Art
Art in Pre-Kindergarten consists of planned and spontaneous creative, hands-on activities which can focus on core curriculum science and social studies themes. Children are engaged in a variety of media (play dough, easel paints, markers, crayons, and collage), paying attention to visual detail, and discussion of art forms and styles.
In Kindergarten we incorporate an understanding and appreciation of art by learning: elements of Art—color (primary, secondary, warm and cool), line and shape (geometric and biomorphic); sculpture forms; and through introduction to the art of Pieter Bruegel, Pablo Picasso, Claude Monet, Alexander Calder and Henri Matisse. Art created can include primary color collages with mixed media, totem poles constructed of tempera painted cardboard boxes, water lily oil pastels, Calder collages and mobiles, crayon Mondrian drawings, etc.
First grade students review the elements color, line, and shape and learn a new element of art: texture. Students learn how to describe qualities of texture and distinguish between tactile and visual texture and learn to recognize portraits, self portraits, still life pictures and murals. The first grade art curriculum incorporates art history as we study cave paintings, the art of ancient Egypt and the Christmas story. Artists studied include Jacob Lawrence, Leonardo da Vinci, Vincent van Gogh, James McNeil Whistler, Georgia O’Keeffe and Diego Rivera. Art created can include cave art, Egyptian life-size figures, tempera paintings, mixed media collages, portraits, self portraits, oil pastel drawings and arrangements in black and gray.
Second graders continue to learn about the use of the elements color, line, shape and texture. The students learn about tertiary colors and placement of primary, secondar, and tertiary colors on a color wheel. We also emphasize line (recognizing horizontal, vertical and diagonal lines) and make a connection between the element of line and the horizon line in a landscape picture, studying landscapes by David Hockney, John Constable, JMW Turner and Vincent van Gogh. Second graders learn about the art of ancient Greece, studying the Parthenon, sculpture and ceramic painting. The concept of abstract art is introduced as well and comparisons between realistic and abstract art. Other artists studied include George Catlin, John James Audubon, Katsushika Hokusai, Auguste Rodin and Constantin Brancusi. Art created can include oil pastel and acrylic paint landscapes, portraits, black figure painted plates, prints and Model Magic sculpture.
Third grade students are well acquainted with the elements of color, line, shape and texture so we learn something new about color: complementary colors. Students also learn three new elements of art: space, light and form, and begin to understand how all of the elements of art work together to create pleasing compositions. This introduces the idea of the principles of design: balance and symmetry, rhythm, unity and proportion. Artists introduced can include Jean Millet, Johannes Vermeer, Edward Hicks and Faith Ringgold. Third graders study the art of ancient Rome including the Pantheon, the Column of Trajan and mosaics. Created art can include three-dimensional landscapes, window landscapes, light acrostics, drawings of cubes and spheres, skeleton drawings and paper mosaics. Third graders also read together Blue Balliett’s Chasing Vermeer and create lap books connecting the story to the artist Johannes Vermeer, the elements of light and form, and references to light in the Bible. Additionally, students study William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar and prepare and perform a twenty minute adaptation of the play using Shakespeare’s original language.
In Grade 4 all seven elements of art are reviewed and the principles of design are featured as we try to recognize and incorporate them in art. Works of art and artists include the Book of Kells, John Singleton Copley’s portrait of Paul Revere, Gilbert Stuart’s portrait of George Washington, and Emanuel Leutze’s Washington Crossing the Delaware. Fourth graders study the art of the Middle Ages, including features of Gothic architecture and illuminated manuscripts, the art of Africa, the art of China and the art of a new nation (America). Created art can include brass rubbings, tissue papers rose windows, manuscript pages, Fibonacci collages, African masks, Chinese dragons, faux Chinese porcelain painting, realistic portraits and 3-D abstract self portraits.
Students in Grade 5 demonstrate a solid understanding of the elements of art and a growing understanding of the principles of design. They study the Renaissance, the Reformation, the Age of Exploration, American art and the art of Japan. Works of art and artists studied can include Giotto, Donatello, Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, Jan van Eyck, Dürer, Holbein, Currier and Ives, and Augusts Saint-Gaudens. Created art can include sketch book drawings, Byzantine style Madonnas, hand sculptures, tempra, acrylic, and oil paintings, spice compass roses, faux-aged explorers’ maps, and prints.