After looking at the work of artist Wayne Thiebaud, known for his luscious dessert paintings, the middle school students created their own pictures of their favorite dessert. When the drawing project was completed the students each decorated and then devoured a real cup cake.
The 2/3s have been studying the Hudson River. In conjunction with their classroom work they are painting a mural of the River and its surrounds using acrylic paint on a 5' x 6' canvas. When it is finished the mural will hang in the office of New York State Office of Children and Family Services.
The K/1s are studying animals of the Northeast. To enhance their classroom work they crafted clay animals in art class and then built three habitats: a wetlands, a forest and a field where they will locate their animal.
I've been teaching art at Parker since the school's beginning in 1991. Working with students over their kindergarten through eighth grade year becomes a longitudinal study of creative child development. It's inspiring and energizing to be part of the students' amazing growth as artists thoughtful young adults.