Bugs!

First grade students have been talking about sculpture, especially sculptures made from recylced materials. They used old apple trays cut into segments to make a bug's body. They painted their bug with tempera paints. Then they added pipe cleaner legs and many eyes!

"The Dot" Paintings

Kindergarten students read "The Dot" by Peter Reynolds. Then they used crayons to color circles and dots all over their paper. They also glued on 3 pieces of construction paper to add interest.The next week they printed dots and circles. They used styrofoam cups, condiment cups, paint cup and legos to print various sized circles.

When I grow up...

Kindergarten students have been talking about careers in their classrooms. In art, they discussed what they might want to be when they grow up. Then they drew themselves in that career.

Two students want to be astronauts.

The girl on the left would like to work at the hospital. The boy on the right would like to be a "police pilot so he can fly a helicopter and rescue people from the water."

This boy would like to be a police officer with big muscles!

Molas

Molas are made by the Kuna people who live in Panama and Colombia. Women sew many layers of fabric together and then cut away layers of fabric in a design to show the fabric underneath. Then the women wear these fabric designs on their dresses. When they are tired of wearing that particular design, they cut off the mola and sell it. It takes the women from two weeks, to six months to make one mola.


Fourth Grade students designed their own molas, but created them in the opposite way of the Kuna women. Usually, the artist must cut away layers of fabric to show the fabric underneath. Instead of doing this, students glued layers of paper together, showing just a little bit of the color underneath.

Hundertwasser Houses

Fifth Grade Students studied artwork by Freidensreich Hundertwasser. They learned about his life and the reasons he painted houses  (and built them!) the way that he did. They learned much of this information from the book "Hundertwasser for Kids" by Barbara Steiff. Students decided that the basic characteristics of his buildings were; many windows, lots of layers, spiral shapes and incorporating nature. Students recycled old apple trays by painting their Hundertwasser inspired houses on them. They made sure to use some of the same characteristics that Hundertwasser used in their own paintings.

Charley Harper Birds

Third Grade Students compared artwork from Charley Harper and John James Audubon. They discovered that while both artists created artwork featuring birds, they did it for very different reasons. Audubon drew and painted birds because he was documenting the types of birds that lived in North America. Harper drew and painted birds because he just had a fascination with wildlife and liked to break things down into a very simplified form.

Students chose a bird to draw and then drew it on a phone book page. ( A nod to earth day:) Then students colored their bird as realistically as possible. They cut out their bird and glued it to another paper. Then they colored the background to show the bird's habitat and in some cases, their diet.

Hyacinth Sculptures

First Grade students compared sculptures to other types of artwork. They discussed the differences between sculptures and 2-D artwork like drawings or paintings. Students created these hyacinths from milk cartons, paper and tissue paper. Since these projects were finished this past week, many students chose to give them as Mother's Day gifts.

Magic Raincoat

 Kindergarten students read "The Magic Raincoat" by David Ryan. They brainstormed ideas of what they would wish for if they had a magic raincoat. Students created a self-portrait wearing a raincoat by using photographs of themselves.