Tesselations

4th graders looked at artwork by M.C. Escher and learned about tessellations. First, they created a shape that would tessellate. Then they traced this shape until in covered their paper. Finally, they brainstormed what they thought their shape looked like and drew those details into each shape. Then they colored their tessellations.

Clay Birds

Second Grade students used hand building techniques to create clay birds. They considered the features that are unique to each bird, such as beak shape and size. Students used realistic colors to glaze their bird. Finally, tail feathers were glued on to their bird.

 

Mondrian Inspired Arrtwork

Kindergarten students discovered the work of Piet Mondrian. They learned that he first painted landscapes, but then decided to break down landscapes into their simplest form: black lines and primary colors. It was almost like he was painting the “ingredients” for his landscapes. Students learned to identify the primary colors and made artwork inspired by Mondrian.

Los estudiantes de kinder descubrieron las obras de Piet Mondrian. Ellos aprendieron que al principio el pinto paisajes, pero luego decidió desarmar los paisajes en sus formas más simples: líneas negras y colores primarios. Fue como si estuviera pintando los “ingredientes” de sus paisajes. Los estudiantes aprendieron a identificar los colores primarios y crearon obras de arte inspiradas por Mondrian.

Cut Paper Cityscapes

Kindergarteners learned the difference between cityscapes and landscapes. They cut shapes out of construction paper and made sure to overlap some of their shapes to show depth in their artwork. After all, cities are big with many buildings! They used crayons and markers to add details like windows and doors.

 

George Rodrigue's Blue Dog Inspired Paintings

Third Grade students studied contemporary artist George Rodrigue, who lived in New Orleans, Louisiana. Rodrigue is famous for his paintings of “Blue Dog.” Students discovered that Rodrigue’s “Blue Dog” isn’t always blue. Sometimes Rodrigue paints his dog different colors with different backgrounds to symbolize the emotions and events in the United States.

Students chose the type of dog they wanted to paint and the color they wanted their dog. They mixed tints and shades of that color to give their dog more details and to make it more realistic. 

5th Grade Masks

5th Graders learned about the art of repousse, also known as metal tooling. Students designed symmetrical masks and embossed them on to pieces of metal. They colored them with permanent markers and used beads, twine and raffia for embellishment. Students discussed the purpose of masks around the world. Many of their masks were inspired by masks from Africa.

 

 

 

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.