WEST SIDE ARTS PROGRAM

For our first project of the year, we closed our eyes and listened to different kinds of music (Mozart to 70s punk) and well as nature sounds (bird calls and ocean waves), letting the sound guide our mark-making on big sheets of paper. The resulting drawings were GORGEOUS.  The kids really got into the movement and just enjoyed the feeling of drawing with their eyes closed.

We played with cellophane shapes on the windows, experimenting with how we can make new colors by layering two or more different colors together.  And then we had a partner stand on the other side of the window and we decorated them with the shapes.  This is when the kindergarteners learn to yell "MS. JESSICA! DISCOVERY!!" when they create a new color or develop a new technique. Their discovery then gets shared with the class.  I love that they keep this up through 6th grade.  Art is one big experiment!

We made our own watercolor sets using natural pigments.  We learned about where color comes from, and how pigments were made over the centuries (with some pretty hair-raising stories about sea mollusks, cow urine, and even mummies...).  6th grade also got to use the pigment to make Egyptian Blue, the first synthetic paint.  We also used a watercolor base recipe that was used by the Egyptians-- a mixture of acacia gum, honey, water, and clove oil.

After watching a short documentary about the celebrated land artist, Andy Goldsworthy, we walked around campus making ephemeral sculptures out of natural materials.

Kindergarten made a video about shapes!  They arranged their bodies so that they made circles, triangles, and rectangles on the floor. Pretty adorable. Click here to watch (please do not share video on social media or post publicly). 

When I asked what the students were most excited about, they said they were looking forward to their class parties and Thanksgiving Break.  So, we decided to make celebration animal puppets to parade around for celebrations of all kinds!  

We learned about the history of textiles, and watched a video of how fabrics are block-printed by hand in India. We made our own block prints using vegetables, and 5th grade carved their own stamps. 

We learned about how washi paper is made in Japan, and then we made suminagashi prints.  We floated sumi ink on the surface of water, and then put our washi paper on top to absorb the design. Students did an amazing job staying focused and still!

Ooh this is a fun one!  Invite 5th graders to look at one another for a full minute, while drawing one another's portrait without ever looking down or picking up their pen.  Riotous laughter ensues! This is a project that builds attention (actually LOOK at what you are drawing!), connection with others, and using our whole arm to draw.  

Starting with just three balls of play dough-- red, yellow, and blue-- we made a full color wheel! Then we got to make our own sculptures.

We mixed all the colors for a temporary color wheel that was painted on the blacktop in front of 3rd grade! It will become a giant 4-square (4-circle?), and will be used to talk about fractions and color theory.  And I'm sure many new games will get invented as well!

As part of their unit on ancient Egypt, I helped Ms. Fossett with her canopic jar project for the students, using plaster casting fabric and paint.  They are beautiful!  

Students learned how to make their own zines-- they chose their own theme for their little books, which range from how to play baseball to things someone ate.  We'll be doing a limited edition run of the zines, so that their creations can be shared with the school!

We made pocket-sized "comfort animals" using plaster casting sheets and mixed media.  Many students invented their own animals!

In celebration of the shortest day of the year, we created our own mini "suns" with flashlights, shining them on found objects to create shadows to trace.