Fine and Applied Arts

Intergenerational Arts Program at Union School

Making music and art together, helped develop intergenerational relationships between Union School students and senior citizens from Farmington’s Village Gate.  Art teacher Suzie Magnee in collaboration with music teacher Kate Smallidge developed and taught this eight- week EXCL enrichment program providing students with small group instruction in art and music extending beyond the curriculum, and offering students an opportunity to meet and establish relationships with members of our community.

In preparation for visits with their new senior friends from Village Gate, the children learned new songs and drumming skills.  During the visit from Village Gate, the seniors learned to sing the refrain to songs such as Inch by Inch, and Weave me the Sunshine and   enthusiastically joined in the drumming ensemble playing hand drums and maracas.  Using their understanding of form and texture, the children created whimsical clay pots in the art room.  They later collaborated with the seniors by illustrating clay tiles for a hanging quilt. 

As a culminating celebration, the children traveled to the Village Gate to present their collaborative clay quilt, and share music with the seniors.  The visit was a joyful experience for everyone involved.  Some of the Village Gate Seniors shared their thoughts.

 “It’s the best thing they could have done for us,” said Jonni D’Andrea, a Village Gate resident who participated in the program. “They were wonderful with the rhythm; their teachers are amazing. I’m so disappointed this program is ending.”

“They’re so full of fun and so welcoming,” Bunny Frey said.

“— and hugs,” Bernice Murphy added.

“It made you feel like a grandmother again,” D’Andrea said.

“Life was brought to Village Gate,” said Jane Blanco.

Art teacher Suzie Magnee developed this program as a vehicle for exploring creative expression through the arts and for collaborating with individuals from a different generation.  “We are fortunate to have strong performing and visual arts curricula in Farmington.  This was a great opportunity to share our students’ creativity and skills with an appreciative audience, and tap into the creativity of seniors in our community.  Our students enjoyed collaborating and developing new relationships.   The seniors have so much knowledge and experience to share with the students which further inspired the creative process.”   

On February 8th, Avis Turner, art teacher at Noah Wallace School, offered an Arts Passport workshop for families on Senufo Cloth.  Senufo, or mudcloth, is an ancient art form originating from the Ivory Coast of West Africa.

Using the elements of art and principles of design, participants filled the inner space of the contour line with patterns; using black on white and white on black to fill the negative space.

A frame of geometric and organic shapes is then created around the main image and beyond that, acrylic paint  is used to finish off the background.

This was a multi-generational event.  Family members worked and created side-by-side; including elementary children, teenagers, parents and a grandparent!

Please see the list of Arts Passport activities in the right sidebar as well as other events and exhibits planned for this spring!  June 2nd will be our end-of-the-year celebration at the New Britain Museum of American Art.

The Farmington Public Schools Art Department Faculty and Alumni exhibited their artwork for the month of January in the Hoppin Gallery of the newly renovated Barney library. “This is a wonderful opportunity for people in the community to see what we do as artists, and this is a beautiful gallery space,” said Julie Sawyer, Department Leader.

District art teachers and students created a variety of pieces that included painting, drawing, photography, mixed media, weaving, assemblage and conceptual art.  At the opening reception, Ted Lindquist remarked, “It’s been said that those who can, do, and those who can’t do, teach.  This show is a great example of people who teach AND do.”

~ Carol Kaplan

Click the images in the gallery below to enlarge them.

Please join us this year!  Workshops for Adults — workshops for families — field trips!

Events are listed on the district website, the sidebar of this blog, and the district calendar.  Emails and Friday Folder notices go out on a regular basis.

Please see the gallery below for our recent workshops at Irving Robbins, Union and West District.  Click on the images for larger views.

International Peace Day was celebrated on Wednesday, September 21 at Union School and around the world.     The students participated in international art installation program called Pinwheels for Peace.  Every child created a pinwheel with a unique design and message.  We placed the pinwheels on the grounds of Union School to form a large circle of peace.  Students and teachers congregated to enjoy the art installation, and to read the hopeful messages while third graders Joe Scully, Kylee Ficks, and Anna Mastrogiavani shared their writing about how to create peace in the world and at Union School.

Pinwheels for Peace originated in 2005, the brainchild of two art teachers.  This year two million artists participated around the world.  The Pinwheels for Peace installation brought Union School together in many ways.  Students celebrated peace throughout the day by showing off their creative “peace outfits”.

Children worked collaboratively discussing what peace meant to them.  These peaceful affirmations were attached to every pinwheel!  This project taught students that art is a powerful way to convey a meaningful message to the community. Next year Union School hopes to invite the town to participate in this beautiful art installation!

Submitted by Suzie Magnee

Leslie Flowers, in collaboration with the 7^th grade Social Studies Department, developed a lesson in response to the EQ: “How does religion influence culture?”  Students began by responding to why art is considered a cultural universal.  Through the study of images of Christian, Islamic and Judaic art, artifacts and architecture, they were able to identify key features from each culture, describing the purpose and symbolism behind the works.   Students worked in small groups to discuss the images and search for relevant details that would support their predictions.  It was exciting to have the students taking a deeper look at the ancient images and making connections between religion, art and the culture from which they were created.

Mrs. Flowers has been teaching an Adobe Photoshop Elements class after school for several weeks during the last Spring semester.  The challenge presented to students was to design an image that would portray the impact of man on our world.  The idea stemmed from a Dow Chemical commercial which states; “the human element-the element of change”.   Open to a variety of interpretations, students explored their ideas, and created an image in response.

This March Union School students created Japanese influenced Sumi-ink paintings during a unit of study on Japanese art.  During this painting unit many of the students brought up concerns about the devastation caused by the Japanese earthquakes.  A few students expressed interest in supporting the relief efforts.  We decided that a silent art auction would be a fabulous way to celebrate the arts while also helping to raise money for Japan.

Students and teachers met after school with art teacher Suzanne Magnee, throughout the past few months to create a variety of pieces for the art auction.  Some teachers and students painted in a Japanese style of painting using black ink and bamboo brushes.  “I wanted to help the children in Japan by making a painting for the auction,” exclaimed a Kaylin Osaki, a fourth grader.

Gyotaku is a traditional form of Japanese fish printing, dating from the mid-19th century.  Students also created a series of fish prints which they sewed onto tote bags using a sewing machine.  These bags will also be available at the art auction.

The silent art auction will be held in the Union School Library on Tuesday, May 31^st from 6-7:30.   There will be a variety of art from which to choose including collages, paintings, photographs, and greeting cards.  All the money raised will be donated to support the ongoing Japanese relief effort.

“Girl in Origami Dress”

By Kirstin Morris

Students at East Farms Elementary School created an art installation to raise awareness of the devastation in Japan resulting from the March earthquake and tsunami. Mrs. Lamarre’s second grade students were very concerned about the victims of the disaster, especially the children, and wanted to do something to show they cared. They learned that there was a Japanese tradition of folding 1,000 paper cranes, which would make a person’s wish come true.

The second graders collaborated with their book buddies in Mrs. Bren’s fourth grade class and figured out that each of them would have to fold 23 cranes to reach their goal of 1,000. That’s when they decided to enlist the help of the whole school. Art teacher Mrs. Kaplan volunteered to thread them together in an installation and the birds began pouring in!

“We have always had an active commitment to community service at East Farms and we have supported many causes over the years. This project was an opportunity for students to make an emotional connection with their local school community and their global community, through shared compassion. Our hope is that their paper-fold wishes for Japan today will inspire their participation in philanthropic endeavors in the future,” said Mrs. Kaplan.

West Woods Upper Elementary School has a vibrant fine arts program because of two amazing teaching artists who are incredibly devoted to their students.  Because of their love of art and their passion for creating, Marie Ringquist and JoAnn DeWind have created many opportunities for their students to work in a variety of media.

Art Studios 53 & 54 are offered in 3 separate sections in order to accommodate the greatest number of students during the school year.  Ms. DeWind chose weaving “because the process introduces skills that I can’t bring into a classroom of 20 or more students.  Weaving offers a great connection with traditional art and crafts and is a wonderful hands-on learning opportunity.  Students can adapt what they make to include bookmarks, belts, and guitar straps.  The mechanical portion of weaving, which includes the warping and the weaving of the weft, enhances appreciation for the time and effort that goes into making fabric.  The choices of colors and patterns allow for individual expression.”

During November, West Woods students, parents and relatives attended a Family Art Night to create a hanging window mosaic.  Each family group was given a large piece of Plexiglas where they could attach glass-like tiles to create a stunning design that would be complete and ready to take home with them in two hours or less.  Ms. Ringquist provided materials, instruction, and exemplars; then consulted families during the remaining time.  Ideas and designs from families greatly varied depending on their interests; from flowers, to boats, snowmen and radial designs.  All projects resulted in a huge success.  Best of all, these West Woods families enjoyed a pleasant evening of quality time bonding, laughing, reflecting and creatively collaborating.

This spring, Ms. Ringquist and Ms. DeWind are excited to be welcoming Marela Zacarias back to the district as WWUES’ visiting artist.  Ms. Zacarias, who left to attend graduate school, is a nationally-recognized muralist and has been invited to participate in this year’s Biennial Exhibition.

Family Arts Nights have become a tradition at West Woods as well.  In the gallery of images below, you’ll see recent photos of Ms. Ringquist’s mosaic workshops and Ms. DeWind’s luminarias workshop.

Beyond the classroom, Ms. Ringquist is heavily involved in the Connecticut Arts Educators’ Association and Youth Art Month, which is coming up in March.  Ms. DeWind is a theatre artist as well as a ceramist and will be traveling to Seattle soon to attend the National Art Educators Association’s annual conference.

Both teachers recently auctioned off chairs during the Winter Concerts to benefit the WWUES Art Department and the CoFrancesco scholarship.  If you are interested in learning more about WWUES’ art programs, please contact JoAnn or Marie at dewindj@fpsct.org or ringquistm@fpsct.org.