A league of their own: Grundy Center art students participate in mARTch madness

GRUNDY CENTER – In honor of Youth Art Month, students at the Grundy Center Middle School-High School have been participating in their own version of March Madness, called “mARTch madness.”
The idea came to art teacher Ronda Sternhagen after she received an art subscription that gave her access to thousands of images of art that could be used in the classroom.
“I thought, I have access to all these fantastic images, so what can I do with them?” Sternhagen said.
After some thought, she decided to put on her own version of March Madness – only with art.
Instead of forming brackets of basketball teams, students form brackets made up of their favorite pieces of art, which are divided into four different categories: American realism, abstract art, pop art and impressionism.
Voting is held each week and the works of art have been slowly narrowed down to the Sweet 16,  Elite 8, and now, the Final 4. Eventually, the two most popular pieces of art will face off in the polls, and the winner will emerge as Grundy Center’s art champion.