Lower School Visual Art

Students learned about different kinds of lines and glued down pieces of yarn, then filled in their artwork with tempera paint.

Students built up their fine motor skills and wove yarn, beads, and fabric through burlap.

We studied artwork by Wassily Kandinsky and used palette paper to invent new colors, then paint them in concentric shape designs. Students also looked at artwork by Georgia O’Keeffe and painted flowers from observation.

Students practiced cutting organic and geometric shapes to create collages.

Students pushed objects into clay to create a texture design and glazed their tiles.

Students learned how to mix their unique skin tones using primary colors and painted large scale self-portraits.

Students analyzed artwork by Vincent Van Gogh and drew layered oil pastel drawings.

Students sculpted and glazed a four-legged animal of their choice.

Students were inspired by artist Paul Klee and created tempera paintings with black linear details.

We studied comic book art and students invented their own superheroes in action.

Students traced their silhouettes and filled them in with their favorite things. We looked at how artists Paul Klee, Sonia Delauney, and Aaron Douglas use shape and color.

Students created large tempera paintings inspired by artist Keith Haring.

Students sculpted figures in different action poses and glazed them funky colors inspired by artist Keith Haring.

Students focused on movement and balance in art. They used cardboard and wire to make their own stabiles inspired by Pennsylvania-born artist Alexander Calder.

Students learned about parfleche bags made by the Plains Indians. Inspired by their dynamic, symmetrical designs, students created unique graphic designs with blended colored pencils

We discussed the lives and works of Clementine Hunter and Horace Pippin. Using only the primary colors, students mixed secondary colors, then created paintings of favorite memories.

Students learned about the Lenape Indians as part of their Social Studies curriculum and tried new hand-building techniques in the art room.

Students used the primary colors and black to illustrate what they learned about Alexander Calder’s use of  shape, color, and movement.

We had a wonderful discussion about how important design and aesthetics are in the items we use every day. Students then created their wooden key racks, focusing on interesting shapes and using a new tool—the coping saw!

We explored the life and art of Leonardo DaVinci. Inspired by this original Renaissance man, students examined objects from nature, creating “scientific drawings” and adding watercolor.

After focusing on how artists use shape in their work, students created layered clay relief sculptures. Hand-building with clay, creating textures, and glazing techniques were important objectives.

Using a viewfinder, students cropped a portion of a larger famous painting, making certain to find an interesting composition. These “sweet spots” were the inspiration for our large tempera paintings.  Accurate drawing and color mixing were important objectives.

As part of their classroom poetry project, students created these poetic self portraits using mixed media and collage techniques.

After learning about the life and work of artist and philanthropist Jeffery Owen Hanson, students used acrylic modeling paste to add dimension to canvases and added color with acrylic paints.

One point perspective is an optical and mathematical way to depict three-dimensional space. Students chose a word of their choice, drew it in one-point perspective, and used various drawing tools to add color and finish their designs.

We explored abstraction in art by looking at the works of Pablo Picasso, Paul Klee, Piet Mondrian, Andrew Kuo, Frank Stella, and Reggie Laurent. Students used collage and painting techniques to create their own Abstract art, paying special attention to shape, color, rhythm, and pattern.