Expressionism

The Scream, Edvard Munch

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Expressionism was a movement in art in the early 1900’s that sought to express an emotional experience, or state of mind, rather than a physical reality.  After viewing self p0rtraits done in the Expressionist style by Vincent Van Gogh, Edvard Munch and Chaim Soutine, students used oil pastels to create their self portraits in the Expressionistic style.

A Collection of Cells

A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jette, George Seurat, 1884

During the 1880s, artist George Seurat invented pointillism, a method of painting entirely with dots or points of paint.  Around the same time in history, scientists discovered cells while looking at plant and animal tissue under a microscope.  ¡Their discovery led to the Cell Theory which states that a cell is the smallest unit of a living organism;  cells are the building blocks of life;  and plants and animals are made of cells.  ¡Just as pointillism consists of thousands of dots of paint, plants and animals consist of thousands of cells. 
Based on this knowledge, students:

• Selected a photograph of a plant or animal and its corresponding cell. 
• ¡Drew and labeled the cell as if looking at it under a microscope.
• Used the science of pointillism to recreate the picture of the plant or animal by painting dots of color closely together.
• Filled the entire page with “cells” of color.

Fauvism Landscapes

Fauve Landscape, Andre Derain

Students learned about the "Wild Beasts," artists such as Andre Derain and Henri Matisse, who used "wild" colors in their paintings.  In this style, students created their own fauvism landscapes, using colors that were clearly unrealistic - but quite beautiful.

Children Know Peace

Sixth and seventh grade students participated in the Lions Club Peace Poster Contest.  The theme this year was "Children Know Peace."