Upon kicking off the art year learning about shapes and basic colors, the Kindergarteners created these stunning abstract, non-objective paintings using oil pastels and tempera paint.
After studying Abstract Expressionism, focusing on Willem de Koonings "Woman Series", the fourth graders created their own abstract renderings by making blind contour drawings of eachother. This technique develops hand-eye coordination, for the artist focuses primarily on the act of seeing when they are not allowed to look at their drawing as they make it! After the wild drawings were completed, they cut them out and filled them in using chalk pastels.
The ultimate goal of the Art Program at the Open Window School is to provide students with a meaningful experience in the visual arts by creating a supportive environment that celebrates creative exploration and individuality. The art program takes a discipline-based art education approach to its curriculum, which combines experiences from four disciplines in the study of art: Art History, Art Criticism, Aesthetics and Art Production. Upon integrating this, lessons merge the disciplines instead of teaching concepts from each discipline separately.
OWS Art Students are: Philosophers(Aesthetics) · Asking the Big Questions: What is art? What is good art? What is beauty? · Engaging in group discussions to think about what they are doing, learning, and feeling about their art and the art of others · Approaching their art endeavors through aesthetic questioning Art Critics (Art Criticism) · Describing, interpreting, and judging works of art · Examining and discussing formal principles of design and elements of art · Expanding and utilizing artistic vocabulary Art Historians (Art History) · Studying the history of objects and the history of people through art · Recognizing how art uniquely documents cultural changes throughout history · Studying historical artists and works to gain insights about the past and the present Artists (Art Production) · Producing original artworks · Utilizing a wide variety of mediums and tools · Identifying and employing the Elements of Art and Design: value, color, texture, shape, form, space · Exploring and challenging individual expression
All art projects are aligned with the Open Window School’s Adopted Standards and are taught to reach the benchmarks for each grade level.