Welcome to

Mrs. Gorruso's Art Class

Thanks for stopping by! This site is your go-to place for all things art at Jennings Elementary. Click on any photo to explore more about each project, or use the tabs at the top of the page to navigate. If you ever have questions or just want to connect, feel free to reach out — I’d love to hear from you! Contact: agorruso@fairfieldschools.org

Enjoy exploring!

Photos from the Art Room

Click on your child's current grade, and then click on any of their classes from K-5

Jennings Dot Day

September 15th - 22nd

To celebrate International Dot Day, Jennings K–5 students participated in two exciting, school-wide art projects!

First, all 270 students contributed to a collaborative mural now on display in the Jennings Library. Special thanks to Mrs. Minogue, Mrs. P, and Mr. Nick (our awesome custodian) for helping install it above the bookcases, where it will remain through the end of the school year.

Mason (5L) shows off his "6-7" dot

2B's Kandinsky-inspired dots

Jennings’ 2025 Dot Day Mural is proudly displayed in the LMC

The second project was inspired by contemporary artist Yayoi Kusama. Students learned about Kusama’s iconic use of dots and then took part in an immersive installation by covering a room—wrapped entirely in white paper—with colorful dot stickers. They had a great time transforming the space together!

The completed Jennings collaborative dot mural after six days of creativity and teamwork

Griffin (1H) making his mark

Cezanne (2R) with her dot dog creation

Alexa (4M) placing floor dots

Smiles all around as Kiera, Ava, and Parker from (3A) place their dots

2M engaged in dotting fun

Piet Mondrian (1872-1944)

Piet Mondrian. Composition in Red, Blue, and Yellow. 1930.

Kindergarten

This month, kindergarteners explored the primary colors—red, yellow, and blue—through a project inspired by Piet Mondrian. They learned how lines can create shapes and used cardboard and black paint to print straight lines, forming rectangles and squares. It was a fun way to practice color recognition, shape awareness, and creative thinking!

KP adding black lines to their Mondrian piece with cardboard

Henri Matisse. The Sheaf. 1953.

Zentangle Design Examples

First Grade

This month, first graders learned about the difference between organic and geometric shapes, inspired by the artwork of Henri Matisse. They practiced identifying both types of shapes in their environment, then drew, cut out, and securely glued them to create abstract collages. Students used overlapping techniques to build colorful, layered compositions—just like Matisse’s famous paper cut-outs. Finally, to add pizzazz, students drew zentangles on top of their designs.

Click here to watch 1H in action!

Second Grade

This month, second graders learned about Pablo Picasso and his many artistic styles, including Realism, the Blue Period, the Rose Period, and Cubism. To reinforce their understanding, students played a fun game identifying which style matched different Picasso artworks. Then, they created their own Picasso-inspired portraits and added color using materials of their choice. The results are full of personality and creativity!

Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)

Pablo Picasso. The Weeping Woman. 1937.

Third Grade

This month, third graders focused on how lines can be expressive in art. They learned to identify different types of lines and practiced using a variety of lines to create their own unique artworks. This lesson helped them understand how lines can convey emotion and movement.

Fourth Grade

This month, fourth graders reviewed the color wheel, focusing on complementary and analogous colors. They also explored the elements and principles of design, learning to identify lines, shapes, forms, textures, and colors in artwork. Currently, they’re beginning to practice tinting and shading their paint colors and applying these techniques to their own creations.

Firth Grade
Fifth graders dove into color theory with a focus on tertiary colors. They learned how to use a palette knife and used red, yellow, and blue paint to mix and paint the entire color wheel. To wrap up, they played a fun painting color-matching game to reinforce their new skills.

Josie & Connor (5R) thoughtfully mix tertiary colors for their color wheel

Luca, Anna, and Matthew blend tertiary colors for their color wheel

Art Club

Art Club’s first meetings have been busy as we prepare decorations for the Spooktacular! Mrs. Pearson joined us and asked students to create large “teeth” for the event. Using newspaper and masking tape, students explored a dry paper-mâché technique to sculpt their creations.

Next month, students will shift gears to help decorate for the Veterans Day assembly. We’re excited to see their creativity continue to shine!

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