Conant Art Studio Newsletter

I've certainly meant to post another art room update sooner, but that is the nature of a busy art studio! 

We have a lot of exciting things happening in art at Conant. Students in grades 4-6 just wrapped up submitting their first WOW work (Wonderful Original Work of art). These artworks are original pieces of art that the artist has worked hard on and is proud of. Through their reflection in their artist statement, Conant artists show their artistic growth. WOW projects are required to take three or more classes to complete, and include a title and artist statement. This is the work that Conant artists choose to exhibit with our art community in our school and via our digital gallery on Artsonia. 

Artists in grades K-3 are also working on WOW work (Wonderful Original Work of art). For younger grade artists, the expectations on creating artwork to exhibit are more fluid and don't include specific deadlines through out the year. I've been helping many younger artists write their titles and artist statements as they have determined they have artwork to share with our art community. Second graders are starting to complete their artists statements independently, and Third graders have learned how to use our art iPads to document their work on Artsonia and complete their artist statement there. 

Creatively Yours, 

Melissa Mastrolia

Conant Visual Arts Educator

What's Been Happening in Art

• Artists in Grades 4-6 may choose to work in Drawing, Collage, Digital, Painting, Sculpture, Fiber, and Clay Centers. They finished up their first WOW work just before February break. Check Grade 6 out here. Check Grade 5 out here. Check Grade 4 out here. 

• Artists in Grade 3 may choose to work in Drawing, Collage, Painting, Sculpture, and Fiber Centers. Soon we will be opening the Clay Center! They have been given the option to start their first WOW, and many students have already finished a few! Check them out here. 

• Artists in Grades 1-2 may choose to work in Drawing, Collage, Painting, Puppets, Pop-Up Sculpture, Temporary Sculpture, Wire Sculpture, and Fiber Center. Many students have learned how to finger knit and we just wrapped up learning how to work with liquid tempera paint! Soon we will be opening they Clay Center where they will learn how to create a pinch pot. They have been given the option to start their first WOW, and many students have already finished a few! - Check them out here. 

• Artists in Grade K may choose to work in Drawing, Collage, and Painting Centers. We've learned how artists share their work with their art community, and many kinder artists have made WOW work to share with their art community! They are currently transitioning to accessing materials directly from the Collage and Painting Centers. Up until recently they've been using materials that I pass out to their tables. I'm excited for them to continue to learn how to take care of our art studio! - Check out their WOW works here.

The start of the school year has been very busy for the Conant Art Studio. So much so, that I've been meaning to share this out for a bit now! 

As I’ve shared at open house, the art program at Conant is a learner-directed, choice-based art curriculum, modeled after the Teaching for Artistic Behavior (TAB) model, with the Studio Thinking Framework at the center. This means students are introduced to and allowed to choose from a variety of centers like drawing, collage, painting, sculpture, fiber, digital, etc. The goal is to offer a program where students are encouraged to assume creative control of their art and art-making processes within an environment designed to support individual inquiry and the development of artistic behaviors. In a choice-based classroom, it is the individual student, not the teacher who defines the project. My role is that of a facilitator, mentor, instructor, and motivator depending on what I observe my students need. 

Please feel free to contact me with any questions. More information, including how to talk to your child(ren) about their art can be found here.

Creatively Yours, 

Melissa Mastrolia

Conant Visual Arts Educator

What's Been Happening in Art

• Artists in Grades 4-6 may choose to work in Drawing, Collage, Digital, Painting, and Sculpture Centers. They just started working towards finishing their first WOW work (Wonderful Original Work of Art) which is displayed in our school and online on Artsonia - Check them out here. 

• Artists in Grade 3 may choose to work in Drawing, Collage, Painting, and Sculpture Centers. They have been given the option to start their first WOW, and many students have already finished one - Check them out here. 

• Artists in Grades 1-2 may choose to work in Drawing, Collage, Painting, Puppets, Pop-Up Sculpture, Temporary Sculpture & soon will be able to work with Wire/Pipe Cleaners for more Sculpture Center choices. They have been given the option to start their first WOW, and many students have already finished on - Check them out here. 

• Artists in Grade K may choose to work in Drawing and Collage Centers. We started the year learning how artists get ideas for their art, learning that artists get inspiration from what they see, remember, observe, care/feel about, and through material exploration. We also explored making art with geometric and organic shapes before we just opened the collage center - Check out some of their explorations here.