Special thanks to my friend Adam, who sent me this hilarious sign from his child's preschool.
This photo made my mind reel with funny possibilities. Here are the machinations it went through, trying to classify the funny:
1. Is Michelangelo the name of a student at the school? If so, I would hope that he is artist of the month, otherwise his parents are probably going to be totally disappointed. I actually asked Adam if this was the case, and he was all "Right– Michelangelo Feldstein fingerpaints like nobody's business." The name Michelangelo Feldstein made me laugh all over again, and reminded me of this excellent Pinterest where the author takes toddler models and makes up names and stories about how they are better than your kids.
2. Are they studying Michelangelo this month at the school? That's so great. I hope they leave out some of the more gruesome paintings and stories about his life, though. Is preschool too early for kids to learn about the Pietà , for instance, since Jesus is technically dead in that sculpture and that subject matter is a little heavy? Do they have a whole section on repressed homoeroticism in Michelangelo's work, or are they just maybe covering the major works, like David, the Sistine Chapel, and St. Peter's Basilica, and leaving out the love sonnets he wrote to Tommaso dei Cavalieri? What about the fact that he might have been high on paint a lot of the time because of improper ventilation? I'm just wondering if this is graduate-level art history coursework, I guess.
3. Maybe this is an award of some kind that they are bestowing upon Michelangelo. The phrasing of this makes it sounds like they have posthumously named him "Artist of the Month," which I'm sure is a huge honor for him, right after painting the Sistine Chapel ceiling.
Whatever the case, I think it's awesome that they are even talking about artists in preschool. Thanks Adam!