爱文小学部艺术空间 Avenues L.S. Art

Devoted to the creative undertakings of Studio 508 and 508S: Ms. Waddell/Wu Laoshi/吴老师 's and Ms. Chen/ Chen Laoshi/ 陈老师's Mandarin Chinese art classes....

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Kindergarten Gallery Trip

For their final art class of the year, Kindergarten students took a field trip to nearby Chelsea galleries.

All the classes were able to visit the Yayoi Kusama show called “Give Me Love” at David Zwirner Gallery.  The kindergarten students were thrilled to be able to partcipate in this artist’s artwork! While they waited to enter a small house at the gallery, the students noticed that this house did not seem much like a New York City house, but rather a house upstate or else in a suburb in another place.

Each student was given a sheet of circular stickers as they entered the house and allowed to cover the interior--and themselves--with stickers! Most students also noted that this artist must really love circles. The students also viewed Kusama’s large metal sculptures in another room, as well as some of her paintings. 

One class that had time also visited the Yinka Shonibare show, “Rage of the Ballet Gods,” at James Cohan Gallery. Here, they noticed that the dancers were wearing special clothes from Africa, had different colored globes for heads, and were each holding weapons! The students also excitedly mimicked the poses of each of several of the ballet gods.

Congratulations to all the K students on a wonderful year in art! We are excited to see you again next year in first grade art!

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Third Grade Surreal Animals

The past two weeks, third graders completed a unit on surrealist artwork. Students learned that the surrealists often combined different images to create new and dreamlike or unusual works. Students then developed their drawing and printmaking skills by combining their studies of surrealism with observational drawing. They created a print of an imaginary animal composed of different real-world animals.

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First Grade Bird Paintings

As a follow-up from their sculptures, first grade students with time then painted and drew a bird. Many chose to use the same bird, while some chose a new one.  They drew their birds from observation using photographs as a reference, and were encouraged to add details from New York City to show that’s where there birds live. 

Above are some of the finished works. Congratulations to the first graders are a fantastic end to their year in art!

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First Grade Paper Mâché Birds

Here are some of the finished birds by our first graders. All of the birds were on display--and flying around--at the students’ parks unit capstone event in late May!

Congratulations to all the first graders. We will see you in the fall!

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First Grade Paper Mâché Birds

For their final unit of the year, and as part of their parks unit, the first graders discussed types of birds they had seen in New York City.  They then began to create New York City bird of their own. 

First, they discussed the parts of a bird, and chose a bird based on a range of photographs that Wu Laoshi and Chen Laoshi provided. Students chose birds such as cardinals, blue jays, hermit thrushes and pigeons. The students also made the form of their bird using newspaper, masking tape, and cardboard. 

in the following week, the students used a paper mâché technique, by mixing paper mâché paste and adding strips of newspaper. They were all very familiar with this process, having made their lions’ heads at Chinese New Year out of paper mâché as well! 

In the final weeks, students painted their birds and added details such as feathers and eyes. Wu Laoshi and Chen Laoshi also helped the students by adding wire feet. Stay tuned for some of the results!

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Second Grade Meals on Plates

Above is a selection of the fabulous ceramic meals on plates that second grade students made in art class as part of their World Course studies of food. 

Congratulations to all second grade students, and we will see you next year in third grade!

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Kindergarten Mood Paintings

For their final unit of the year, Kindergarten students spent several art classes making a large-scale painting based on a mood they chose. 

Each student first chose one or two colors they felt best represented their mood, and then filled this color in as a base color on their papers. In subsequent weeks, the students continued to develop their works by choosing the paint brushes, lines, images, and colors they needed to complete their work. 

During this time, the students also looked at paintings from art history and discussed the moods they felt the artists were trying to represent. Students looked at artists such as Mark Rothko, Pablo Piccasso, Wassily Kandinsky, Francisco Goya, JMW Turner, etc. 

The final works were on display at the Kindergarten students’ capstone event in June!

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Second Grade Ceramic Plates and Meals

Second graders have been hard at work in the last few months! 

After their explorations with clay, students learned about how to sculpt a plate from clay. They first rolled out a slab of clay and used this to make the plate. Once cut out and slumped over a form, the students had to make a foot for their plates and use a score and slip technique to attach the foot. 

In subsequent weeks, the students’ plates were fired, and during this time, the students looked at examples of plate design in art history.  They then created a radial design for their plates, building off what they had learned during their printmaking unit. Each student created a unique design, and transferred this in pencil to their plates. 

The students also learned about ceramic glazes and glazed their plate design according to how the glazes might change in the kiln. 

Following this, each student decided on a meal they like to eat, sculpted it from clay, and eventually glazed it. 

Stay tuned for the fabulous results, which will be on display at the second grade capstone in a week. 

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Third Grade Imaginary Map

Students made imaginary map based on where their glove puppets come from. Students pretend they are a bird or in an airplane looking down on the street of the imaginary island. What do they see? Students talked about what are some of the basic elements of Map Composition and how they can make it interesting on their map by using their imagination. In this project, students learned the skill of blending watercolor and making collage. Students continue their study of map (geography) during art class and utilizing the Chinese vocabularies related to map that they have been learning in geography class.

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Kindergarten Mood Monsters

Kindergarten students have begun to discuss mood in art by making their very own monsters with a mood. After looking at images from the storybook “Glad Monster, Sad Monster,” they reviewed the word for monster in Chinese (怪物), and discussed different words for moods and feelings, such as happy （开心), sad （难过), angry（生气), tired（累),  and scared（害怕). The students also discussed the ways that monsters look different from people. 

Each student then began to draw a monster with a mood or feeling using permanent marker, and in subsequent weeks, they added color with crayons and liquid watercolors. The students also watched a Chinese version of the story “Where the Wild Things Are.” 

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First Grade Ceramic Platters with Fruit

After their project looking at fruit and vegetables in two dimensions, first graders began to take their skills into three dimensions. Using real-life fruits and vegetables, or images of them, they sculpted their edibles from clay.

In the following week, the students learned about glazes, and how they often change color in the kiln. Each student worked carefully to glaze their forms with true-to-life colors. 

In the subsequent week, the students made a clay platter for one of their sculptures, and added beads to their platters for embellishement. Here, the students were encouraged to think about patterns and balance while placing their beads.

Currently, the fruits, vegetables, and platters are slowly coming out of our two Avenues kilns! The fruits and vegetables above are just a few of the wonderful results. 

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Third Grade Comics

From the characters, to the story, to the actual art on the page,  third grade students created their own comics based on the puppets they made in the fall. As their stories developed, they learned more and more about their characters what would really make them come alive. 

All of the students’ comic pages were made into a comic book and placed in the classroom for students to share their stories with each other. The students have many fun stories to tell!

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Kindergarten Relief Sculptures

After their unit on clay, Kindergarten began to study sculpture in a more abstract way. 

In the first week, the students used glue and cardboard to create a well-designed relief sculpture, and then painted these work with white, black, or grey paint. In the following week, students added found objects to their sculptures. The students had great fun choosing from various materials such as fabric, corks, buttons, plastic tiles, paper straws, carpet, etcetera. 

Also during the second week, the students also visited Pace gallery in order to view a show of work by the famous sculptor Louise Nevelson. The students really loved seeing this giant sculptures, and were able to draw in the galleries.

Students’ finished sculptures are now on view on the fifth floor outside the elevators. 

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Kindergarten Coil Vessels

After their explorations with clay, Kindergarten students set out to make coil vessels. Using a “cookie” as a base, and “snakes,” “coils,” or “lines” as their building blocks, students made vases, cups, and pencil holders. 

After firing these works in the kiln, the students then glazed their works with food-safe glazes. The pieces were then fired again, and the finished works were shown in our annual art show from February 28-March 6

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Exploring Clay

We have been busy with 3D work in the Lower School art rooms this past month! Students in all of Grades K, 1, and 2 have all completed projects in ceramics. In the first week, all three grades started out with a week of clay exploration. 

The students practiced making balls, coils ("snake)", flat pieces ("cookies"), and other simple clay forms. They then practiced joining the clay pieces to make whatever they wished, and were give the option to add other pieces. 

The works in this week were not kept at the end, but here we can see several students proudly displaying what they made. 

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First Grade Ink Still Life Paintings

After their work drawing fruit, first grade students got a chance to make a real still life painting! 

They first explored ink by making patterns and adding water to the ink to make it lighter. The students discovered they had to hold their brushes very lightly in order to make controlled marks. 

Next, the students spent one class making a still life of fruits and vegetables. The classroom was dark, the still life was lit, and the whole process felt very dramatic!

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Fruit Drawing

First grade students completed a fruit drawing about transformation. They were given a piece of paper split into three sections and drew a fruit three times, changing the fruit each time by eating some of it. The challenge was for students to work from direct observation than from a photo, so they can experience the process of "before- during- after."

Students exclaimed that this was the Tastiest & Funnest art class ever!