Art in the Park: Lighthouses

It's my 7th summer of Art in the Park and we're having a fun time.

This week, the other two guest artists are Mrs. Schlette and Mrs. G. Johnson.

My unofficial name this week is "Ms. JJ" which they got a kick out of. What else are we to do with two Mrs. Johnsons in Kunkle Park?!

Great group. This first week is for 5-7 year olds. Next week we go from ages 7-12.

My first project for the week is this lighthouse painting.

We talked about the history of lighthouses for a bit and the kids impressed me with their knowledge and creative thinking.

On Monday, we set to drawing a lighthouse and used watercolors for the backgrounds.

Today, we added some of the details in and started our second project. 

Tomorrow will be more details and work on the background of the second project (giraffe painting).

I am enjoying being outside in the mornings and seeing all of the art in progress. We have all sorts of projects happening and I look forward to sharing the art show images with you later in the week.

So far, I've seen two Bear Tavern students this week (yay!). Gavin is in the camp with me and Aldo happened to be biking by with his family and stopped to say hello and chat for a bit.

Over and out until later in the week.

Year in Review: Grounds for Sculpture Exhibit!

On Tuesday I drove over to Grounds for Sculpture to pick up the work from our solo exhibit in the education gallery titled "Reflections in the Classroom".

The exhibit was meaningful on so many levels. First off, I felt extremely sentimental packing up my car with the 5th graders work because they are moving on to middle school now. I placed each framed piece in the car and thought about how great the past 5 years of knowing these kids and their families has been. As I looked again at the talent from these 10 and 11 year olds, I felt really proud to see what strong creative minds each has become and what lovely people. 

The exhibit was one of the best in my professional teaching career. We journeyed to GFS a couple of times to soak up the immense beauty of the landscape and when we visited in November 2014, each student went with a mission to capture inspiration in many ways: via sketches, photographs, writings, etc. Back in the art room, we discussed ideas and materials. 

Above: Art ready to be hung for the exhibit; Below: Two students working on projects during Art Enrichment.

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Here's the whole group before the art left for GFS in April.

The day of our opening was really special. GFS gave each Artist a special name tag and had a lovely spread of finger foods for everyone to eat. It was an honor to have our Superintendent of schools, Dr. Smith, Interim Principal, Mr. Welsh, District Elementary Coordinator, Mr. Umstead and Secretary, Ms. Kopcow along with their families attend the opening.

Later in the month, for our annual fourth grade field trip, it was especially meaningful to see Bear Tavern students view the exhibit. They were really impressed by the work and that kids that they know "are famous artists".

Congratulations to my students on a job well done.

Visit Grounds for Sculpture this summer for an experience like no other: www.groundsforsculpture.org

2015 Summer Drawing Challenge

It's summertime! For this year's summer drawing challenge, instead of a custom designed page like you've received the past few years, I'm giving you three drawing challenges that I found on the web. Students in grades 1-5, choose 30 or more of the drawing prompts across all three pages! Please check your email for my letter home that detailed the specifics of the challenge this summer!

I hope you have a fun, creative, relaxing summer and hopefully I'll see many of you!

I will be at Art in the Park the first couple of weeks of the summer and hope to see some of you. 

Thanks for an incredible year!

oxox,

Mrs. Johnson

Update 8.24.2015

PS : This is an optional exercise. Art Enrichment students, it is optional for you as well.