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The SKSS Visual Arts Department believes that the quality of a student’s life is uniquely enriched in essential ways by the development of skills and values learned in the creation of artworks. Visual arts encourage the students to function on multiple intellectual, analytical, thoughtful and expressive levels.

Friday, September 18, 2015

Inspired by Collaboration: Imaginary Animals

Animals enrich us in so many ways … the facial expression of an irritated house cat or the sheer beauty of witnessing a local herd of Bighorn sheep crossing the street at Sun Rivers in Kamloops.  Animals are interesting to learn about and observe. In this sense, animals inspire a creative subject for playful art making. 
Upper: Kaitlyn M face painting, LG artwork: Raccola
Lower: Art by LG student, Kate M & Rhona Armes admire LG student practice face painting 

Throughout the month of June 2015, South Kamloops Students participated in a collaborative art project with Lloyd George Elementary School.  Grade three artists from Mme Roy’s classroom came to the South Kam artroom and created an imaginary animal with a high school student.  Through a dialogue of composition, explanation of line, shape, colour, and an openness to creativity, 24 elementary students designed imaginary animals.  This process of creating imaginary creatures provided an ideal subject to take risks, try new materials, and connect both realistic and imagined imagery. 

Designing Collaborative Images: Easton & LG student
Garden Art Show!  SKSS Students set up the framed elementary student work in our school courtyard.
LG students were invited to SKSS back for a second visit to view the in-progress artwork created
 by their high school buddy's.  We also had some face painting! 
SKSS Student Courtney shares a moment with LG students reading artist statements.
The second stage of our creative thinking involved SKSS art students working with the images created by the grade 3 students to develop a personally meaningful image.  Aspects of material and composition presented a diverse opportunity for students to develop the image, maintaining some of the same qualities while pushing the sophistication of each imagined animal. 

Here are some of the outcomes of the SKSS student work:

Artwork by: Kate, grade 9
Artwork by: Camryn, grade 10
Artwork by: Lauren, grade 9
Our collaborative project comes together with a final presentation of student learning at Riverside Park on September 19th, 2015.  Students will share our work and process with the community at the Kamloops Children’s Art Festival, an annual event hosted by the Kamloops Art Council. We are very proud to be a part of this celebration of the arts and share our finished work with with Kamloops!