154 Art Studio

Accordian "Books", 4th Grade

2011-11-27T15:03:00.000-08:00

Fourth grade made their accordian books inspired by Native American art. For this project we look at art from so many Native cultures from both North and South America. We talk about diversity in Native cultures. We look at pattern and imagery. We draw, stencil, paint and collage.

Welcome to the Masking Tape Planet

2011-11-27T14:37:00.000-08:00

5-307 looked at and discussed James Rosenquist's "Welcome to the Water Planet" recently. They saw green pencils, combustion, and faces. They heard the title and saw planets. They made bold leaps at analysis. They cared more about their interpretations than about what the artist may have intended. They were animated!
This image leads well into having students create their own abstract art using a small collage element from a Rosenquist reproduction and masking tape to make lines (through removal). Looking intently at the Rosenquist and having the tape to manipulate lessens their questioning about the meaning of abstraction. 5th grade has gotten into this! Many have continued making abstract drawings as they have had waiting time during our casting project (casting post follows).

Choice Time!

2011-11-27T14:18:00.000-08:00

Many Kindergarten children tell me that choice time is their favorite part of art. In choice time, I set up the tables with different material options for self-directed creative play. I facilitate as the children negotiate what they will make with the materials presented. Choice time can be very social. I step into the role of teacher-observer. It gets loud as the children tell each other their ideas!
Recently, Ms. Hammond's 1st grade made it clear to me that they wanted to have choice time. They remembered it fondly from Kindergarten. We'd been working on projects since September and I hadn't scheduled in choice time yet. I promised them a choice time art class and here they are in all their glorious choice energy.

The Shaw Memorial, 5th Grade

2011-11-27T14:00:00.000-08:00

The 5th grade began this year analyzing Augustus St. Gaudens' Shaw Memorial, a public sculpture in Boston Common commemorating the Massachusetts 54th regiment. Students did an amazing job of deconstructing the meaning of the memorial through looking at it and using their experiences of seeing public sculpture to inform their analysis. We talked about what a memorial is and how a sculpture is cast. We talked about the Massachusetts 54th and the fight to end slavery.
Since then, we have been attempting to cast our own clay sculptures. We have had technical setbacks and I am so impressed with the patience and resolve I've witnessed! We're not done yet but here are a few pictures of our process...plaster molds that we made from plastilene originals and clay casts pressed into the molds.

Rube Goldberg Inspired Animations

2011-06-04T08:13:00.000-07:00

Our student teacher from Pratt, Alana Glantz brought this very cool project to the 4-303 art classroom. She came each Tuesday this semester and the students had a great experience with her. I am very grateful for the energy and excitement that her ideas generated.

Illustrating "Jack and the Beanstalk"

2011-04-11T18:48:00.000-07:00

Kindergarten painted after hearing the classic fairytale read aloud.

This Year's Chinese Warriors

2011-04-11T17:33:00.000-07:00

This project is a perennial favorite for our 3rd graders. This year we had a crop of warriors that would make an emperor proud. Thank you to Retrofret Vintage Guitars for generously supporting the project this year.

Kachina!

2011-04-11T17:28:00.001-07:00

I just love the bent knees of this Kachina in progress! Thank you to the Fogel family for generously supporting this project.

4th grade Hopi Kachinas

2011-04-11T17:16:00.000-07:00

We painted and sculpted our own kachina figures based on Hopi dolls. Ogres and benevolent power figures appeared in the art room. We used everything...papier mache, model magic, cardboard, feathers, bendaroos and more. Students had to figure out which materials would work best for their individual designs. When the designing and building was finished, 4th graders wrote imaginative profiles of the characters they created.
Now, I really want to visit Arizona in search of Hopi culture! Thank you, 4th graders...

Painting on Wednesdays

2010-10-21T17:55:00.000-07:00

I've really enjoyed the nine young artists who stay after school to make magical, expressive paintings. Shown above are still life paintings by Eve and Walker. We looked at Cezanne but I think a Matisse vibe entered the room.

Accordian Books Inspired by Native American Art

2010-10-16T14:30:00.000-07:00

4th Grade looked at a wide variety of images of Native American art. They made books using drawing, stenciled patterns and collage. We talked about Hopi Kachinas and cosmological power in Native American art. Students noticed pattern on Zuni pottery. Some students got motivated when they discovered that figures woven into cloth reminded them of contemporary game characters because of the stylized geometry of their shapes.

Three Grants Funded

2010-10-02T04:24:00.000-07:00

I'm happy to spread the news that three small materials grants through donorschoose.org that I wrote this summer have been fully funded.
Kindergarten and pre-K will be creating paintings and sculptures inspired by classic fairy tales, third grade will once again embark on making the Chinese warriors and fourth grade will look at Inuit drawings and Hopi kachinas for a painting and sculpting unit based on Native American art making practices. These grants help the entire school by augmenting the art budget.

Tap, tap, tap, spread, spread, spread...

2010-09-17T15:39:00.000-07:00

...like putting jelly on some bread... This is the beginning of the rhyme I say when teaching the youngest students in our school about our glue brushes. Kindergarten started their collage unit with a reading of "It Looked Like Spilt Milk". They made torn paper collages using black and white papers. Next project, we'll move into color. Thank you to Suzie, Stella's Mom and an art educator colleague for some great tips and ideas, like tearing the paper behind my back and asking the children what action they think is making the sound that they hear.

Photos: Dmitry Gubin

Sshhhh.....

2010-09-09T06:45:00.000-07:00

I've taught at PS 154 for four years now and have not shown my own art to my students or the school community. So, it's about time! Here is an image of an encaustic painting...

New School Year and New Art Studio!

2010-09-09T03:38:00.000-07:00

Welcome back! This year the art studio has moved to room 302. Climb the stairs and enjoy the bright autumn light streaming through our huge windows.

Painting a City

2010-07-18T11:54:00.000-07:00

Nicky's City

After drawing from observation, the 3rd grade drew and painted a city using what they had observed and adding drawing from memory and imagination.

Drawing Buildings

2010-07-18T11:50:00.000-07:00

The 3rd grade classes went outside to sketch. This was a way to research what our neighborhhood looks like for a city painting project we were beginning.

Drawing a Bicycle

2010-07-18T11:13:00.000-07:00

Roman's Bike

Ana's Bike

Anjali's Bikes

Blind Contour Drawings by Ms. Chiu's Class

In June, we pushed all the tables in the art studio together and put my bicycle up on the giant table we'd created. The simple act of placing a bike on top of a table generated huge excitement in the school. Before school, I would happen upon parents and their children standing in front of and speculating about the bike on the table. Jack, the custodian made a joke about it and Ms. Goldberg told me that I had "made the day" for her class and that the bike on the table was all they could talk about enroute to a field trip.

The 2nd, 4th and 5th grade students drew the bike. I demonstrated how to make a blind contour drawing and explained that artists, like athletes, often have ways to warm up before beginning a more involved project. I stressed that this was more about seeing than about making a perfect drawing.

We made three drawings-a blind contour drawing (5 min.), a drawing using one's non-dominant hand (5 min.) and a final drawing with the pencil held in the usual hand and the eyes making the usual measurements and judgements.

Starting off with exercises that insured that nobody's drawing was going to look "right" really helped. I heard quite a bit of laughter during the warm-ups and students spontaneously showed their work to friends sitting nearby.

For the final drawing, I insisted that the bike be drawn from observation but allowed imaginative elements to be introduced, as well. Elementary age students are capable of making exquisite drawings from observation but I believe the fun begins for them when they are free to invent.

More warriors

2010-07-07T13:39:00.000-07:00

Yoav's Warrior

Gerardo's Warrior

Shanthi's Warrior

Here are the other semi-finalist and honorable mention warrior sculptures.

VISIT the show at the Met. See your classmate's art!

2010-07-07T13:14:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Christian from Ms. Goldberg's third grade class! His Chinese warrior sculpture was one of 55 works of art chosen for an exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art! PS Art showcases New York City student creative work. Also, congratulations to Yoav (a semi-finalist), Shanthi and Gerardo (154 awards for honorable mention)! The show will be up for the summer. For more information about and a look (at about 5:20 in the video) of Christian's sculpture go to

http://www.metmuseum.org/now-at-the-met/news/2010/06/29/ps-art-2010-at-the-met-celebrating-the-creativity-of-new-york-city-kids.aspx

2nd Grade City Mural

2010-01-28T14:35:00.000-08:00

The mural made a terrific stage set for the jazz concert.

We looked at Francis Guy's painting "Winter Scene in Brooklyn, 1821" to begin our city mural. Although, Guy's painting shows Brooklyn before cars or bridges, our students collectively decided that their mural could contain elements of the past, present and future. Our student teacher, Kevin Farrant worked with Ms. Varriale's class to make roads and cars for the mural. If one looks closely, the Statue of Liberty (by Noa) is visible on the distant shore. Students made self portrait collages to populate their city but since our city was so crowded, we decided that the 2nd graders could be jumping, cartwheeling, running and parachuting around the borders. Nice work, 2nd grade... more later.

Ian's Warrior

2010-01-28T14:18:00.000-08:00

Ready for paint...I particularly am impressed by Ian's solution to showing that their leather armor was pieced together and formed a pattern.

A New Year and a New Grant

2010-01-19T18:36:00.000-08:00

Hooray! A Donorschoose grant that I wrote so that the third grade could study and create sculptures about the artifacts in the "China's Terracotta Army" exhibition currently on view at the National Geographic Museum in Washington, DC has been awarded to us! The materials have arrived!

The third grade is currently building Model Magic figures based on photographs, drawings and a reproduction sculpture of a Chinese warrior (graciously lent to us by Eva Lewandowski).

I love this project because the students love it and I am very happy that the resources to bring it to this year's third grade are in our hands, literally.

In this lesson, the students begin by drawing the artifacts to become familiar with the forms and details. Students then build the torsos and heads of the figures over cardboard cones. The cones are removed so that arms and legs can be sculpted and added during the following class.

I feel like the steps involved provide a basis for a satisfying experience to students that comfortably approach 3-D design and also to those who feel intimidated by the complexity of building 3-D objects. Everyone looks and sounds happy in my observations.

Lunch with Ms. Kelly

2009-12-10T19:20:00.000-08:00

Ana (4th grade) has placed the highest bid for the "Lunch with Ms. Kelly" prize at our school's WinterFest fundraiser. In fact, she placed the only bid. How is this possible?!!

Last year, Ana won, as well, and she chose Maven to join us for lunch at Bene's Pizza (with chocolate for dessert, yum!). There was an excellent hail storm that pummeled us on the walk back to school and made us laugh out loud. I wonder who Ana has chosen to bring along this year?

Fifth Grade Printmaking

2009-12-10T03:18:00.000-08:00

Fifth Grade Printmaking

We have finished our "Animal and Environments" printmaking unit. Here are some student comments about their experience:

"It was challenging to transfer the mouth of my polar bear drawing to my foam plate but I got it." -Jonathan

"I liked the clicking noise of the ink!" -Ruby

"I liked how the green and white mixed for my background. To me, it describes nature, like the outside world, animals, life..." -Joshua

"I thought it was challenging. I learned how to draw a detailed fish." -Lucie

"I felt that the different colors we could print personalized the print. I learned how to make a perfectly consistent ink palette." -Steven

" I learned how to draw a frog better." -Gia

" I learned how to get the right consistency for the paint. I learned depth perception. Two thumbs up!" -George

"Under the Sea" Collages, Kindergarten

2009-10-17T08:40:00.000-07:00

We start this unit by reading one of my favorite books, Swimmy by Leo Lionni. The language is poetic, the story is tight and the illustrations are loose, watery and magical.

I read to the youngest children in the art studio regularly. I like to read for the beauty of the story. Often it relates to what we will be making, but sometimes it doesn't. After the excitement of walking to the studio, the listening to the story has a calming effect on the children before the materials exploration begins.

This collage is an "accordian book" unit that spans three weeks. The first week is a color mixing experience of cool colors, as children paint their water. The next two weeks is devoted to adding the collage sea creatures to their pages of blue, green and purple.
This project was inspired by artist, teacher and friend , Melissa Dold, now teaching in Seattle.

3rd Grade Portraits

2009-10-17T08:01:00.000-07:00

The 3rd grade students have finished their oil pastel portraits, focusing on the proportions of the human face. Do the eyes really fall at the halfway mark of the oval of a face? It seemed an odd idea to many of the students. I asked them to give it a try. Put the eyes half way down. See what happens, even if it feels incorrect. Some did, some didn't. The drawings had expressive impact whether the eyes were placed centrally or not. I felt like the guidelines made everyone slow down and think about their preconceptions.

We had mirrors but I didn't ask that they draw themselves. It simply had to be "humanoid".

Some of these are currently displayed in the halls and in the "Petit Gallery" in front of our school.

5th Grade

2009-10-09T05:25:00.000-07:00

We have a fabulous 5th grade class this year!

I received a Donor's Choose materials grant for a fifth grade "Animals and Environments" printmaking unit. Ms. Sheehan's class was the first 5th grade to make practice prints, focusing on line texture. We looked at Albrecht Durer's print of a rhinoceros for inspiration. Students analyzed in a group discussion the many line patterns that Durer engraved to show texture on his rhinoceros. Using a variety of tools, 5th graders scratched line textures into small foam plates to experiment with the range of potential line possibilities for their final prints. Everyone printed once to review the technical process. Drawing for final designs has begun and we should have brayers rolling and animal theme prints pulled in the next few weeks! Look for them drying in every available spot in the MMR.

Favorite 5th grade question- "Can we start?"

More later...

Skirmish

2009-04-15T05:43:00.000-07:00

You may ask yourself, who is the kneeling character in the last post? Why is he there? Well, he is a misplaced archer and should be here.

The Chinese warriors (246 B.C.) have returned to the 3rd grade this year. We are building Emperor Xian's army in miniature. We would need to use all of Prospect Park to build it to scale. Last year, I got a grant for the model magic to create this project and this year the generosity of our PTA has made the project possible.

Here are the basic facts:

Emperor Xian was the first emperor of China. He managed to unify China and begin work on the Great Wall but he was a generally nasty, violent and warring leader. When he began to think of his afterlife, he knew he would need protection, so he had artists recreate his army, in larger than life form, to be buried with him in his tomb. This huge army of several thousand soldiers remained buried and forgotten until 1974 when a few farmers were digging a well and struck something hard. They had found the most exciting archaeological dig site of the 20th century.

I want to give credit to Eva Lewandowski for doing this project first, a few years ago, with Mr. Greller's class. I loved it and, with her blessing, adapted it to the art studio.

There are always a few students that ask questions like " Can I have multiple arrows wounding my warrior in the worst, most violently possible, way?" I have already discussed the weapons of 246 BC with them so they know that guns were not invented. We have also talked about the fact that the weapons of Emperor Xian's army are mostly gone. Some weapons were taken in tomb looting thousands of years ago and some wooden handles have disintegrated over time, leaving only the bronze blades. So when they ask if they can show the effects of war, I tell them that we need to be historically accurate and that the emperor's army was poised for battle in case he needed protection in his next life. They have not engaged in battle yet.

I , usually can guess which students might ask this question because their drawings and paintings have already shown a leaning towards high action.

My favorite part of teaching art to children is the surprises that inevitably arise. This is also my favorite part of making art. One moves forward with intention and suddenly the unexpected moves in and the meaning of the endeavor receives a twist. Suddenly, the process is funnier or more dramatic or a meaning crops up that wasn't there in the beginning, deepening the experience.

So, my surprise this year happened in Ms. Goldberg's class on our 2nd day of painting the warriors. I had talked about glazing to the class to achieve depth and richness in the painted surface. I had talked about European painters building up their surfaces in layers. We were using acrylics and matte medium to add more color. This would be our last class producing the Chinese warriors before we held our "mini-museum".

At table 5, always a table of quiet self-sufficiency and concentration, I was unaware that Chinese warriors were engaged in a silent bloody battle. Anjali and Ana had decided to make ghastly crimson wounds in their warriors. The students in the class who had been eager from the get go to make sculptures from a violent war had listened to my argument that no war had taken place. These girls decided they didn't care about historic accuracy and went for it.

What do I think? Well, when someone does something out of character, I generally applaud it. I was pleased. I admired the students that held back when their impulses would have wanted bloody arrows covering every limb of their sculpture and I also admired the quiet decision these girls made to let the impulse flow. The crimson color was appealing, after all.

James, in Mr. Greller's class, told me that that "China's Terracotta Army" is coming to Washington. I looked it up and James is right. The show that was at the British Museum last year (they produced a really great teacher resource packet) will be in Washington in the fall. I'll be there. Thank you, James.

Blogio

2009-03-17T14:37:00.001-07:00

I am hoping to get the art studio blog into action for the next school year. At this time look upon it as entirely experimental. I am learning and defining, for myself, what purposes and functions it can perform. I am expecting to have a bit of fun and, hopefully at the same time, commmunicate about goings-on in our wild and wooly art studio.
Best,
Ms. Kelly