Art at Wheelock

 

Your children come to the art studio once a week for what we hope will be part of a life-long enjoyment of art, and enhanced appreciation of the world around them.

 

Our first responsibility in the art program concerns the connection between the eye and the mind.  We want to be sure that the children learn to really see what they look at.  This skill in observation is at the foundation of all drawing.  It is also true that more than 80% of what we learn is visually acquired, and that careful looking supports the ability to make the visual distinctions that are a crucial part of analytical thinking.

 

In addition, it’s also very important that children look at more than the outside world.  They need to look inside, too, and journey beyond the literal to the realms of imagination and memory.  Along the way, they will learn some of an artist’s vocabulary, explore a variety of media, and have thoughtful discussions about some great works of art.

 

All this hard work by Wheelock artists will be on view for you at our Art Exhibit in May.   It is always a wonderful evening, and we look forward to seeing you there.

 

Ms Fine

Artist/Teacher Wheelock School

 

 

Some of what your 2nd or 3rd graders will be working on this year.

Artists in the Art Studio search for texture and create it.  This image is of textures  third graders made.  The assignment included inventing a  texture that covered a surface.

Second graders layer oil pastels to create new colors and to achieve details through use of a line or mark that overlaps the other layers.

Second graders investigate ways to use textures in their creation of a wearable mask. 

Third graders involved with their development of faces that are surprising.  Their use of oil pastels is in line with the skills and techniques they have learned in the Art Studio.

Third graders sculpt a three dimensional mask using everything they know about faces and clay properties.

Third graders construct a wearable mask. 

Sculptural masks before a glaze fire

Sculptural masks after a glaze fire

The third graders work with their own faces, much like other artists do.  Here they are involved in working on their self-portrait in oil pastel.

This group of second graders has just named many geometric and common shapes they are familiar with, these shapes are in the real world of our Art Studio.  They are searching the room to discover and record them as they really are. 

Drawing from observation

Second graders create a ceramic bowl that uses texture, a skill they just studied in depth in art, on the surface.

Then the second graders use glazes to cover the surface.