The Ratner School Art Program

It was wonderful to have another full week of classes. We are finishing projects in many of the classes and the students are well into the expectations of the art program. They enter the art room focused and ready to work each class and always exclaim with great dismay at the end of each class. They have not yet figured out how art class seems to go so much faster with each new project. I am glad we have such engaged art students at the Ratner School!  I taught a new unit to the Kindergarten students this week and showed them examples of the work of Edward Durell Stone, the original architect of our school. There are many photos of his iconic architecture on the internet and I enjoyed learning more about him. I added a link to his organization's page if you would like to learn more about him. 

Original blueprint and drawing by architect Edward Durell Stone

Kindergarten Art

This week in Kindergarten Art we continued the study of the Ratner School building. I showed the students the original plans of the building along with the blue prints of the iconic Ratner School column designs. We talked about the job of the architect and how art helps the design of buildings and houses. I showed the students other examples of the work of Edward Stone, the architect of our school.  The students then went outside to create a carbon paper "blue print" drawing of the columns. For the next unit, the students were given a photo of the school to draw and then watercolor paint. Many students now want to paint the roof of the Ratner School with rainbow colors! I love the creativity of our kindergarten artists.

                        

                            

                 

1st and 2nd Grade Art

We began working on the art of Zentangle patterns this week. Zentangle designs are highly repetitive black and white patterns. The patterns are not representational and require a high level of concentration and thoughtful mark making. The students were shown several examples and I pointed out how many Zentangle patterns are based on a grid design. This work helps the students slow down their process in art and they have to study a design to try and figure out how to recreate it. They have also been learning about mindfulness in their classroom and Zentangle designs are an extension of a meditative drawing practice. 

3rd and 4th Grade Art

It was great to have a full week of art finally for the 3rd and 4th grade class! The students all finished their weaving project and several students were able to create a weaving with natural objects we gathered from the school grounds. The connection to the mechanics of the weaving being the same, but the final piece translating differently was a common connection made with this project. The students talked about the Mesopotamian culture constantly with this weaving project and have a better understanding about the labor involved in creating utilitarian objects. We will be beginning a sculptural project this week and will be working in the Maker Space in the coming weeks.

5th and 6th Grade Art

The students have begun to add the color designs to the playing card portraits. Traditionally, playing cards only use the three primary colors, but the students wanted a more creative choice on their work. I set a 5 color limit on the cards and the designs look fantastic! The students took care to create well balanced patterns and have shown good control of the materials to create a strong graphic work. Several students have completed the mounting and border designs of their work and will finish the project this week. Look for them hanging in the front lobby and on the second floor of the school by the end of the week. 

                          

7th and 8th Grade Art

We have several artists finishing with the pop art project this week! Now the discussion moves to the design of the background in the piece. There have been a few good debates on the merit of a designed background and whether or not the background would add to or distract from the focal point and mood of the final piece. It is encouraging to hear debate with the artwork and thoughtful discussions taking place in the classroom.

The Ratner School Art Program

Welcome to the 2016-2017 year art blog! Thanks to all my patient parents who have been waiting for the blog to get up and running. I will try to post the blog every Monday, but forgive me if I miss a week here or there. As always, the classroom teaching comes first! We have been incredibly busy since school started, but I feel like I am getting my footing this week. Each class jumped right into projects from the first week of school and we are all excited about the work being created. As I stated in last weeks curriculum night event, if you do not want the weekly reminder about the art blog, please contact me at pfields@theratnerschool.org and I will remove your name from the list.

Thank you all for letting me guide your children in art, I love teaching them.

Ratner students creating at the MOCA/Ratner open house event

Kindergarten Art

We have had two Kindergarten classes this year and are already beginning to settle into a comfortable routine. The students are learning the rules and expectations of the art program and have begun creating artwork. Our first project was under the Humanities theme of "All about me." The students drew themselves, their home, families and pets. Many students added several extra elements to tell the viewer more detail about themselves. The next project was a "Peace" inspired simple mandala design. We talked about the calming properties of traditional mandalas and then drew concentric circles on large white paper. The final step of the project was to paint each area with watercolor paint. This project helps gauge the control of material, use of watercolors and the ability to follow several steps in a process. The work is currently hanging outside room 110. I am enjoying working with the new group of Kindergarten artists and look forward to a creative year with them.

1st and 2nd Grade Art

What a fantastic group of artists we have in 1st and 2nd grade this year! We have already cycled through several projects this year! Our first project was a quick "get to know the classroom" project where the students could draw anything they wanted. They were given a large sheet of white paper with one dot placed in the middle. The dot could become anything they could imagine. We had eyes of monsters, sun-rays, heads of people and complex abstractions.  Following the introduction piece, we created a "warm fish, cool water" piece. This work reinforced the lesson of gradient value in work and taught the students the difference between warm colors and cool colors. The work is currently displayed in the main gallery, try to stop in to see. As a STEAM tie in to science, we had a one day self portrait project. The students studied the human body in science and in art we talked about the placement and "map" of the human face. They learned correct positioning of the features and finished the portraits with oil pastel.  The work is hanging outside their classroom. Finally, we had a double STEAM period on September 15th for Dot Day! Ms. Patel and I worked together to create several art and science projects around dots. The students made a collaborative dot painting, connected strings and dot magnets, drew observational drawings outside from their personal dot space and made dot parachutes. We can do so much in an 80 minute block! We all enjoyed the experience.

Making dot parachutes

Self portraits

Dot painting

3rd and 4th Grade Art

Because the students missed a few classes because of Mondays out of school, we have jumped right into the curriculum. We are currently learning weaving techniques. The students are learning about the culture of Mesopotamia in their homeroom and I wanted to impress on them the difficulty of having to weave functional wares as the Mesopotamian people did. I felt making a basket would be a difficult process, so I set on pot-holders to teach the basic weaving technique. I also love to make pot-holders! The students are mostly getting the hang of the process and soon we will move to weaving some of the long grasses found on the school property.

 

5th and 6th Grade Art

We began the year by going outside and working on observational drawings of the new learning garden. This exercise strengthens the students ability to draw what they see and to slow down their drawing process. After a week of observational drawings, we began our first intensive project. The students have begun the study of the human body in Science, so we are tying in portraits into the curriculum at the same time. The project is the creation of playing card portraits. The students have their portrait taken, the contrast is raised on the image and then they draw their portraits on large white paper. They have to simplify the lines and facial features to achieve a strong graphic portrait. The features are all stylized and then traced with sharpie marker. Each student could choose to be a King, Queen, Jack or Joker figure. We had several Jokers this year! The current step in the project is designing the patterns on the robe. We may finish the project next week.

 

7th and 8th Grade Art

We are several classes into our current Pop Art project. The students began the project by viewing a series of videos showing various pop art examples and learning more about the Pop Art movement. The students chose an object that held some meaning for them to be the focus of the piece. Some students chose their shoes, headphones, phones or made a selection from the classroom objects. The next step was to accurately draw the object, simplifying the lines and visual information to translate the drawing in a more graphic manner. In the following classes, color will be applied in the material the student chooses. Many have begun the color process and are using a wide variety of medium to color their work.