Classes

To see projects organized by grade, click on the links above for 6th Grade Art, 7th Grade Art, 8th Grade Art, Advanced 7th Grade Art, or Advanced 8th Grade Art.

All art classes begin the school year by making C O L L A G E S. In my experience, when students are asked to draw or paint at the onset of class, they tend to be a little timid and lack confidence in their mark making. It's natural to compare ourselves to the people around us, but I don't want my students to feel inhibited on the first project or to feel like he or she is "not very good at drawing" by comparison.

With collage, the material is ready and available for you (in the form of magazines, newspapers, etc.), so the artist simply needs to make decisions about which images or pieces to combine for a compelling COMPOSITION... despite his or her perceived 'skill' at drawing.

In elementary school, students may have been asked to make collages that focus on a subject like "My Summer Vacation." At that point, he or she might choose images of 'the beach' or 'baseball' or 'camp' and randomly paste those images to a piece of paper, without considering the overall COMPOSITION.

In the visual arts, COMPOSITION is the placement or arrangement of visual elements or ingredients in a work of art, as distinct from the subject of a work.

In my class, I expect my students to challenge themselves to create more sophisticated compositions that exemplify the elements of great art and design:

Even though the material is easily available for our first project (magazines, newspapers, etc.), we will still challenge our creativity and critical thinking by creating dynamic compositions.

Please check out the SURREALIST COLLAGES the students have created thus far.