Sensational art show for Peabody students

PEABODY – Getting an entire auditorium of middle-school students to sit still and pay attention during an hour-long presentation can be quite the insurmountable feat. However, local portrait artist Rob Surette made the task look easy Wednesday morning with his entertaining, educational, and moving program “Be Somebody.”Dressed in black from his t-shirt to Nike sneakers, Surette tossed on a white jacket (his short-lived attempt to protect him from splattering paint) and jumped onto the stage with American anthems blaring from speakers above serving as his theme songs. A large canvas sat upon its easel between two even larger screens, across which a medley of memorable news clips aired as Surette quickly drew up a map of the United States, the Statue of Liberty, and Abraham Lincoln. And just like that, without saying a word, he had captured his audience.Known as the world’s fastest portrait artist, the 36-year-old Arlington native has been impacting students with his demonstrations of what he calls “Amazing Hero Art” for over 14 years. His performance is loud, explosive, deep, and, of course, fast, although Surette admits it wasn’t always like that.”I didn’t want to be a speed painter,” said Surette, who crafted his first portrait in the second grade. “But, the faster I painted, the more engaged the audience would be.” And, if it takes him painting a portrait of Honest Abe in 58 seconds to get his important message across, then he’s happy to do it.”I only want kids and the adults who come to leave feeling something. To leave with a positive feeling,” he said. “It sounds so simple, but people need that.”Surette uses various components to build a lasting impression in the minds and hearts of his audience. With lighting, music, videos, the telling of his own personal triumphs and tribulations, as well as his body-encompassing painting techniques, Surette teaches the importance of respect, equality, teamwork, compassion, intelligence, creativity, and freedom.”As great as any teacher could be, you can’t teach that in a classroom in a whole year,” said Kathi Syska, Cultural Enrichment Coordinator for the PTO, who sponsored the day’s event. “I don’t think there’s one heart string that (he) didn’t hit in that audience.”Seventh-graders Shannon O’Toole, Samantha Spoto, and Steven Zarrella said that Surette’s appearance was important and inspiring.”I never thought he’d paint that fast,” said O’Toole, who prior to the event expected it to be just another assembly. “His inspirations really got my attention.””It was pretty incredible,” said Zarrella. “He was reviving the spirit of the past.”Spoto said she had heard of Surette before, but never realized how big he was, or how big his paintings were.In addition to Lincoln, Surette also chose Mother Teresa, Albert Einstein, Beethoven, and Martin Luther King, Jr. to appear on his roster of heroes. He’s confident his portrait decisions serve as perfect examples of how to “be somebody,” although he wishes to balance more women into future acts.”I could never stop,” said Surette, regarding his full-time job working with schools. “I want to hang on to this because I think there’s a real need for it.”In closing his performance, he told his students that with courage like Lincoln’s, brains like Einstein’s, the love and compassion of Mother Theresa, and the creativity of Shakespeare and Beethoven, they, too could “turn the world upside down.”