Lessons in Art History

Collaborative Art History Gridding Investigations, Studio Art 11/12, SKSS

The Great Wave, by Hokusai (original colour woodblock, 1829)

The Old Guitarist, by Pablo Picasso, 1904, oil painting
Collaborative Gridding Acrylic Painting, SKSS

SKSS Art Students assemble the finished work!

Recently, I had the pleasure of connecting with a former SKSS art student who is currently studying design.  As an art educator I am always interested in art and design university studies; however, our conversation quickly turned from the content of university assignments to the importance of art history. Evidently, this vibrant alumnus argued a personal passion for why young students need to study and investigate aspects of art history. 

 

Painting Inspired Sculpture, grade 10-12

Dali, The Melting Clock                                     Edvard Munch                                                       Edvard Munch, Madonna

Art teachers have always looked to the masters for inspiration in the field of art education.  Further, keeping art history exciting and meaningful to current students tends to be the challenge or we risk the classroom quickly turning into an ‘art in the dark’ slideshow lecture.  In this sense, my brief conversation questioning the need for more art history lessons personally inspired and influenced our art making process and artistic investigation this year at South Kam. Specifically, we learned more about symbols in visual language and aspects of gathering clues through images to reveal what was important to people from the past.

In fact, I encourage you to join Ellen, my former student, online sharing her passions for art history through her growingly popular Instagram feed: @arthistorylesson.  Thank so much for the lesson, Ellen!

Personal Images Inspired by the paintings of Edward Hopper, 

Drawing & Painting 11/12

Plaster Frescos, Grade 9/10 

Investigating Portraits, Studio Art 11/12

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 19^th, 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!