Art in the Month of June

Flowers from my garden inspire some painters.

Ah, June. Out come the irises, peonies and warm days. Here in the lower level of the school (aka the cellar) it stays reasonably cool even on the hottest days. In fact, teachers on the second floor look for excuses to bring their classes down to the library, art and music rooms because the temperatures up there can reach the 90s.

June is a busy month. Lots of field trips, excursions, visitors, extra recess and general loss of attention due to the arrival of summer. How do I keep 430 children happily engaged during art class? Lots of one-class choices that do not make big messes! Kumihimo braiding, watercolor painting,  dodecahedrons, Origami, collage, drawing critters and Zentangles, mini 3D designs – or large –  to reduce the volume of stuff. Here is what it looks like on a typical June day.

Drawing patterns and other ideas.

This is an amazing tube filled with facts about black holes that can rotate on its stand. Hopefully more about this soon!

We have finally finished glazing all the clay pottery and sculptures. Here are two Eiffel Towers by a third and a fourth grader who were not inspired by each other.

Paint is going away soon so students are eager to paint their 3D structures before taking them home.

Certain students become obsessed with Origami as is this 2nd grader who chooses it every week. His skills are rapidly growing!