World Rowing Championships: Day Three

When art teacher Joanna Davis learned her students would have to create portraits of rowing in the United States for the 2017 World Rowing Championships, she knew the pressure would be high.

"We knew that it would be the most photographed piece here, but the kids always pull through, don't they?" said Davis, who teaches at Garden Elementary School, in Venice.

Other teachers across Manatee and Sarasota counties gave a handful of their students the news that they would have to create portraits depicting rowing in foreign countries like Israel, Ethiopia and Brazil. Then, students got to work.

The portraits have been blown up onto large canvases and put on display in the spectator parking lot at Nathan Benderson Park for everyone to see. More than 40,000 spectators and 1,700 athletes are expected to have seen the artwork by the end of the 2017 World Rowing Championships. 

Three of Davis' students were responsible for the U.S. portrait. Garden Elementary School fifth-graders Claire Timmerman, Hope Hirtzel and Cooper McGowan drew the picture last year when they were fourth-graders in Davis' art class.   

"I chose those three because they had the best sloppy copy — or first draft — of what I was looking for," Davis said. "I guided them through the process, but they came up with the concept and just took off with it." 

The trio was happy with the outcome of its work.

As it turns out, it is not sloppy anymore. The students came up with a clear plan for what they wanted to depict. 

"We drew Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, the Statue of Liberty and Martin Luther King rowing in a boat together," Hope said.

"In the background we drew blue and white stars," Claire said. 

Although Cooper hadn't seen his artwork on display at the venue yet, he was excited to be a part of such a unique event. 

"I thought it turned out well," he said. "I also thought it was really cool that me and some of my friends got to come out to the races and be a part of this."