End-of-the-year projects

LE learned how to make a mosaic out of cut paper. The theme was dolphins.

As part of UE's Mesoamerican study, students made Aztec masks using cardboard and painted paper.

Following the Inca tradition, students sewed grave dolls out of fabric and yarn. These dolls were placed in graves and believed to carry the deceased into the afterlife.

MS students created sculptures using only marshmallows and toothpicks. They were judged on three criteria: structural integrity, originality, and aesthetic appeal. I was very impressed with the results!

MS: Wearable Paper Sculptures

One of the assignments I had at RISD was to make jewelry only using books. It was a fun project so I did a similar variation using magazine paper. I ripped a bunch of paper by color and demonstrated basic shapes, like the coil and fan. Some students expanded on those while others created totally different designs. I can definitely see these on the runway!

UE: Totem Poles

I was always intrigued by totem poles for their beautiful craftsmanship and storytelling. Students are so great at coming up with stories so I was excited to do this lesson with them. They first learned that totem poles are carved out of large trees by indigenous people of North America. Some totem poles tell legends, celebratory events or unpleasant events, while others symbolize a tribe or a family. Animals play an important part in totem pole mythology. I looked up their symbolism, typed up the information and had students write a short legend using three of the animals according to their attributes. Since we couldn't carve wood, I used recycled paper as the next best thing. Students divided up their paper into thirds, drew an animal in each section and also designed the back. Then they colored their totem poles and I helped them cut small slits for bird wings and beak. Love how they're turning out!

MS: African Masks

Tommy

Amalia

Julian

Daniel

Sophie

Middle school students were learning about Africa in their class so I thought it would be perfect to introduce them to the art of African masks. I felt very inadequate to teach them such a diverse and rich legacy because of how much it's been misunderstood by Western standards in the past, not to mention the variations of aesthetic criteria between each culture in Africa. The most important points that I tried to explain was that African art is intimately connected with religion and spiritual world. Traditionally, art objects, such as sculptures and masks, are used to celebrate and assist in rites of passage or other important events through ceremonies and performances. Whoever wears the mask transcends their identity and is transformed into powerful medium for spiritual communication. Traditional African art is both functional and beautiful. The assignment was for students to create a mask that will celebrate or assist in
a significant event/period in their life. It didn't necessarily have to be personal, but must serve a function. Some students used symbolic animals, like the buffalo, which stands for strength, while others made theirs about important values that they wanted assistance with. Masks were made out of a cardboard base with balls of newspaper that were coated with paper mache and tempera paint. The project was only a tiny glimpse into African masks, but I hope that students will remember the powerful meaning behind them.

LE: Coil Cups

Maeve and Eleni forming coils for their cups

Stefy

Xavier

Max

LE learned how to make pots out of air dry clay. The first step was to roll a clump of clay into a ball and rub it between two hands to form a long snake-like cylinder. Students formed these into multiple spiral shapes and held them together with a coil on the top and bottom. Then they filled in the gaps with smaller balls of clay, attached the ends together and added a base. When the cups were dry students painted the inside and outside with acrylic.

LE: Wire Sculptures

Cooper

Max

Miles

Stefy

Zac R.

LE students learned about Alexander Calder's sculptures. We compared them to his contour drawings and discussed how contour drawings were similar to wire in line quality. After my demo, I had them choose a reference of an animal, draw the contour and trace their drawing with wire. Several students had difficulty with the wire so in the next class, I had them follow each of my steps in sculpting a bird and then finish their previous sculpture.

Raffle Items

Lampshade design with UE1 wire portraits. They were arranged digitally and printed on a semi-transparent fabric.

MS students designed a Chinese Zodiac themed chess board. They made the characters out of clay and painted them with acrylic paint. I'm amazed at how well they turned out! The photos above only show in-progress work; I never got to document the final completed board.

Josef

Katie

Ella

Amelia

For the past couple of weeks, students and I, as well as other teachers and parents, have been collaborating on art items for our Top Hat raffle fundraiser. Each class did their own project. UE2 students painted portraits of themselves in the style of Amedeo Modigliani, a French artist who was known for his elongated and pensive faces. When they are complete, they'll be transferred to wooden coasters. We first discussed how Modigliani stylized his paintings with the abnormally yet elegant long necks and noses, their calm and tilted postures. I taught them how to mix a basic peach color that they adjusted to their own skin color. For the background, students mixed earthy tones like Modigliani's palette. I love how they're turning out!

One of LE's project was to make animal pillows. Students traced an animal stencil onto a fabric of their choice, cut them out, and designed the animals' features with buttons and other fabric. They needed a lot of help sewing, but thanks to the parents and Quest staff they turned out beautifully! Their other project was to decoupage wooden birdhouses out of tissue paper~ lovely:)

Matryoshka Dolls

Palmer

Nicky

Logan

Emma

I've been wanting to do a lesson on "family" and I thought Russian nesting dolls, or formerly known as, Matryoshka dolls, would be perfect. They're a collection of dolls that belong together not only by physical design but by one common element. Using this theme of belonging, students designed a group of nesting dolls that were somehow linked together, whether they were characters from a story, their actual families, or a type of food. Students drew and painted on strips of watercolor paper and glued them together. The cylinders are hollow inside so each piece stacks on top of the other.