The February Youth Art Month North Shore School District 112 Exhibit

This exhibit represented a selection of kindergarten through eighth grade art work created by students in North Shore School District 112.

The exhibit was on display from

February 19th through February 26th at

The Arts Center of Highland Park

1957 Sheridan Road, Highland Park

We were proud to share a small sampling of the outstanding work produced daily in the district schools with the community.

Artwork will be returned through school following the show.

                                                               

Ceramic Pencil Holders

If you were handed a half pound of clay and asked to make a pencil holder could you do it?  Fifth grade students were posed that challenge and exceeded many expectations!  

The question surrounding this project was, "How could you create a creature or simple composition that could balance a pencil (or toothbrush) using at least 2 appendages?  The extensions could be anything imaginable; flower petals, arms, pylons, tentacles, etc."  Needless to say, monsters, insects, animals, and many imaginative inanimate objects were created! They are currently on display in the lobby.

Gustav Klimt Quilt

Gustav Klimt was born July 14, 1862, Vienna, Austria—died Feb. 6, 1918, in Vienna.   He is best known as an Austrian painter and founder of the school of painting known as the Vienna Sezession.  He painted in the art nouveau style and added gold leaf to many of his beautiful paintings.

Forth grade students drew a self-portrait and covered themselves with quilt after quilt throughout the rest of the page.  Some students chose to include family members, favorite pets, or stuffed friends in their bed with them.

Inspired by the intricate detailed works of Klimt, students used the principles of line design to fill in each quilt section with thin, thick, wavy, and jagged lines as well as geometric shapes.  They traced over their designs with black sharpies and filled in their compositions with water color paints.   They are currently burrowing down for the winter near the fourth grade classrooms.

Freedom Quilts with Secret Code

How much do you know about quilts and secret codes? Did you know that slaves in the South used the patterns on quilts to help guide them through the Underground Railroad to freedom? Hidden in Plain View outlines the struggles and triumphs of the the Underground Railroads quilt code creators and secret keepers.

We celebrated Black History Month by learning more about the history of African Americans in this country. The fourth graders learned all about the codes and quilt creation. If you ask, maybe they’ll tell you some of the secret codes...maybe.

They created their own quilts by learning about the meanings behind the different patterns, creating a grid through measurement, and then applied their plan to their final work using a number system.  After the numbers were entered into their grids they applied their colored papers to the grid.  We used specialty papers that included metallic, animal print, embossed and stitched designs.  Student finalized their work by explaining the meaning of their quilts in a short written paragraph.

Quilt Code Patterns

Loom and Pom Pom Weavings

How many life-skills can you tie into one textile project?  I wanted to challenge my third grade students to problem solve and apply skills they would utilize again and again throughout their lives.  How?  By presenting them with a loom and a whole lot of yarn!  Students learned how to tie knots in  different ways,  fix knots in their work they didn't mean to create, stay detail oriented to the task of weaving over-under-over-under throughout their project, create interesting patterns and designs by weaving in different areas of their loom, and discovering how to recycle cardboard in order to create colorful pom-poms!  

Because of the variables with sizes of yarns, designs, and ability levels, it was a great exercise that enabled students to challenge themselves to see how sophisticated they could make their weaving.  

Most students came in during lunch recess on our coldest days to socialize and work on their weavings with their friends.  It created a great sense of community and they worked as a responsible third grade team to clean up after themselves before returning to class.  I have prepared a large "school wide" loom for students to work on either solo or with friends when their work is finished before the end of the class period.  They are currently on display by the gym and in our school lobby.

Monet's Ice Cream

Have you ever looked at a Monet and wondered, "How did he make such beautiful lightened colors"? Second grade students examined some of Monet's paintings and we discussed his use of white paint mixed with bright colors to mute them into tinted pastels.  

We needed a subject to explore these new colors, so what better subject than ice cream?  Students drew their tiered sundaes and embellished them with spoons, marshmallows, fruit, sprinkles and anything else their imaginations would allow.  

When we completed the drawings, we traced them with Sharpie® marker to define our shapes (this helps us see our drawings better as we paint over the lines).  Once the paintings were complete, we outlined the work in black paint using a fine-tipped brush and drew any tiny details on with colored Sharpie®.  As you can see, their work turned out delicious!

First Grade Matisse Flower Painting

First grade has been working tirelessly to create beautiful flower paintings inspired by the artist, Henri Matisse.We discussed “The Purple Robe and Anemones”, painted in 1937, and used it’s vibrant colors and content to inspire the vases and flowers the students painted.

We began by drawing a vase, the table, the flowers, and the wallpaper sections.

After the entire picture was outlined in black marker, we spent a day painting in areas with solid color.

The next day we discussed the wallpaper and simple geometric designs-not symbols. Students completed their paintings by filling in their wallpaper using only one color per color sections.

The final touch was outlining the entire painting with black tempera paint to clean up rough edges produced in the painting process.

Lincoln and I Self-Portrait

Lincoln’s first and second grade students recently performed cheerful songs for their concert in February.

On display were some precious and well executed self-portraits as well as the student’s interpretation of Abraham Lincoln!

They learned how to draw Abraham Lincoln by allowing me to take them step by step through the portrait drawing process.

After they had completed their President, I demonstrated how to create a simple self-portrait.  Students personalized their drawings by adding their own hair, clothes, and jewelry.  

The pictures were outlined in black sharpie and painted using watercolors. They are currently on display just outside the gym.