Welcome to the Art Room 2017-2018

Welcome back to school! I hope you had a great vacation. I made a lot of art this summer. I hope you did too. Here is a few photos of me painting at an art competition I participated in this August. I have to say, I was inspired by my students rainbows last year, so I started to paint them too! I can't wait to see what they come up with this year.

Adventures in Sculpture

There's been a lot of serious Making going on in the UMS art room. Since January, Kindergarteners have worked to create paper mache donuts (classic ring donut, jelly-filled, and of course, the infamous munchkin). 1st Graders used paper mache to build realistic ice cream cones. And 2nd Graders used plaster gauze to create sculptures of the Blue Whale.

This week students got to work with clay, which will be transported to the high school art department for a kiln firing. Kindergarteners made clay cupcakes, 1st graders made birds and their nests and second graders made monsters. Here are some pictures from our adventures in sculpture:

Mrs. Collins' Class Animated Creatures

In second grade, we created articulated creatures inspired by mythology and imagination. After creating the creatures (which had movable limbs from using fasteners) we made short animated movies in partner groups. Below are their finished videos organized by class. Here are Mrs. Collins class' videos

Ms. Barnett's Class Animated Creatures

Mrs. Thibault's Class Animated Creatures

Mrs. Davis' Class Animated Creatures

Working as a Team to Create a New Mural

If you've been into the front hallway of UMS, you've probably noticed the mural has changed. The original mural was painted almost twenty years ago with Ms. Joppe, the art teacher at the time. I met with Ms. Joppe last spring and she suggested I paint over it with some of our current students. Her blessing got me thinking, so I asked permission and took some suggestions from faculty and staff to plan for a new one. It's going to take a number of months to accomplish! 

Based on the art schedule, it works out that I have a free period every Thursday afternoon. That's when 1st graders have flex time in their schedule as well. So, every Thursday I've planned to take 3-5 students to help me paint the mural. We began with a coat of white paint, and have just begun painting the background image. After that's finished we'll begin adding characters in the foreground who are playing, learning and having a good time! 

Here are some pictures of our progress so far: