Take a peek into some Lower School art displays around campus. Also, don’t forget to mark your calendar and plan to visit the Howe Library in Hanover to view Crossroads Academy K–8 student artwork being displayed during the month of April in the children and teen section of the library!
KINDERGARTEN
Mouse Paint: One day, three mice discover three jars of paint–red, blue, and yellow. But what happens when they splash in the colors, mixing the red and blue? Or dance in the blue and yellow? This playful introduction of primary colors mixed into secondary colors will appeal to any budding artist! Kindergarten students took inspiration from this tale and created a mouse color wheel by mixing primary colors into secondary colors.
Mixed Characters: In the beginning, there were three colors . . . reds, yellows, and blues. All were special in their own ways, all living in harmony―until one day, a red says “reds are the best!” and starts a color kerfuffle. When the colors decide to separate, is there anything that can change their minds? A yellow, a blue, and a never-before-seen color might just save the day in this inspiring book about color, tolerance, and embracing differences. After reading the story, students created two-dimensional artworks using the primary and secondary colors–creating their mixed characters! Afterwards, kindergartners sculpted three-dimensional Mixed figures.
FIRST GRADE
Egyptian Cartouche and William the Hippo: Students created a few integrated projects to complement their Egyptian Museum. Each student created a three-dimensional sculpted hippo in honor of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s mascot that was found in an ancient Egyptian tomb. They also created cartouches using hieroglyphics to form the initials of their names. In Egyptian hieroglyphs, a cartouche is an oval with a line at one end tangent to it, indicating that the text enclosed is a royal name.
SECOND GRADE
Gustav Klimt: After learning about artist Gustav Klimt, Austrian symbolist painter, second grade students took inspiration from his famous Tree of Life Stoclet Frieze and created their own. The painting is based on the Art Nouveau style including Klimt’s signature patterns, design elements and of course, gold!
South American Molas: As second grade students were learning about South America in the classroom, in art they learned about Molas. Molas are a hand-made textile that forms part of the traditional clothing of the indigenous Guna people from Panamá, Central America, Colombia, and South America. Here, students took inspiration and simulated the many stitched layers of the Mola using layered paper designs.
THIRD GRADE
Hopi Kachina Dolls: Hopi figures, also known as kachina dolls, are figures carved, typically from cottonwood root, by Hopi people to instruct about katsinas or katsinam, the immortal beings that bring rain, control other aspects of the natural world and society, and act as messengers between humans and the spirit world. Students respectfully took inspiration and applied a multitude of elements and principles of art to construct their own spirit doll.
Laurel Burch Inspired Cats: In the 1960s, Laurel Burch was selling her work on the streets of San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury district. Today this “flower child” is a nationally famous artist and designer who fluently speaks the universal language of art. Though she has never taken an art class, Laurel’s trademark style is the manifestation of her strong, imaginative spirit. Students took inspiration from Burch and created their own whimsical cats!
FOURTH GRADE
African Inspired Masks: Fourth grade students looked at a variety of African works of art, such as masks used in ceremonies for planting, harvesting, or hunting. Becoming familiar with examples of art from specific regions and peoples in Africa, such as Antelope headdresses of Mali, Sculptures by Yoruba artists in the city of Ife and Ivory carvings and bronze sculptures of Benin. Creating their own mask using symmetry and patterns.
FIFTH GRADE
Warm and Cool Aztec Sun Reliefs: In the classroom, students were studying the Mayan, Aztec, and Inca Civilizations. The Aztec or Mexican calendar is the calendrical system used by the Aztecs as well as other Pre-Columbian peoples of central Mexico. It is one of the Mesoamerican calendars, sharing the basic structure of calendars from throughout ancient Mesoamerica. In the art room, students created a painted cool color background and added a clay relief sculptural warm Aztec sun design to symbolize the ancient Aztec calendar. Adding many details and textural qualities really brought these creations to life!
