Fine and Applied Arts

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.

On Friday, November 19, Ed Johnetta Miller, an internationally acclaimed quilt artist, shared her art and her craft with students at Union School.  Her visit was funded by a grant received this fall from Bob’s Furniture. Union School’s art teacher, Suzanne Magnee, and department chair Julie Sawyer organized and facilitated the visit. Ed Johnetta Miller is on the cover of the December issue of Hartford Magazine. Her quilts are displayed at the Smithsonian, Nelson Mandela’s National Museum in Cape Town, South Africa, as well as closer to home-at St. Francis Hospital.  During her visit at Union School Ed Johnetta worked with groups of students to create pieces for an abstract quilt representing the diversity of our local and larger community. Students brought in pieces of fabric from their own lives, and Ed Johnetta shared fabric she has collected from her worldwide travels.  Parents and teachers worked side by side with students, weaving and quilting together beautiful fabrics from diverse cultures. Ed Johnetta will sew together the pieces of the quilt students made to create a permanent installation at Union School.  Once the quilt is installed, classes will brainstorm and vote on a title for the quilt.

Inspired by the artwork of Claude Monet and the beauty of East Farms School’s Five Senses Garden, students created paintings “en plein air” (in the open air).  Working from a variety of perspectives to capture the moment, they painted their quick impressions of the surrounding landscape.  One young artist remarked, “When we painted outside I felt exactly what it was like to be an Impressionist painter.  You can learn a lot by reading books but this was real!”

“We are so fortunate to have this garden as a teaching resource for our school. Learning by doing is central to the visual arts and giving our students a variety of experiences in multiple settings is key to developing problem-solving and artistic thinking skills,” said Mrs. Kaplan, one of the two art teachers at the school.  Mrs. Donlon added, “We are also planning a visit to the Hill-Stead Museum so that our students can view the amazing collection of original Impressionist artwork, and make the connection between what they created and the work of famous artists.”

Gallery of Student Work:

EVERY week is Arts Week at the Farmington Public Schools!  To honor this national recognition of the arts in education, however, we’d like to update our extended community about our ongoing programs and plans for the 2010-2011 school year!

EAST FARMS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL:

The Art teachers at East Farms School will be developing interdisciplinary units for Grade One and Grade Two students to deepen and diversify their learning.  Mrs. Donlon and Mrs. Kaplan will be collaborating with Classroom, Music, and P.E teachers to design a “Healthy Bodies, Healthy Minds” unit for Grade Two, and “Art from Around the World” for Grade One to connect with their study of Continents.  Each unit will have a culminating activity to showcase teaching and learning, and will provide an opportunity for students to share their knowledge and experiences with the East Farms community.

NOAH WALLACE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL:

At NW we are in the drafting stages of developing a STEAM project for all children ((k-4) in art. STEAM is > science, technology, engineering, art, and math . STEAM is a growing national education initiative.

At NW we already utilize the Arts PROPEL and Reggio Emilia Atelier models for experiential learning in a constructivist environment. (ie. hands on and learning by doing)

The Atelier art classroom lends itself easily to curricular connections in – science, math and literature to enhance the art lessons.  This year we are developing Project Windmill… and exploring other STEAM possibilities.  More to follow.

Lastly, second graders from the Noah Wallace art atelier will be exchanging artwork, letters, and digital photographs with second graders in Warren, Maine.  We envision a lively “pen pal” interaction as we use technology and forms of literacy for this year-long exchange of ideas and creativity.

WEST DISTRICT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL:

West District is filled with talented young artists. Here we focus on building necessary skills to help us be successful in and out of the art room.  Mrs. Bastiaanse-Fritch, creates authentic art experiences, focusing on artists, and art materials.  The elementary art experience should be experimental, skill building, and most importantly fun! This year Mrs. Bastiaanse-Fritch will continue to expand the multi-cultural program through the help of Augustine CoFrancesco’s grant which will allow third and fourth graders the opportunity to meet students from other towns and visit art museums. Also, Mrs. Bastiaanse-Fritch will continue to build leadership qualities in our students through the Tiger Leader program which was created last year as a collaboration between the Health/PE and Art departments.

WEST WOODS UPPER ELEMENTARY SCHOOL:

Visual arts at West Woods will be having two Family Art Nights this year to accommodate more families and have more fun.  We will also have receptions for each of the Art Studio 53 and Art Studio 54 sections to be able to show more of each student’s work at each show.

This year we will have a visiting artist come to West Woods in the spring and we hope it will be former Farmington High School art teacher, Marela Zacarias.

Ms. Ringquist and Ms. DeWind are planning on having art chairs for auction at the Winter Concerts this year and encourage everyone to bid high and bid often!

We also plan on having student artwork on display at the CAEA art show and at Farmington Town Hall in March.

IRVING ROBBINS MIDDLE SCHOOL:

Students in Mrs. Flowers’ classes will be exploring design and media that challenges students to problem-solve, create artwork that is meaningful and analyze the strengths of their work.  Art Club is held after school on Wednesdays of each week.  At this time, student artists develop personal interests in art, beyond that which is covered in class.  After school on Thursdays, students can work on special projects that are theme based and/or linked to content in other classrooms.  During this time, students can develop large-scale sculptures, drawings, paintings or digital imagery.

We welcome Ms. Trambert back to the classroom and she is thrilled to be back and is looking forward to working with 7th and 8th grade students in the art room!

FARMINGTON HIGH SCHOOL:

The Fine and Applied Arts program at the high school continues to offer many extra-curricular opportunities for its students, including a weekly Art Club, internship possibilities with the Leadership Through the Arts program; Rebuild Together Hartford, Habitat for Humanity and Electrathon America.

Students have many opportunities to show their work through annual competitions such as the Tunxis Challenge; Emerging Talent at the Gallery on the Green, Manchester Community College’s high school and college student art competition, the Farmington Valley Women’s Club and Scholastics, among others.

Our students are involved in several exhibits and events throughout the year.  Please check our blog and website often for upcoming dates.  If you have any questions about our programs, or would like to volunteer as an art advocate, please email or call Julie Sawyer, Chair of the Fine and Applied Arts Department, at 860.673.2514 x1307 or sawyerj@fpsct.org.