To walk through the district-wide art show at Hildreth Elementary School and then to cross the street to Bromfield was to see and experience the child’s journey of artistic development. The journey is both unique to each child, and yet universal for all children, from the first marks with crayon in pre-kindergarten to the assured strokes of charcoal in high school. This celebratory show of student art acknowledged the importance of the practice of art as a way of learning about and communicating with the world.
Leo, Dylan, and Francesca Brie check out little books created by graphic design students at Bromfield. (Photos by Lisa Aciukewicz)
A snowy owl drawn by Bromfield student Rania Esa.
A mini graphic story by 8th-grader Grace Adamy.
A small poster embedded in the display of student work at HES stated a philosophy of art education: “The child is the artist. The classroom is their studio.” The art on exhibit reflected a wide variety of experiences in creating and self-reflecting. Colorful pictures created in crayon, pencil, and bright, clear watercolor painting lined the hallways. Some students took a mixed media approach, adding bits of colored paper, for instance. Some pieces referenced images from art history. Weavings in paper and yarn were on display. A poster explained that students had opportunities to make choices about materials and subjects.
Students completed age-appropriate evaluations about their work, stating that their inspirations for their art are about what they see, their memories, experiences, and feelings. The artwork and their statements revealed that students experimented with a variety of materials, while creating two- and three-dimensional art, describing their world of friends, activities, places, animals, and what they liked.
Working cooperatively with other students to solve problems was evident, especially in building three-dimensional structures and animals with cardboard. In addition to planning multiple steps and collaborating with others, the project involved using simple tools to bring a plain flat sheet of cardboard to life.
Elementary art teacher Claudia Owens said that she feels supported as an art teacher, with a good budget and support from other teachers. All HES students have art once a week. The whole-school art show was the elementary school’s first in five years.
Across the street
The journey of artistic development continued across the street at Bromfield for the middle school students, who usually attend art class once a week with art teacher Kae Pierron. The middle school reflected an expanded repertoire of techniques in the study of the elements and principles of art and design. For example, a lesson in light and dark values involved the painting in silhouette of a student-selected subject on a colorful watercolor background. For another lesson about the use of a grid for drawing, students selected a close-up photo of an animal’s face. Students designed Zentangle drawings to explore line and pattern.
The sixth and eighth grades created small clay pieces, while the seventh grade worked in papier mache. The papier mache pieces of cake appeared to be inspired by an art history study of artist Wayne Thiebaud.
At the high school, student art reflected developing and advancing skills and insights into the art process. Visual art students can choose studio arts or digital arts. While continuing to sharpen their art skills, the studio arts students took on new techniques such as printmaking, self portraits in charcoal, sculpture, and ceramics.
The digital arts students documented their artistic development with two- and three-dimensional explorations of the world with technology. Their projects with the historic pinhole camera, self portraiture, action photography, advertising, and graphic design were skillful and communicative.
It was heartwarming to see the artistic development that takes place between elementary and high school. The growth evident in the work of both the studio and digital arts students was so visible and so inevitable, given the thoughtful art curriculum.
High school art students meet every day during the semester in which they are enrolled. The studio and digital arts teachers, Elizabeth Hoorneman and Cindy Fontaine, were available during the opening reception of the art show on the evening of May 2, and spoke proudly of their students’ work, as did the elementary and middle school teachers. The show was up till May 9.
Putting on a district-wide art show displaying the work of all art students is a lot of work and effort, but art is meant to be seen and to connect with the community, and I was grateful for the opportunity to see our students’ art. By daring to make a mark or many marks, by playing and working with materials, by visually depicting emotions and thoughts, by responding to and visually studying the world, the young artist declares, “I am here!”
