her 5 and 6-year-old students.

“Essentially we’re working kinetically with paper and two dimensional sculpture. Ipcar’s work is about being able to recognize animals beyond stripes and colors but also shapes and dimensions,” she said.

This past week, Morin’s students assembled paper doll-like cutouts of animals on black paper.

“Now we’re brainstorming about the different habitats these animals come from and then they’ll do an oil and pastel scene of their own for their animal to live in,” Morin said.

The mixed-media habitat scenes will soon be displayed on the walls at Village School as two dimensional art, an important concept for young children to understand.

“Eventually we’ll move into three-dimensional art,” Morin said.

“Part of OMAA’s education outreach mission is to provide opportunities for kids to see art both as a means of expression but also as an opportunity to teach and learn from others. Stay tuned for the finished masterpieces,” said Donovan.