- MID JANUARY

2017

Hello! Wow it’s almost winter break and the end of 2017! It’s amazing how the time flies! Mr. Connor has been a

fantastic assett to the art studio, we will truly miss him and all he brings to the classroom and our students! His last day is

December 21st, which is also Winter Solstice…the shortest day(light) day of the year!

The Grant we received through the Office of Arts and Special Projects that has graciously allowed our fourth graders

to work with Children’s Museum of Art is in full swing! On Fridays, students are learning to animate from their two

teaching artists, Sean and Sam…the children have been working with iPads and learning the basics of claymation through

molding clay, framing shots, and how many frames per second to create certain effects. If you wish to, there is a paid for

app called I Stop Motion, and another one which is free, called Animate It…you may want to check these out with your

child at home?

Last Friday, I was out at a Professional Development at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. (The kids didn’t miss a beat,

as Mr. Connor was able to carry on with their lessons, and works in progress.) During our lunch break, I hurried off to see

both the David Hockney exhibit, and the highly acclaimed Michaelangelo show. Both were truly amazing and inspiring!

The Hockney exhibit, is on view through February 25th, and the Michaelangelo show, Divine Draftsman & Designer, is on

through February 12th. If you are around over the break go check out these two astounding shows! In addition, as always,

there are many weekend family offerings at other museums around NYC; here are a few examples:

Weekend Programs for Families At the Guggenheim In December:

SATURDAYS AND SUNDAYS

Spend a weekend at the Guggenheim with your family! Stop by our Family Activity Kiosk in the rotunda to pick up a Family Activity

Guide or Activity Pack, and join in one of our free weekend programs, Saturday Sketching and Open Studio.

https://www.guggenheim.org/for-families

Family Programs at the Whitney: Open Studio: Collaborative Collages

SAT, Dec 16, 2017 10:30 am–3 pm

Floor 3, Laurie M. Tisch Education Center

For families with kids of all ages

Bring your family to explore composition, layering, and color in the bold and dynamic works of Laura Owens. The artist’s wildly

creative approach to painting has made her one of the most influential artists of her generation. By incorporating cartooning, animals,

images from pop culture, and music, Owens challenges the notion of what painting can be. Inspired by Owens’s work, parents and

kids will create large scale collaborative collages using unexpected materials.

Visit the exhibition Laura Owens on Floor 5 with your familyBring your family to explore composition, layering, and color in the bold

and dynamic works of Laura Owens. Inspired by Owens’s work, parents and kids will create large scale collaborative collages using

unexpected materials!

Free with Museum admission.

https://whitney.org/Events/OpenStudioCollaborativeCollages

Brooklyn Museum: Creativity Lab

Sunday, January 7, 2018 4–5:30 pm

Meet in the Education Studios, 1st Floor

Welcome to the lab! Drop in to explore your creative side in this studio workshop with a new project each month.

https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/calendar/type/for-kids-and-families

I know this is a rather long newsletter-but there is just too much fantastic artwork to not share!

Enjoy your winter break…whatever you may do & wherever you may go! Ms. King & Mr. Connor

Here are some images of second grade student self-portraits-Modigliani style, and photos from their visit to the

Jewish Museum to see his work up close. There are also some of the post museum visit reflections below…

School trip photo’s courtesy Ms. Stone & Ms. Emma

The students and teachers raved about the visit! The museum educators did a wonderful job of engaging the

students in conversations about the artworks, and allowed them time to draw in the museum! It’s so important

to get students to museums to support not only their learning within the school, but to grow as a learner, and

thinker, and to draw inspiration, through exposure to these fantastic opportunities!

- MID JANUARY

2017

Kindergarten

Students have been learning about lines through drawing, listening to read alouds, and being observers and noticing lines all around them in the real world! Students are also exploring abstract painting through line shape and color.

First Grade

First graders are learning about one point perspective through a farm drawing assignment. Students learn about how the eye sees that objects in the distance appear smaller than objects that are close. They learn about the vanishing point, and the horizon line. Students brainstorm what kinds of fruits and vegetables might they grow if they were a farmer here in New York State. This project not only teaches new art vocabulary and concepts, but reinforces drawing skills. At home, have your child draw back and forth in one uniform direction-whatever media he/she is using. Below are some of the beautiful completed hot air balloon mixed-media pieces.

Second Grade Second graders completed beautiful positive and negative space collages. Students worked using one color paper on a black background to create these unique collages. They are now taking that concept and creating a version of Matisse’s The Dance I. Students have to define the positive and negative space within their drawings and paintings. Ms. Scott is working on this in the dance room too-considering positive and negative space within dance poses.

Third Grade I am still missing the third graders! I hope that 2018 brings us back together, and we will have so much to share! I heard from Ms. Julia about a great visit her students had to the Whitney not just to see art, but also to create art in their wonderful studio! What a great treat! It’s one of my favorite museum’s in the city!

I have attended several professional

developments that have all emphasized the importance of keeping and using a

sketchbook. A sketchbook not only works as a place to practice and hone one’s drawing schools, but serves as a visual diary, which

can be wonderfully reflective to look back on with your children if you save these!

FOURTH GRADE

Students are working mixed-media collages using organic shapes, and drawing influence from Joan Miro’s painting, Women and Birds In the Night. Students build on their 2-D collages, adding 3-D elements with a variety of objects. Their collages must tell a story. Mr. Connor and I are super excited about seeing these completed as they are pretty amazing so far!

FIFTH GRADE

Students have completed their paper mosaic self-portraits! They are amazing!

The students are now working on completing radial name designs, and are stringing looms on recycled cardboard to

learn how to weave.

All students should have a blank white paged sketchbook to keep here in the art studio. Best

size is 8.5” x 11” or 9” x 12”. There are many students who have still yet to bring one in!!!

Please, if you have not done so, send in sketchbooks as soon as possible!

Questions-Email: Rking2@schools.nyc.gov

If you need to schedule a meeting, I am available on Tuesdays from 2:40-3:20.

And one last photo of fifth grade student work:

RADIAL NAME DESIGNS-students learn about radial symmetry through pattern and color.

Upcoming Visual Arts fieldtrips include:

Fifth Grade: Rubin Museum, First Grade MoMA, Forth Grade Children’s Museum of Art