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

February Newsletter

Studio 220 Newsletter: February 2010

Here is what is happening this month in ART:

First Grade: First graders are working on a printmaking unit. We are exploring different types of stamping and how we can create our own stamps. We will be making a cityscape out of different stamped shapes and begin to work on collaboration!

Second Grade: Second graders are creating a neighborhood scene with cut paper collage. Artists used paint to resemble the color and texture of buildings. Next, we will use collage to create large buildings and a busy neighborhood scene. We will be exploring the work of Melanie Hope Greenberg and Red Grooms. Second graders will also participate in a special bookmaking project inspired my visiting illustrator/author Maira Kalman.

Third Grade: Third graders are creating relief sculptures of gargoyles. We are exploring what gargoyles were used for historically and are creating our own protection creature. Students will also work on exploring additive and subtractive sculpting processes and creating value with paint. We will look at gargoyles of all types, as well as sculptures by contemporary artist Elliot Earls.

Fourth Grade: (After months of being covered in glue,) Fourth graders continue to work on are finishing their sculpture project!!! This has been a long process, but the results are amazing! We are looking at the work of AJ Fosik and creating large animal heads out of papier mache and cut paper. We are thinking about how Native Americans believed that animals represented and had personality traits. Each student will choose an animal whose “personality” is similar to his or her own. They will then create a relief sculpture to represent their animal.

Fifth Grade: Fifth graders are completing their tunnel books inspired by the work of Tim Burton. Next, we will move on to clay to create sculptures of our favorite foods. We will look at artists whose subject is food such as Claes Oldenburg to explore the vast possibilities of the subject.

Have a great break!

Loving This Drawing

Happy Friday!

Here is a great drawing made today by a second grader. Have a good weekend!

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...

Fourth Grade Animal Heads

Fourth graders are working on a papier mache sculpture project.  We were inspired by the work of artist AJ Fosik.  He uses wood to create really interesting relief pieces. 

 We are making animal heads out of recycled materials. 

Students chose an animal whose character traits resemble their own.

First, we sketched out a plan from the front and the side.  

Then we created a structure of recycled materials and masking tape.

Next, we are covering them with papier mache. 

Keep checking here for the next stage of this project!

Kandinsky Trip!

The last part of our second grade music and art Kandinsky study was a trip to the Guggenheim to see his work.  The students did a spectacular job at the museum. Here are some examples of their work from the trip. It was a blast. Thanks to Brogan Ganley, our visiting artist for this unit!

click on the image to see it larger



Here are some additional drawings done in the rotunda gallery:



Thanks to the Arts and Multicultural Committee for setting up this trip for us!

4Fives Transformative Upcycling Installation!

The 4Fives are working on an installation for their classroom.  We wanted to transform something into art, so we looked at the work of Tara Donovan.  She uses simple materials to make extraordinary work.  If you don't know her, check out her website. She is one of my favorite sculptors. For our installation, we are using toilet paper rolls. Here is what one 4Five artist wrote about the project:

The 4Fives are learning all about upcycling. Upcycle means that you can’t throw away like boxes or paper towel rolls because you should make them into something better that you can use.

So we went to the art room to make an upcycling project with Bee and Ms.Kimball. We went inside the art room and Ms.Kimball showed us what were going to do.  We used toilet paper rolls.  We cut them into small circles. Then we painted the circles in different colors.  We painted a million circles and this month we are going to put them together and make an art installation in our classroom.

Oh and while we were painting we put music on.  After we finished, we washed our hands, because our hands had a lot of paint on them. So we washed with soap and we washed with water. It was a lot of fun.

John

Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year!

I have so many things to update on the blog! I promise to post this week about the 2nd grade Kandinsky trip, 4th grade sculpture projects, 5th grade characters and more!! Until then, here is the newsletter for the month of January.  I am very excited about the visiting artist project that we have going this month.  Thanks to Bee Ladd and the 4Fives for getting it going!

Studio 220 Newsletter: January 2010

 

Happy New Year! We have a lot going on in the studio this month in addition to our regular curriculum.  One very exciting project is called the Scroll-A-Thon.  I am super excited about this collaborative project because it involves all students in grades 1 to 5.  Two Brooklyn artists, Steven and William Ladd (brothers of Bee) will be coming in throughout the next three weeks to work with every class.  The Scroll-A-Thon will incorporate drawings, text, photographs and sculpture.  Steven and William will be working with the students to think about how one artist can influence and collaborate with another.  The finished project will include a multi-media installation and an artist book.  I am thrilled to be working with all of the students on this! Check out Steven and William’s website to see some of their work.  Or, if you want to see it in person, take a walk down to The Invisible Dog gallery on Bergen Street and check out the chandelier that they created as a permanent installation in the space.  It will be great!

 

In addition to the Scroll-A-Thon, here is what we are also working on:

First Grade: First graders are finishing up their clay pots.  They created pinch pots with animal-head lids.  We have sculpted them, and just need to complete painting.  Keep your eyes out for an exhibition in the lobby at the end of the month.

 

Second Grade: Second graders are continuing to build 3D forms from paper.  They are using paper to create a three dimensional sculpture of their own play-space.  For inspiration, check out one of my favorite blogs: playgrounddesigns.blogspot.com.

 

Third Grade: Third graders will begin a painting unit.  We will work on experimenting with watercolor paints and watercolor resist.  Students will then create work from their imagination and from life.

 

Fourth Grade: Fourth graders continue to work on their sculpture project.  We are looking at the work of AJ Fosik and creating large animal heads out of papier mache and cut paper.  We are thinking about how Native Americans believed that animals represented and had personality traits.  Each student will choose an animal whose “personality” is similar to his or her own.  They will then create a relief sculpture to represent their animal.

 

Fifth Grade: Fifth graders will be visited by another artist this month in addition to Steven and William. We will work on an abstraction project with painter Collette Taber. Fifth graders also continue to develop their imaginary characters and are working on creating Tunnel Books.

 

More on the Scroll-A-Thon as it develops!

MK