Many students chose to participate in artist Mel Chin’s “Fundreds” project. The project is a nationwide effort mobilizing students to create imitation bills to show their concern about lead in the soil in New Orleans, and to lobby Congess for its removal. The “Fundreds” made by BCD students have been sent to the national collection site, and joined thousands of others.
Have too much time on your hands over the break? Or do you just like playing online and learning about art? The National Gallery of Art’s www.nga.gov/kids (NGAkids) site has a ton of information about art and artists, collage programs, animated picture making, and more. It is the most extensive site for children that I’ve seen. I needed to install Adobe Shockwave player to use it on my Mac, but you can do that on the site.
www.artbabble.org/partner/national-gallery-art-washington
If you enjoyed looking at the NEH site, or if you’d like to learn about some paintings, go to the site address above, and enjoy!
When you visit the Berkshire Museum’s Festival of Trees scout out the 3rd Grade’s BCD tree. The circus themed event is a perennial crowd pleaser, and our Third Graders did a terrific job! While you are there, catch a glimpse of the Hudson River School paintings in the adjacent room, too. The Berkshire Museum has a fabulous little collection.
the 3rd grade tree
www.moma.org/interactives/artsafari/ This link is for an interactive site at the Museum of Modern Art website. For young children and their parents, this is a fun site and, among other things, an opportunity to look at famous works of art and practice learning how to talk about arworks.
Here at BCD we also try to learn the language of art- making art, learning art principles and elements, and talking about art. For instance, the Third Graders have learned about Matisse, Picasso, and Calder and their work so far this year. They have also made edible color wheels.
Fifth graders have been drawing to share information about themselves.
In the Sixth grade, they have explored what makes a successful landscape picture, as well as the mediums of collage, watercolors, and watercolor pencils. They have studied the Hudson River School, and gone on a field trip to Olana, former home of Frederic Church.
The Foundations class has been learning about drawing- mirror images, negative space, shading, and design techniques as well as relative sizes and compostition.
The Drawing, Painting and Sculpture class also worked with drawing, looking at relative sizes, composition, and shading, as well as ways to use line to describe shapes. They have also had an assignment that they could fulfill in any medium.
Classes also spend time looking at and talking about the work they have done. They learn to share ideas, experiment, and think of new ways to put thing together. The arts are enriching for all our students!
Please drop into the library to see the 4th Grade Sculpture Show, , and visit the Berkshire Museum to see the 3rd Grade’s tree in the Festival of Trees.
Also, a reminder- Members of The Arts Dept. are taking turns posting weekly items. Please click the Arts at the top of the MyBCD screen. It has been hard to find, but we hope we have corrected that.
SCULPTURE SHOW
Now on view in the BCD library
Works by the 4th grade
Please enjoy these additional pictures from the Fifth Grade trip to Nature’s Classroom. The weather was warm, and the rain never interfered with any activities. Our last night ended with a campfire on the beach. We all have fond memories.
http://www.thirteen.org/picturing-america/
Go to this website and click on a few of the pictures that interest you. You will be treated to a short film about the artwork, the artist, and art history. The films were made by several different filmmakers, so they vary in style- which is also worth noting. Enjoy!
There is a new blog on the horizon this fall- the Arts Dept. blog. That is where you will find posts by all the Dept. members: Shop, Graphic Design, Theater and Film, Music, and Art, on a rotating basis. There is currently a brief posting about the Marshamllow Challenge, which was an introductory project all the Arts teachers participated in for all the Arts Block (grades 7-9 students) students. We look forward to your viewing many fun and enlightening posts over the year.
These sculptures were inspired by a show of photographs at the Brattleboro Museum by Paul Shore and Nicole Root entitled Licked, Sucked, Stacked, Stuck .The show playfully plays homage to contemporary sculpture with works made from candy. I wanted the students to look at contemporary or modern sculpture, find a work that inspired or moved them, and then recreate it in candy and other junk food. What follows is the result of that effort.
