Photo Gallery: Rice Elementary's Talking Art Museum

Usually it would require a trip to France to see Leonarda Da Vinci's Mona Lisa. One needs a plane ticket to England to observe Andy Warhol's Marilyn Diptych.

Want to see Henri Rousseaus' famed Woman In Red? Tough. It's in a private collection.

Yet those classics and 10 others were assembled in the Rice Elementary gymnasium Monday afternoon.

Moreover, visitors to this special gallery could interview the artists (despite the fact that many of them are posthumous) and even talk to the artwork.

It was the return of the Talking Art Museum.

For the past many weeks, the fourth graders have worked in groups of three or four researching an artist, painting one of his or her better known works and also writing an essay about him or her.

On the day of the art show, students from the group took turns dressing up as either the artist or the work of art.

Meanwhile, other students, teachers and family members strolled strolled through the living museum and the pieces of art told them about the artists and art. They also made sure to answer any questions from the crowd.

The works of art, and the students who presented them, were:

• Salvador Dali's Geopoliticus Child by Zac Dell, Brooke Thompson, Collin Hampton and Zandra Salsgiver
• Edward Degas' Count Lepic & His Daughters by Joey Gerich, Sydney Tesney and Shawn Dittebrand
• George Seurat's Eiffel Tower by Tyler Holan, Danica Brindley, Jaiden Smart and Matea Milisic
• Grant Wood's American Gothic by Hannah Vicente and Kaden Wandersleben
• Andy Warhol's Marilyn Monroe by Riley Rastall, Alex Shaner and Joanna Vicente
• Pablo Picasso's Wounded Bird & Cat by Jeremy White, Nina Patti, Hannah Stuart and Andrew Payton
• Claude Money's Vase of Peonies by Kaleigh Levine, Hunter Colao, Robbie Pniewski and Mia Norris
• Frida Kahlo's Time Flies by Mia Plant, Elise Provident, Jay Harr, Alison Backiel and Jenna Hodkey
• Henri Rousseau's Woman in Red by John Olenik, Kaylee Brindley, Mary Best, Garrett Davis, Tyler Lukans
• Faith Ringgold's Hide Little Children by Devin Janz, Anthony Alesci, Charlie Marthaler and Mitchell Bryant
• Marc Chagall's Promenade by Luke Jackson, Aleena Sherwood, Sammie Davis and Jacob Kohn
• Vincent Van Gogh's Self-Portrait With Felt Hat by Richie Delsanter, Lauren Skelly, Anna Platt and Jon-Robert Hernandez
• Leonarda da Vinci's Mona Lise by Dom Ventura, Scarlett Moore, John Meeker and Anastasia Burke

The talking art museum is the brainchild of teachers Jacqui Spetrino, who has organized the event for the last seven years, and Jenna Darrows.