A R T C L A S S
PreK-5th grade ART students at Mt Vernon and Wayne Elementary Schools participate in the following activities:
Tell stories from ARTworks using Visual Thinking Strategy (VTS). Students comment on this process: "It opens your mind." "Independent thinking about artwork." "Unleash the mind." "How to connect to pictures." "My mind
goes into an art mode." "Satisfying colors explode in my descriptions." "Seeing and telling about color combos."
Look and Learn about ART styles of different cultures. Art classes study how artists work with different ideas and ART materials. Picturing America.
Discuss using the vocabulary of ART. For instance, students can tell you the differnce between the colors used in the words ART and CLASS above. Color quotes from students - "My favorite color is BLUE because I can mix it with all other colors." "GREEN rocks! There are a lot of shades of green and my favorite is neon green." "GREEN is a bright color, it catches yout eye." "I love BLUE because I wear blue and grey clothes - the
color of my eyes." "BLACK because it turns colors darker." "AQUA BLUE"
Dance creative movement inspired by ART themes. "I enjoy myself when I dance. It makes me feel like I am ready to start painting." "Comfortable." "Soothing." "I make lines in dance."
Write as a group and/or individually as inspiration before making art or descriptions for titles when an artwork is complete. This collaborative poem by Wayne second grade is inspired by Evan Walker's black and white photograph of the Brooklyn Bridge.
The Bridge with Pizaz
A connection between two cliffs
The large black metal bridge is lovely
It is peaceful
Awesome
Sturdy
Made of wire it is high and dark
There is a light to see at night
The Big Bridge
The old, old bridge
Built to go across the water
Dark and empty
Black and white
Paint. "My paintbrush goes back and forth." "My paintbrush goes in the paint to make colors." " I feel relaxed." "I remember my Pepe because he was an artist." " I think about chosing my colors." "I think about what I will paint and I feel good about what I paint." "I think about the finished painting." "I think about the place I am painting." "I feel that I am a professional artist." "I feel like I can be creative." "I like to sing in my head when I am painting." "I can create something for the next generation." "I combine designs and movies to get my ideas."
Draw. "When I draw I start with the easy part (for instance the head) and go the harder part (the body) then put the details in after." "I think about what I want it to look like, what colors to use and if it will fill up the whole page." "I think about proportion when I draw." "First I draw the whole body then I draw the details after." "I try not to think about famous artists because I would think about how many ways I would mess up. When I was in the 3rd grade, I started drawing genies and realized that they can be
anything you want them to be." "When I am stuck on a problem with vocabulary, for instance, I draw peace signs and hearts up where it says name." "Usually I draw something but I don't have to know what it is." "I feel relaxed and free to draw whatever I want." "If I am drawing something overlapping I draw the grass first then fill in the legs. I draw the details as I go along." "I feel I am in my own imaginary world where I can draw anything I want." "I think how I basically want it to look and see iff I can make it the best I can."
Sculpt with different kinds of clay, found objects and paper mache. At MVS we had Mudmobile residency.
Collage. " I think about French because the word collage means to glue pieces of paper and different materials."
"I cut out pieces of paper and I glue them down." "Art is fun in all different ways and collages are fun." "Art is awesome because we get to do crafty things." "Art makes me feel like I can calm myself down."
The Gifted and Talented ART Program started up in the Fall of
2009 at MVS with a 6 week paper mache workshop. Students discussed the work of sculptors - Rodin, Henry Moore and Claus Oldenburg. We looked at balloon sculptures by Jason Hackenwerth. While making his 3 foot tall giraffe, one student commented, "Paper mache is a lot different because you have to cut, rip and roll - it is harder than sculpting with clay. I try to put my best effort into it."
Field Trips to the Farnsworth Museum of Art in Rockland and the Colby College Museum of Art are fantastic opportunities for students and staff.
View our ARTWORK!
| 
