Art Show at Ridgeway Community School 2015

Every year, Ridgeway Community School has an art show to showcase the work that the children in Kindergarten through Grade 5 have created over the year.  Art Show opened May 6 and continues through May 28th.  Art fills the halls, the library, the gymnasium and the art room.  The art is bright and colorful and happy. These are the bright faces of Ridgeway Community School hanging in the library.

The 1st Grade created pandas, cows, pigs, and sheep with chalk pastels, tempera paints, oil pastels and watercolors.

The second and third grade art was Splat the Cat, foxes, and sunglasses portraits.

The fourth and fifth grade students created one point perspective,  value studies from light to dark in one color, and an artwork inspired by Friedens Hundertwasser.

 Lots of art in the halls.

The Kindergarten art on the front bulletin board.

 

Art inspired by Piet Mondrian by the 4th & 5th graders. 

 A collaborative robot on the Art/Music room door by Tyler and friends.

Art Club

We started an Art Club last year, Spring 2014, with all age levels, Kindergarten through Grade 5 and created goggles of enhanced perception and  huge painted murals on paper of earth environments at Ridgeway Community School.  It was so popular that I had over 45 students enrolled.

This year, I've created a smaller club incorporating different projects for each session.  This fall, the 3rd - 5th Grade students stitched puppets with felt, embroidery floss, and buttons.

This little bear puppet asked, "Do you want to join us?"  The children had the option to create a bear, bunny or owl puppet from patterns that I provided. Or students could develop their own design.  We used patterns from Lisa Griffith's, Woodland Puppets. 

Fourteen students worked on bears, owls, or bunnies.  Three students created their own puppets.  Some students had never sewn before, and we all learned to be patient with threading a needle, making knots, and creating stitches.  Two parent volunteers helped with the fun.

First, students cut out or created their patterns, laid them on the felt, and cut out the pieces.

When the pieces were cut, students decided on what color of embroidery floss to use to stitch the parts together.

We began the puppets in November; we had a week off for Thanksgiving and then came back to complete them the first week of December.

Here are some of cool results.  Some students stitched on buttons for eyes and others stitched felt.

Lucas added a belly button to his bear.

Students could use a running stitch that moved the thread in and out or a whipped stitch that brought the stitch over and around the two pieces.  Either stitch worked well.

Jack created an owl and a watch.

Happy and proud results from all of that stitching.

Architects in 1st Grade

The 1st  Graders learned about Architecture in Art Class.  We talked about designing buildings and what was needed.  A floor has another name a foundation, columns  support the walls, doors allow people to come and go, and windows bring in light and allow a view of outside.  We made three dimensional gingerbread houses with lunch sacks and candy cane paper for columns.

Some children added window panes; others added people looking out the windows.  Some created two floors and even patios.  Quite a variety of designs.

Adding crumpled newspaper to create the inside of the gingerbread house was fun.

Folding the green roof and gluing it on top was the last step.  All the steps took lots of concentration, and paying attention to getting the foundation on the bottom and the roof on top.

A happy result when complete!

Pete's Great Adventure

At the end of our school year at Ridgeway Community School, we invited In the Heart of the Beast Puppet and Mask Theatre artists to share art and puppet performance with the students. Stacy Lee King and Madeline Helling worked and played with students from May 12 - May 22.   On May 22nd, we had two outdoor performances with our whole school.  It was amazing and wonderful to be part of the children's discovery, learning and creating.

Here is Pete, the turtle. Pete is operated by 8 people--7 students and Madeline Helling, guest artist.   In our musical pageant, Pete has lost his way and needs help to find his friends and his way back to the pond, Ridgeway Community School.

Some  2nd and 3rd grade frogs want to help.

So do the Kindergarten Dragonflies.

 The First Grade Prairie Chickens race in to help.

The preschool lilies sing a song.

The frogs are pulling Pete this way and that and then they all fall down.

Fifth Grade Turtle narrators tell the story.

Madeline and Stacy Lee dance the turtle as all the 4th and 5th graders sing.

Frogs help tell the story too.

Stacy Lee King, Mary Lee Eischen, Kat Eng, Madeline Helling share the after the performance glow.

 Stacy Lee & Mary Lee