GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – An art teacher who lost her battle with cancer is being remembered by her students and coworkers through the creation of an art gallery in her honor.
Tanya Paral worked in the Green Bay Area Public School District (GBAPS) for a number of years. Her last school art show took place just days before she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Paral died in 2022. She was teacher at Webster Elementary School at the time.
“She was every elementary student’s favorite art teacher. She worked at a few different schools in the district, but she just loved Webster. It was her dream job,” explained Paral’s sister, Missy Pyan.
Paral’s family and fellow staff members formed a committee to devise a way to pay tribute to her.
Originally, the plan was to turn Webster’s breezeway into an art gallery dedicated to Paral, but with the future of Webster uncertain as GBAPS consolidated schools, the project moved in a different direction. Instead, money collected in Paral’s name was used to purchase art kits for 4th and 5th grade students at Webster.
When Emma Hathorne was hired as the school’s new art teacher for the 2023-24 academic year, she pitched the idea of putting an art gallery in Webster’s breezeway — completely unaware the idea had been previously pitched as a way to honor Paral.
With the support of the district, Webster staff and Paral’s family made a plan to proceed with the project. The gallery was set in motion through a grant from the Greater Green Bay Community Foundation, funds from the art budget and money collected through Paral’s memorial.
“It’s heartwarming. It’s bittersweet,” Pyan said. “My sisters and my mom and I were so honored to have her honored in this way with the art gallery. It’s just a wonderful way to keep her legacy alive.”
Although she never met Paral, Hathorne said teaching the students Paral loved so much is very meaningful to her.
“I feel like I know her because the students talk about her all the time with such admiration and joy over their time with her, so it’s really special to be able to do this not only for them, but for her.”
Hathorne organized an ordered acoustic boards, worked with the school’s facilities team to get the right lighting and created a large rainbow board that Webster students helped to paint. The board hangs over a display showcasing artifacts from when Paral was in Ghana, West Africa with the Peace Corps. A fellow art colleague of Paral’s helped to superimpose words onto pictures of Paral and framed them.
Next year, display cases will be purchased and added for three-dimensional art pieces.
“We’ll definitely keep trying to up it up in here and make it even better in any way that we can,” Hathorne said.
Paral’s family has also established the Tanya Paral Memorial Scholarship, which will be given annually to a GBAPS student pursuing a career in art education, visual arts or elementary/secondary education.
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