The importance of art in elementary level education can’t be overstated. It gives kids the opportunity to shine and art displayed on the walls of their schools inspires creativity year round.
We hope to have 24 public, charter and parochial schools represented in the 2011 Camden Students at Peace Doing Art poster.
Here are some teasers:
A reverse Nike shoe
A variation of Paul Klee’s “Head of a Man”
A student prediction on what she’ll look like when she turns 100 in 2099.
When Art Aware took nine busloads of students from eight Camden schools and one Philadelphia school to the Romare Bearden retrospective at the Whitney Museum of Art in New York City, it paid off in terms of the artwork the fourth and fifth graders produced.
We made a large collage from cutouts of Bearden’s work and then showed many of his reproductions at each school. You can see the Lesson Plans on our website: http://www.artaware.org.
These images are by students at Gesu school, whose art teacher, Linda Hartzell, prepares them well for any visiting consultant such as myself. They cut, pasted, drew, watercolored and crayoned lively figures adapting Bearden’s ideas to their own styles.
African American artist, Romare Bearden was not only a collage artist, but also a painter and musician. By looking at his artwork and listening to jazz pieces inspired by it, the students caught his spirit.
Even in these small thumb prints, we hope you can catch the spirit too.
Angela Allen is an elementary school art teacher in Camden who displayed in her Spring art show self-portraits done by kindergarteners, first and second graders. I chose one from each grade to illustrate the different drawing styles. See how well the faces are proportioned.The eyelashes predominate in the kindergartener’s face. The lips, nose and mouth are so carefully drawn. The hair is neatly parted. Look at the nicely patterned blouse she wears.
The first grader’s portrait is dramatic in the shading of the face and the background. A nice job using watercolor paint. The eyes are piercing. The hair is braided and has colorful beads. I love the two hair-fountains framing the face. The dress has a nice pattern with a decorative collar.
Can you believe that the last portrait was done by a second grader? The shading, the dark accents highlighting the eyes, nose, eyebrows, cheeks and chin, the natural expression of the mouth showing a nice row of teeth, all contribute to an intense portrait.
Bravo Ms. Allen in getting your students to bring forth their individual self portraits.
The last piece of artwork was initiated by Mr. Auge, another Camden teacher, asking his fourth graders to imagine what they will look like at 100 years old. Did the young artist draw a solitary tooth in her mouth or is that an M & M candy? She is very alert, nicely dressed, a person I’d like to meet.
This is the top quadrant of a poster I made in a busy Art Aware year in which we got a Geraldine Dodge Foundation grant. You can see the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the front of Cream Elementary School, whose children benefitted from the grant and a mural of the artwork a class did after their visit to the PMA.
In the second quadrant you see some pots by artist Toshiko Takaezu, “The Moorish Chief” painting, and a child’s drawing of it, a photo of artist John Overmyer with his brush, a wall of reproductions of famous paintings hung in the school and artwork by the kids.
In the third quadrant you see some children interacting with educators at the PMA and more kids’ artwork. Notice one child’s colorful drawing of the mobile “Ghost” by Alexander Calder.
More of the same in the fourth quadrant.
I really enjoy writing these blogs because they force me to go back and look at what Art Aware and its partner schools and institutions have done. When you’re in the middle of fulfilling the terms of a grant, there’s little time for reflection. That has to come with the distance of time.
The Dodge Foundation wanted evaluations filled out by children on how they liked the project. How did we do that for kindergarteners – with blank circle faces on which they drew mouths: smiley, neutral or sad. As I remember it, all the kids drew happy faces 🙂
We’re all different but also the same. The fourth grade class got that lesson in their art class. Each student was given a piece of white paper with a 22-sided design outline. Their finished artwork, when cut out, fit together like a puzzle. It became a large mural which demonstrated, at the same time, the individuality and the togetherness of the class.
Kassandra chose to include in her artwork a vase of sunflowers, a 3-D box, and shapes, influenced by Van Gogh, Vasarely, Matisse and Dubuffet.
Danielle did her artwork looking at a reproduction of the story quilt and book “Tar Beach” by Faith Ringgold. The main character, Cassie, her brother Bebe, the Hudson River, the George Washington Bridge, the family seated at the table on her roof top and her building in New York City were all drawn in wonderful detail!
Erasham chose a 22-sided design with outlines of Vasarely’s boxes on the ends. He colored the 3-D boxes to frame his work. He chose to do a variation of a boy on roller skates on a skateboard from a reproduction by syndicated cartoonist, John Overmyer. He added his own sun and clouds.
By exposing inner city children to a wider view beyond their narrow streets through reproductions of art, we give them access to the world and confidence that they can put their own spin on it through marks on a piece of paper.
The final example is a mural with a whole class’ individual 22-sided box designs colored in, each in his or her own way. The individual pieces were joined together so it looked like a robot. It’s over four feet high. Fun!
The students were proud of their individual artwork and also amazed at how colorful and integrated the whole mural looked when the pieces were joined. A lesson in how our individual ideas when put together with others’ can make a beautiful whole!
In Art Aware classes, by showing large reproductions of art from ancient to modern, I can immediately get the point across that there is no right or wrong in art. There are just plenty of different styles which lead to all sorts of opinions and pronouncements of something being good or bad.
Picasso was the greatest instigator of opinions in the twentieth century. He challenged the norm. By his abstractions, which many adults of a “fundamentalist persuasion” have no use for, he thrust people into the 21st century.
In art-appreciation and art-doing classes, it’s important to instill in the students a trust in themselves. The elementary school students must believe that they can put their mark on the page without being criticized for it by their teacher or anyone else.
A first grader liked Picasso’s “Hands and Flowers” and look what he came up with when he drew his own version! Some of the flower stems are drawn “behind” the hands and some are not. Fine! Such confidence he exhibited with the strong crayon strokes and colors.
A sixth grader did a take-off on Picasso’s “Enamel Saucepan.” A nice (in my opinion!) variation of a cubist pitcher, candle and pan.
Finally, eighth grader, Jen Vi, did a charcoal sketch of Picasso’s “Smoker,” which I personally like better than the Picasso painting.
All of this artwork is done within a 45 minute class. Reproductions are placed around the room and the students can take ideas from them or not, as they choose, for their own artwork.
By the end of the class I am always surprised and pleased with what they come up with!
“Fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly, I gotta love one (fill in the blank) ’til I die.” Magnificent opera, art, and people set the mood yesterday at the Hearts and Hands Festival in Waterfront South, Camden, NJ.
(this sign, if you can’t read it, says “Dear Oil Company, Please stop killing our fish! Love, 5th Grade)
This is the best place on earth to live or so it seemed to me with the all the creative energy being produced by people of many ages, colors and backgrounds. This is the way the world should be.
I’ll try to post as many pictures as this blog will hold. The images speak for themselves.
Rejoice!
BP and the devil be damned!
In Shizuoka Prefecture, there is a school for the handicapped founded in 1968 by renowned Japanese entertainer and philanthropist, Mariko Miyagi. Art education is of prime importance and next to the school the students’ work is shown in an museum designed just for their art. Acclaimed exhibitions of their creations travel around the world.
An artist friend saw the exhibition in Tokyo and sent me the catalog. He cried when he saw the original artwork, it was so beautiful. I got teary when I saw the catalog. I’d like to share some pictures with you done by Shimizu Hitoshi.
The first is called “Holland Houses”, next is “House with Tree and Leaves” and finally “A New Day.”
I know nothing about the artist. The catalog is in Japanese. But it’s only necessary to look at the feeling within the pictures. Such strong colors and lines. The personality of the artist shines through as does the peace, stability and self worth that the school and art program encourages.
Students really are at peace doing art whether they can draw or not and regardless of their cultural or economic background. It is the creative spirit, inherent in all human beings (until it is taught out of them), that impels children to learn, to invent the world to fit their needs.
Here are samples from 24 elementary schools. It just so happens this is the same number of years Art Aware has been in existence: 24!
We’ve divided the 2010 Poster into quadrants. Look at the artwork inspired by art teachers from the 24 public, charter and faith-based schools! Do you see the bird’s eye view of a person with knock-out shoes and a composite of cubist faces Picasso never could have painted so prettily? Look at the end-of-year art show held outdoors.
In the 2nd quadrant you see a drawing of “Spring Break” with swings and dog bones, a landscape collage, a studious student, motorcycle hill and a hungry caterpillar.
In the 3rd quadrant a variation of Hokusai’s “Great Wave” is seen and a visualization of an image under a microscope.
Included in the 4th quadrant is a racing car, a remarkably true likeness in a collage (the picture of the person is attached at the bottom), a Navaho blanket and a Narnia scene.
If you would like a 8&1/2″ X 11″ color copy of the 2010 poster with a list of the schools and artists, let me know in the comment area below or in an e-mail (artaware@hotmail.com) and I’ll send you one.
Enjoy and please cheer for the young Camden artists and their teachers!
Look at this 4th grader’s artwork initiated by Faize Watkins! Would you be proud if you had done it? For years Ms. Watkins’ students’ intricate line drawings have been chosen for Art Aware posters of Camden Students at Peace Doing Art. You can see her below standing in front of the posters displayed in her classroom.
Look at this dancing figure on a background of circles. Can you imagine doing such a piece of artwork? When this student grows up and has children and grandchildren of her own, I hope this image will have been saved and be displayed in her house commemorating her 4th grade year with Ms. Watkins and giving inspiration to all who view it!
In the next image we see a girl lounging within another background of intricate designs. I think Ms. Watkins imbued her fourth graders with the spirit of Henri Matisse!
When children in 4th grade can produce artwork like this, and ALL the members of the class do so each in their own way, they are destined for a life of success. I believe they will always hold in their hearts the experience of being in Ms. Watkins art class at Cramer School in Camden!
The wonderful Ms. Faize Watkins!
