We hope your 2024 has started off well! We are excited to share some of the great projects and classes that you organized for our students these past few months. This issue will highlight many of those wonderful activities that were done in our school classrooms, led by our art docent volunteers. We are so grateful for the time you have dedicated to our students to teach them art!
We are tentatively planning another district wide art docent training for the end of April. Once a date has been confirmed, a separate message will be sent out with details.
Please note that the Art Docent Portal passkey has changed if you are having trouble logging in. For the new password, please send an email to partnerships@nsd.org to request the updated passkey.
-NSD Art Docent Program
Project/Activity Highlights
Thank you to all our art docents who submitted descriptions and pictures of their projects and activities! We had many submissions for this edition and are excited to share what our art docents have been working on with our students inside the classroom.
If you would like to submit projects and activities for the next art docent newsletter, please use this link.
School: Shelton View Elementary
Art Docent: Carol Miu
Class: 3/4 EAP, Mrs. Rudko
Project: Wayne Thiebaud 3D Pancakes in Clay
The 3rd and 4th graders in Mrs. Rudko’s combined EAP class have been working with art docent Carol Miu to learn to use clay and tempera paints to make a 3D coil pancake container, in the style of artist Wayne Thiebaud’s Pancake Breakfast. Students have been developing skills in coiling and scoring the clay and in understanding color theory.
School: Moorlands Elementary Art Docent: Jason Higginson Class: Mrs. Vestal, 1st Grade Project: Colors!
In this project, students followed the color framework of Wassily Kandinsky and learned how he used complementary and analogous colors to create visually interesting paintings.
School: Ruby Bridges Elementary Art Docent: Jennifer Herrman Class: Mrs. Sanfellipo, 3rd Grade Project: Tulips in a Field
Students learned Q-tip art using crayons and colored pencil for the background. They then painted with a Q-tip over the top in the foreground so you don’t have to wait for the background to dry. It was a blend of the background / middle ground / foreground and incorporating dot art.
School: Sunrise Elementary Art Docent: Lilia Rusu Class: Mrs. Brown, 1st Grade Project: Van Gogh's Texture Canvas: A Tactile Journey Through Sunflowers
In this lesson, students explored not only the visual spectacle of the sunflowers but also the tactile experience conveyed through van Gogh's masterful use of different textures. Students were encouraged to engage in a deeper connection with the artwork. Through hands-on activities, they explored the impact of texture on emotional and aesthetic responses, emphasizing how the physicality of the artwork enhances the overall experience. This lesson not only unveiled the beauty of van Gogh's "Sunflowers," but also encouraged a multisensory exploration of the rich and tactile world of art.
School: Arrowhead Elementary Art Docent: Nikki Noble Class: Mr. Timothy Wolfe, 4th Grade Project: Tim Burton Self Portraits
After discussing the art style of Tim Burton and specifically his use of shapes and line, students were handed mirrors and were asked to pick out features they’d like to exaggerate. They then used pencil to sketch out basic head shapes and eyes using a simple grid for symmetry. The students added the rest of their facial features and then got to work adding depth with white oil pastels, black marker, black crayon and regular #2 pencils for shading.
School: Kenmore Elementary Art Docents: Sarah Linville and Rebecca Evans-Dennison Class: Mr. Finkelstein and Mr. Aguiling, 5th Grade Project: Finding Your Voice - A Study of Jean-Michel Basquiat
Jean-Michel Basquiat was a young American artist of the twentieth century who created art with a message. The fifth graders at Kenmore Elementary learned about Basquiat's life and art. Students then created acrylic paintings on canvas representing their own voice, honoring things they love, they care about, and what they want to be heard. Students were asked to paint to express themselves rather than rely on the style of the artist.
School: Shelton View Elementary Art Docent: Danielle Jude Class: Mrs. Hawthorne, 1st Grade Project: Landscapes (using shade and tint)
Students learned about value in color during this lesson. First there was a discussion about Pablo Picasso's "The Tragedy" - a piece made during Picasso's blue period. Then it was explained how the painting was mostly blue with highlights and shadows giving the objects shape. The students caught on right away that to get a highlight (tint), you need to add white to a color and to get a shadow (shade), you need to add black. Students then dove into their own painting using shade and tint. They followed along and had a great time making their own unique wintry landscapes using blue, black and white tempera paint.
School: Ruby Bridges Elementary Art Docent: Pooja Minhas Class: 2nd & 3rd Grade Project: Resist Art
In December, "Tape resist art" combined with Jackson Pollock "Splatter art" was introduced to 3rd graders. There was a discussion on how layers are used to define a design in negative space. Students used tape to make tree shapes and then used water color to cover them. Using Jackson Pollock's drip technique, students created a snow effect, and once the color dried carefully removed the tape to reveal the trees in negative space and finally gave outline to the trees.
School: Arrowhead Elementary Art Docent: Sarah Skogsbergh Class: Mrs. Wolfe, 3rd Grade Project:Alma Woodsey Thomas Valentine Hearts (tempura paint)
For this art project, students focused on the elements of line and color. They used a heart as the central shape and mimicked Thomas’s dashed concentric strokes using tempura paint. Students mixed their own shades (color + black) and tints (color + white) to create beautiful Alma Woodsey Thomas inspired Valentine hearts.
School: Canyon Creek Elementary Art Docent: Joyce Wong Class: Ms. Woo, 3rd Grade Project:Kusama Pumpkins, X-Ray Hands, Clay 3D Portraits
Students worked on many different types of art, to include:
Kusama Pumpkins, which include watercolors and sharpies on paper that focus on dots, patterns, line and shapes.
X-ray Hands which includes using pencil, pastel and chalk on black construction paper, and focus on the observation of bones in a hand as well as joints of their own hand, tracing and shading and working with line, value and shape.
Clay 3D Portraits which is air dry clay that students molded into 3D self portraits, using knead, cut, roll, making balls, cylinders, coils and smoothing techniques, and finishing with acrylic paint.
School: Kenmore Elementary Art Docent: Jamee Linton Class: Mrs. Goodmon,4th Grade Project: The Goldfish, Paul Klee- Space (positive and negative space)
The lesson began by discussing the artist's life and influences, emphasizing how they manifest in his artwork, particularly his goldfish piece, which serves as inspiration for our project. The concept of our "artistic license," was also introduced, empowering students to draw inspiration while expressing their individual creativity. The notion of positive and negative space was also highlighted by pointing out examples in the classroom and in the painting.
Students used white paper and vibrant crayons to depict positive space, such as fish and plants in the underwater scene. Then, employing a special technique, they applied a dark watercolor wash to create negative space, accentuating the contrast between the two.
Resources
If you are not familiar with ArtsWA (Washington State Arts Commission) website, they have great resources to come up with ideas for classes and projects. One of the resources that you can reference is their Creative Start Studio page. It has some wonderful lesson plans and templates that you can incorporate into your lessons.
Thank You!
Thank you again for all you do for our students, we look forward to you sharing all your upcoming projects and activities with us soon!
For any Art Docent related questions, please contact partnerships@nsd.org.
