The Amazing Melanie Hope Greenberg Visits Studio 220

For the past 3 weeks, author/illustrator Melanie Hope Greenberg has been working with us at PS 58. I have worked with Melanie before and it is such a pleasure to have a local illustrator share her knowledge and enthusiasm with our kids. She first shared her process with all second graders in the library. She read her book and everyone got a copy of Mermaids on Parade!

The following two visits were in Studio 220 with Melanie! She worked with all second grade classes. She shared her books and some relief paintings. Students were then inspired to create their own paper pop up relief collages. The students used foam tape in layers to create the relief effect. The students had a blast! Many were inspired by her city theme and the way that she layered buildings. Here are some photos from the residency. I can't wait to work with her again.

Melanie shares A City Is.

Students working.


Students share their work with partners.

Some finished pieces:

Thanks to Melanie and our visiting author program!

First Grade Updates

First graders finished their clay pots ages ago, but I have not posted about them! Here are tons of photos of their finished pieces.

Now, we are working on mixed media pieces. We have studied artists who were inspired by their neighborhoods. We looked at The Block by Romare Bearden and I Live in Brooklyn by Mari Takabayashi. Mari even came and told us about how she makes her art! Now, we are working on pieces about our own neighborhoods. Here is a sneak peak of the studio in action:

Maira Kalman

I'm so excited that the amazing Maira Kalman is visiting PS 58 tomorrow!! She is one of my favorite illustrators. Check out her work here!

Image VIA NY Times

The Scroll-A-Thon!

Wow! The Scroll-A-Thon was a big success! Students in grades 1 through 5 worked with visiting artists Steven and William Ladd and their assistant Jill. The final installations: suede boxes that are filled with embellished scrolls; were a collaboration between everyone! Each part of the project depended upon the work another grade had done previously. Let me explain:

Everyone learned about how a scroll is really a tight spiral. We used upcycled belt materials to create scrolls that we got to take home. William and Jill took portraits of every artist and their scroll to put in a big, beautiful book. This was good practice for what each grade's role was in the Heart Scroll-A-Thon.

Making a Spiral

scrolling

William taking portraits

Here is what each grade did for the final project:

First graders drew beautiful scrolls with pencil. They invented their own scroll on paper, using the mark to make the spiral.

Second graders put a piece of tracing paper over the first graders drawing and inked it using reds, pinks and purples.

Third graders took the drawings and tissue paper and interpreted them into the cut pieces of belt, which would later be made into scrolls.

Fourth graders took the knots that the third graders tied and used those pieces and the drawings to inspire a scroll.

And Fifth graders used the drawings to inspire beadwork on the scrolls that the fourth graders had rolled.

WHEW! It was AWESOME!

Thanks Steven, William, Jill, Bee and the 4Fives for all your hard work!

BUY A PIECE OF THE SCROLL-A-THON AT THE SILENT AUCTION!

Visiting Artist Colette Taber

Two weeks ago, painter Colette Taber worked with the fifth graders on some drawing exercises. She taught them about how color is tricky and can look different depending on what other colors are nearby. She also taught the students about working with a viewfinder. She explained that sometimes it is overwhelming to see everything around you and try to draw it, but if you isolate your composition, it becomes easier. We used old toilet paper rolls that had been folded into squares and rectangles to decide upon our still life composition. Thanks for visiting us Colette!!!!

Scroll-A-Thon!

The Scroll-A-Thon is here!!! More to come...