Brownies Chalk Up Some Knowledge of Another Leonardo

Some grade-school Brownies were surprised to learn that Leonardo was the name of a famous Old World painter, in addition to being one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

The revelation came as more than 300 Brownies and Girl Scouts prepared to turn several Canoga Park sidewalks into an art gallery Sunday, using chalk to draw copies of paintings ranging from da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa” to works by abstract painter Jackson Pollock.

The project was part of a San Fernando Valley Girl Scout event at Shadow Ranch Park called the In Gathering, an annual affair to promote education and teamwork among scouts ranging from kindergarten-age Daisies to high school-age Girl Scouts. The average age of the girls participating was 10.

Leader Lillian Berwager had a troop of Daisies and another of slightly older Brownies create side-by-side versions of da Vinci’s “Mona Lisa.” Both bore a fair resemblance to the original, although one of them had to be doctored a bit.

“Her mouth had to be redrawn,” Berwager said. “She had a full set of teeth in there.”

The experience of researching the Italian master led the girls, many of whom are fans of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, to discover that “Leonardo was the name of an artist, as well as a turtle,” Berwager said.

Each of the 27 troops participating in this year’s project--which was named “A Walk With the Masters”--was given a work by a master painter to duplicate in pastel chalk on the sidewalk.

“We thought ‘Walking With the Masters’ was appropriate because of the paintings on the sidewalk,” said Carol Berns, a troop leader and organizer of the event.

The girls had to research their artist at the library, Berns said. The girls in the troop then selected which painting they wanted to reproduce. They divided the painting into grids, and each girl was assigned to copy a single grid.

A kindergarten-aged Daisy troop reproduced one of Pollock’s abstract splatter paintings. Another troop worked on a copy of Andy Warhol’s famous Campbell’s soup can.

But unlike the originals, which are destined to endure for the ages, these colorful reproductions had a brief life span.

“I think in about 15 minutes we’re going to be taking the hose out,” Berns said.

The assignment also had its critics.

A junior troop, with girls ages 9 to 11, worked on “The Awakening of Irene” by Joan Miro, featuring his characteristic squiggles and an abstract face.

“I don’t know why he got so well-known for what he did,” Erin Tomanek, 10, said as she gazed critically at the Miro that she helped to draw. “Because a kindergartner could do what he did.”