Seventh Grade Harlem Renaissance Collages

In collaboration with their research on the Harlem Renaissance in Language Arts class, seventh graders created collages inspired by or dedicated to writers, artists, and musicians who came to prominence during the Harlem Renaissance. 

The piece I created includes an image of Countee Cullen, surrounded by African pattern-inspired prints because of his ancestry. I also included fragments of his poems. I created it by tearing up the printed papers and gluing them around the photo of Countee Cullen. Then I tore the poems and glued them fading from his head to the side of the page. My goal for my artwork was to show the African heritage of Countee Cullen with the African pattern-inspired paper for the background. His passion for poetry is shown with the fragments of his poetry surrounding him.

My collage is inspired by Marcus Garvey. My collage shows Garvey standing in front of a crowd of people to represent the Universal Negro Improvement Association, the association Garvey started. There is a newspaper on the side of the piece to show the newspaper that he founded and for which he wrote. On the opposite side of the piece is his poem “Go & Win.” It shows a line of the poem on the sheet of paper on which it is written. At the top of the page, there is an MG for his initials. The background is blue to represent the marches that the association held outside.

My college is based on Zora Neale Hurston. She was a writer during the Harlem Renaissance.  She wrote four novels as well as other writing pieces like newspaper articles. In the middle of my collage, I created an image of Zora. She is wearing a hat and her clothes are mostly black and white. There is a famous picture of her wearing a hat and I thought it would be nice to include. I used mostly different kinds of paper to create my project, but I used yarn to make hair so it would stand out a bit more. I used a newspaper for the book in the center because I thought it would fit as well as a border with the names of her four novels. My piece highlights how Zora Neale Hurston spent almost all her life. I tried to show more of a happy, but somewhat controlled, environment.

My artwork, “Everybody's Journey is Individual.” is made up of designs and patterns. These either relate to James Baldwin or the Harlem Renaissance. The elements that are most noticeable are the collaged papers and bright colors. I also wrote one of James Baldwin’s quotes and a movie title. 

Baldwin’s interests and struggles really inspired me to create this piece. My work expresses the personal struggle that he had to overcome. I tried to show sadness and sorrow in my artwork. My goal was to make the people seeing my artwork feel something. 

I made this project in honor of Claude Mckay. Claude Mckay was an important part of the Harlem Renaissance. He was a poet and wrote poems about his life in Jamaica and the segregation he experienced. My artwork consists of a book that contains one of Claude Mckay’s famous quotes from a poem about slavery. The background of my collage is a combustion of many words. Also, there are different types of chains spread out in the background. To me, this artwork represents the idea that when Claude Mckay got his poems out into the world, it was one way of exposing slavery.

My goals as an artist are to inspire others and help them find new perspectives through my art. I feel that this project definitely helped me get closer to my goal as an artist because people are able to take on a new perspective while viewing my art.

This is a piece about a bird breaking from stereotypes and dreaming. In Langston Hughes’ poem “Dreams,” he wrote about what happens if you do not dream. This collage is inspired by the line, “For if dreams die/Life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.” The bird has a bandage on its wing because it is still broken, but it is pursuing its dreams. The flowers and vines around the bird are mainly for decoration, but it also symbolizes how good things come once you start dreaming. My goal for this piece was to show that the bird was breaking free. I think I reached my goal because you see the bandage and the bird flying.

My intentions for my art project were to create a project that shows how the writer I researched, Countee Cullen, feels sometimes, and to show some of the personality I thought my writer carries. My inspiration was some of the poems I have read by Cullen. The poems I have read from him were very simple but had a lot of meaning. I tried to mirror this to my artwork. I used materials such as paper, CD’s, printed words, and tissue paper. Most of the paper is covered with tissue paper but I also made a replica of Countee Cullen. I also have one of his poems printed out and spread out along the paper. Even though the poem is not readable, I still like that I included it and I think it looks good.

My collage is a green field with ripped-up pieces of paper. Colin Kaepernick is kneeling to protest. I printed out the photo of him. I made this artwork to connect with the art of Aaron Douglas, who I researched in Language Arts. Douglas made artwork about equal rights for African Americans. Kaepernick was kneeling during the National Anthem because he wanted equal rights. After he did this, he got cut and has not played another snap in the NFL since. My goal was to make a connection to football because I like it and Aaron Douglas. I like my artwork because I like football.

 

First Grade Dragons

First Graders learned about Lunar New Year and read the book "My First Chinese New Year" by Karen Katz. We discussed Lunar New Year traditions and connected this learning to the traditions we observe at Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year. We also discussed how dragons in European and American stories are often depicted as bad guys, whereas in Chinese culture, they are a symbol of strength and good luck. 

To create their dragons, first graders observed several dragon paintings and weavings. They observed the different kinds of shapes and lines, and watched step by step demonstrations about how to put these together to create the form of the dragon. 

Kindergarten Art: Absorb/Repel Science Project

This week in Art, kindergarteners once again experimented to discover unique properties of various art materials. They received watercolors and three surfaces to paint on: Aluminum foil, paper towel, and watercolor paper. They painted rainbows on each surface. 

Then, we discussed how the surfaces had reacted to the paints in different ways. For example, I asked questions such as: Which painting feels the wettest? Which painting drips the most? Which painting made the colors bleed together the most? We then discussed to what extent this meant the surfaces absorbed and repelled the watercolor paint. This reinforced the usage of this materials science vocabulary which they learned in the kindergarten classroom. 

They determined that the foil was the most repellant, so much so that it probably wouldn't dry before class was over- uh oh! So, they took an absorbent watercolor paper and placed it on top to make a print, which ended up looking like beautiful tie-dye. 

Finally, based on our observations, we looked at pictures of all three under a microscope and talked about their textures, and tried to guess which was which and how this affected their absorbance. 

Can you guess?

Kindergarten Verblist Art

In collaboration with their materials science unit, kindergarteners explored the characteristics of art materials by experimenting with them to create these lively multimedia works of art. 

This project was based on a MOMA lesson, and inspired by artist Richard Serra’s Verblist (1967-8). Serra famously said, “Drawing is a verb.” He created a list of action words (verbs) to inspire artists to try new things with their materials. In his own sculptures, he used metal in new ways, to encircle, enclose, fold, and much more. 

Verblist, 1967-8

During this two-class lesson, I placed a wide variety of materials on the common table. Then, I gave the students one verb at a time and challenged them to find the material that they thought could best perform that action. As they chose their materials, we discussed why they thought that material was the best choice.

Sculptures by Richard Serra

Third Grade Landscapes and Accessibility

Third graders created these watercolor collage landscapes as part of their unit on texture. First, in conjunction with their geography studies of the Northeast, they brainstormed textures and land forms they might find in that region. Then, they learned how to create watercolor textures using techniques such as scratching, salting, and blotting their paintings. Finally, they used their texture papers to create collaged landscapes. 

To accompany their landscapes, they also wrote descriptive poetry as a tie-in with their classroom unit on accessibility. We observed and discussed how museums make their collections accessible to blind and low-vision audiences, for example, through descriptive tours and audio guides which incorporate senses other than sight. 

InSight Tour, Smithsonian National Museum of Art

A Warm Summer Day In The Northeast

Wavy waters, crashing against the shore,

Smooth ridged trees, swaying in the summer breeze,

Rough rocks, disappearing as the tide comes in,

Brick towers, shining in the morning sun,

Sharp mountains, behind the sea,

Juicy apples from the tree,

Fluffy clouds that look like cotton candy

The Northeast is very peaceful! 

I want to climb, and sunbathe - What? What’s that you say?! Oh sure I’ll swim - I’ll swim all day!

A Night In The City

Smooth and rough night sky shines on your face, sort of whiskery, brushing against you

Tangled trees surround you, trunks rather ribbed and scaly

Frizzy grass is dimmed, but you can tell the knotty roughness around your heels means it’s still there

Flickering and bumpy lights are shining bright, just like the woven stars above you, glowing

The moon, up there it’s spiky, rough, rocky but down here it’s lacy, smooth, feathery, the creature, The Man On The Moon, waving to you as he’s controlling all the stars

Scratch cars, some crashed and banged up, traveling one way and another, back and forth at high speed

But the rocky Washington D.C. National Monument attracts most with it’s blinking, glowing red light at the top, and it’s scaly texture!!

Loud and crashing, a rocky and gritty Washington D.C. has the night taken under control

If I were in Washington D.C., I'd move into the White House!!

A Nice View In The Northeast

I feel the sleek water between my toes

There are rocks in the bumpy in the sand

The rocks are scratching my body when I’m laying on it

I see the foamy white stuff in the ocean coming to shore

There is a beach in front of my collage.

There are trees behind it because when I go to the beach there are sometimes plants.

I put mountains in because I think it looks really good .

In the back I have my sunset  sky.

I added a moon for a little light.

If I were there, I would go swimming in the ocean.

Kindergarten Lions

As part of the K-8 African art  curriculum and their unit on lines/shapes, Kindergarten students created these mixed media art projects. First, we looked at three examples of lions in African art. I pointed out the continent of Africa, and spoke of how there were more than 50 countries and 1000 languages spoken by many different groups of people. 

Although many pieces of traditional African art feature nature and animal themes, we also spoke of how there are big cities and neighborhoods as well as large natural areas in African countries. I have found that because of portrayals in movies and cartoons, many young students picture Africa as one big grasslands, when in reality there are a variety of landscapes, including urban areas. 

***Interestingly, in my own research, I found that although the lion is a well-known and much loved animal associated with Africa, it is actually not frequently represented in traditional African art. More frequently seen are animals associated with daily rural life, such as birds, elephants, and snakes. These animals are often used to represent characteristics of the ceremony for which the object is used- for example, the Bamana people's Chi Wara headdress features the neck of an antelope, as a digger to symbolize the harvest season.

Bamana Lion Mask, Mali

Asante Drum, Ghana

Metal comb, Kenya

Following this, Kindergarteners learned how to put lines and shapes together to draw the face of a lion. By putting different shapes together, they formed the whole picture. 

They used Sharpie and watercolor to add color to their lion. We discussed how to mix golden brown by combining brown with other colors such as yellow, orange, and red.  When we added in the element of fuzzy yarn, some students chose to create manes for lions, and others chose to use the yarn to outline their lionesses. Finally, we looked at photos of lions' habitats and identified colors to use for the sky, mountains and grasslands. 

 

Eighth Grade Animations

Eighth graders used pixilart.com to create these fun, engaging animated versions of their graffiti names and characters. The assignment was to create a gif where the letters had two elements of three-dimensionality, and the characters and letters interact.