SALEM — Parents packed the Peabody Essex Museum last night for an exhibit by their favorite artists: their own children.
Alongside a smash show on Dutch masterpieces, the PEM hosted artwork by hundreds of Salem schoolchildren. "Art Can Make A Difference" featured pop art creations inspired by art classes this winter at each of the city's seven elementary schools.
Following the lead of artists like Andy Warhol, the students transformed everyday objects, like trash cans, into works of art.
A trash-can ensemble music group from Collins Middle School also performed.
Everyone attending the event was asked to bring a can of soup — in homage to Warhol's famous painting of Campbell's soup cans — to be donated to the St. Joseph's/Harvest of Hope Food Pantry.
— Tom Dalton


