ELL Family Journey Drawing Contest - 2016

5th Grade Art Club Visits M.A.D.

The Morris-Jumel Mansion has supported our 5th grade Art Club for nearly 8 years!  Nearly 15 students have the opportunity to visit museums, receive art lessons and showcase their art work in the school lobby!   Museum Educator Kally Sweeney, in charge of children's programming, works closely with Ms. Lennon (Art Club Adviser) to organize activities and trips that help students become great artists.

Selected by their teacher, because of their skills in art, twelve 5th grade artists visited the Museum of Arts & Design on 58th Street!  They sketched objects, discussed artwork by international artists, spoke to an artist-in-residency at the museum and they were given a lesson in working with ceramics.  A museum educator gave students a tour of the Japanese Kogei exhibit and instructed students on how to create a cup or bowl out of clay.  They even got to meet Artist Margaret Braun, who creates cups out of sugar!  Take a look at some highlights from the event and visit the school lobby to see masterpieces created by Art Club members!

Museum Educator gives a lesson to Art Club members.

Bowl inspired by tea cup exhibition.

Art Club members sketch objects in the museum.

5th Graders Win Art Competition

Winning artwork from 5th graders Chrismailyn D. (left) and Stacey E.

Artists from the 5th Grade Art Club have been awrarded!  Artwork entitled "The Protestors" from 5th grader Chrismailyn D. (class 521) has been accepted for display in the 1st annual 2015 Manhattan Borough Arts Festival Visual Art Exhibition! The Visual Art Exhibition will be on view at Cooper-Hewitt's Harlem Design Center, located at 111 Central Park North from June 2nd to June 5th.  Stacey E., from class 501  has been selected as a winning student of the Town Hall & Con Edison Poster & Essay Contest!  Take a look at their artwork below.  Congratulations to both Chrismailyn and Stacey!

Special thanks to Ms. Lennon and Dr. Thomas for entering the artwork into these annual contests.  Parents, teachers and the winners have been invited to the opening reception for the exhibits
.

"The Protestors" by Chrismailyn D.

"The Urban Bush Women" by Stacey E.

PS4 Celebrates Black History: Learning Through Art

Artwork depicting African-Americans demanding equal right created by Chrismaldy D.. (class 521).

Black history and culture is such a part of America.   Established as Negro History Week in the 1920's by Carter G. Woodson, February was chosen for the celebration because Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln were born in this month.  Extended to a month-long celebration in 1976, Black History Month is an opportunity to emphasize the history and achievements of African Americans.

Class 521, led by Ms. Cabral, celebrated Black History Month through art.  Students spent weeks learning about and reviewing facts about leaders in the Civil Rights Movement and investigating life in the South during the time of segregation.  To see more artwork created by class 521, visit the 4th floor, room 402.

Wall of art  from students in Ms. Cabral's 5th grade class.

5th Grade Art Club Decorates MJM Tree

Students from the 5th Grade Art Club decorate tree at the Morris-Jumel Mansion.

Instead of the usual holiday decorating style that makes the Morris-Jumel Mansion beautiful and festive, the staff is trying something new entitled “Community Holidays” at MJM. Each of the rooms in the house that George Washington once lived in has a tree in it and the director of this historical house wanted a group of boys and girls from PS4 to decorate one of those trees!

The tree, decorated by the 5th Grade Art Club, is located in the dining room of the mansion!  Four traditions are represented; Kwanzaa, Hanukkah, Christmas and Three Kings Day.  Students made the garland, ornaments and even the one-of-a-kind Three Kings tree topper to represent the traditions that are celebrated by students at PS4.   

To see the six trees decorated by artists, neighborhood organizations, theater groups and students of PS4, visit the Morris-Jumel Mansion...it's FREE!  Click here to find out more information about the mansion and see the photo/video collage below for highlights of the 5th Grade Art Club's tree decorating event.  Special thanks to Ms. Danielle (MJM Program Director) and especially Carol Ward, Director of MJM, for making sure there's always a place in the mansion for our students.

Personalize a free collage

Famous Artist of the Month: Romare Bearden

For the months of January and February, students will be studying the work of African-American artist, Romare Bearden. They will focus on one of his pieces called The Piano Lesson and look at how the artist shows texture.

Romare Howard Bearden was born on September 2, 1911, in Charlotte, North Carolina, and died in New York City on March 12, 1988, at the age of 76. His life and art are marked by exceptional talent, showing a broad range of intelligence and scholarly interests, including music, performing arts, history, literature and world art. Bearden was also a celebrated humanist, as demonstrated by his lifelong support of young, emerging artists.



Watch the 1-minute video below to learn more about the life of Romeare Bearden.









Black in Time: Romare Bearden from Rmarkable on Vimeo.

Famous Artist of the Month: Mary Lovato

November is Native American History Month! Since time memorial, the Santa Domingo Pueblo Native Americans have traded seashells from the gulf of California and the Pacific over regular trade routes. Pendants cut from these glossy shells in various forms were overlaid with designs in abalone, jet, and turquoise. This month students are learning about artist and jeweler, Mary Coriz Lovato.

Mary Lovato is known for her unique mosaic inlay, shell work, cast, and stamp-work jewelry. Her specialty is inlaid shell earrings and pendants. These lovely pieces are a blend of the contemporary and traditional styles, but Mary strives to maintain tradition above all. “My mother and mostly my father were my teachers. I was brought up very traditional,” she recalls. “We have kept traditional jewelry going here because it is worn for our dances,” says Mary, who lives at her Santo Domingo Pueblo home outside of Albuquerque, New Mexico.Mary Lovato’s work is so phenomenal that many say it has become a standard by which shell inlaid jewelry is measured. During the months of November and December, students will be learning about this artist and creating masterpieces based on her artwork.

Artist of the Month: Grant Wood

Grant Wood (see photo below) is a realist painter who is most famous for his painting of the American Midwest, like in American Gothic (see painting below).  During this month and next, students will study him and his artwork.

American Gothic painting by Grant Wood

Photo of Artist Grant Wood (1891-1942)

 
Wood was born in 1891 in Iowa.  His father was a farmer and his mother was a teacher.  After high school, he moved to Minnesota to learn how to work with wood and metal.  The next year, Wood decided to become a teacher.  He studied for his teaching certificate at the University of Iowa.  He also studied architecture and he painted.  In 1916, Wood went to the Art Institute of Chicago to study art.  He taught middle and high school art for six years.  He set up his own studio in Iowa and began painting scenes of the American Midwest.  Grant Wood died in 1942.

For more information about artist Grant Wood, click here.  To watch this funny video about the artist and his most famous painting, click here!

Garden of Kindness

In preparation for Respect for All Week (February 11-15), a group of students in 4th grade have been working with our school's Dean to discuss the importance of living in a kind society, the importance of not calling people names and the destructive ways of bullying and insults.   

During one particular lesson with Mr. Cantu, students gave examples of acts of kindness they have done for someone else.  At the end of the lesson, they wrote these acts of kindness within flowers they drew and colored to make a Garden of Kindness.  "These types of lessons pay homage to the wonderful example that Dr. Martin Luther King left us", said Mr. Cantu.  "He spoke of not only equality, but of the greater lesson of humanity; to respect all individuals and do so with the utmost kindness".

Photos taken by Joel H. (520)

   



For more information about Respect for All Week, click here!

PS4 Celebrates Art

As you walk through the hallways of PS4, you may notice that our students are very talented artists!   We are the Duke Ellington School, named after a talented composer and musician!  So, it makes sense that we have students that celebrate the arts through music and drawing.  From the clay characters created by members of the Turn-2 Us Art Club to the self-portraits created by Ms. Smith's 4th graders as they partnered with the Museum of Modern Art, art can be found all around PS4! 

Take a look at the digital scrapbook below for masterpieces created by our students that can be found on the third floor!

Make your own scrapbook

Art Education At PS4

Art Educator with Brayan (Class 402).

In December, 4th grade students went on a field trip to the Museum of Modern Art.  Art educator Rebecca Goyette (pictured above) was their guide through the museum’s collection of art masterpieces.  The students studied character in art predominately through the work of Willem De Koning and Marc Chagall.  A week after the museum visit, Rebecca came to the school to work with the children on creating their own masterpieces.  The results are fantastic! Students created wonderfully, colorful and interesting works of art.   

Ms. Smith, 4th grade teacher who coordinated the event, knows the importance of art education and often makes it a part of her teaching.  When asked about art education, she said, “I believe that children actually learn a lot through exploring the arts and doing art activities!  Art goes beyond verbal language to communicate feelings that might not otherwise be expressed.  Instead of following specific rules or directions, children become engaged in the discovery of the  ‘how’ and ‘why’.  Through experimenting and learning how to handle art materials, children are solving challenges and coming up with new ways to handle unexpected outcomes.  Art also allows children to show individual uniqueness.  It is an experience that requires freethinking, experimentation, and analysis – all part of creativity!   Through creativity, they experience success and accomplishment, which are part of a positive self-image.”

Photos taken by

                

To see artwork done by Ms. Smith's students, visit class 420 or class 402!  To find out more information about the Museum of Modern Art, click here!

Art Exhibit in the Library

The exhibit is located in the back of the library (room 400).

Members of the 5th Grade Art Cub are inspired by Francisco de Goya.

Artist Julio R. (Class 521)

Recently, the boys and girls of the 5th grade Art Club showcased their masterpieces inspired by the Spanish artist, Francisco de Goya.  Each student-artist, guided by the expertise of Carol Ward (Education Coordinator at Morris-Jumel Mansion), completed an art piece using tempura paint on canvas.  "I was looking at all of the art work.  They are beautiful! I didn't realize how talented the students are", said Ms. Cabral (5th grade bilingual teacher).

The artwork will be on display for the month of January.  All students and staff are encouraged to view the exhibit.  The 5th grade Art Club meets each Wednesday afternoon.

Artist of the Month: Jacob Lawrence

Jacob Lawrence

Jacob Lawrence was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey on September 7, 1917.  He is an American painter whose works portray scenes of Black life and history with ivid, stylized realism.  At age 13, Lawrence moved with his family to his family to the Harlem section of New york City.


Gouache and tempera paints were Lawrence's charatcteristic media.  His use of somber browns and black for shadows and outlines in an otherwise vibrant palette lent his worka distinctive overtone.  His best-known works are his series on historical or soceial themes, including  ...And the Migrants Kept Coming (1940), Life in Harlem (1942), and War (1947).   Lawrence taught at various schools and colleges and became a professor of art at the University of Washington in Seattle in 1971;  he retired in 1986.  He died at the age of 83.

Living in Harlem (1943)

For more information about Jacob Lawrence, go to Britannica.com or click here!

Artist of the Month: George Segal

Sculptor, George Segal

"Street Crossing"

George Segal is the artist of the month!  Hewas born in 1924 in New York City. He grew up and lived in New Jersey, where he and his wife, Helen, owned a farm that became an outpost of the New York art world, serving as the set of a Robert Frank film and as the site of the first Fluxus Happening. In 1961, Segal began working with live models -- including himself -- to create the plaster-cast figurative sculptures for which he became best known. 

In 1962, he was included in the seminal exhibition, "New Realism," at the Sidney Janis in 1962. He had retrospectives at the Walker Center for the Arts, Minneapolis (1978) and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (1997), and exhibited widely around the world.   His sculpture, The Commuters, Next Departure (1981) is on permanent display at the Port Authority Terminal in NYC.   Segal died in 2000.

 For more information on George Segal, speak to any of our 5th grade Art Club members or click here.

Artist of the Month: Diego Rivera

Diego Rivera is our artist of the month!  

Diego Rivera was a painter and muralist born in Guanajuato, Mexico. He is now thought to be one of the leading artists of the twentieth century! Rivera began drawing as a child. He studied art at the San Carlos Academy of Fine Arts while in his teens and then traveled to Europe to live and work on his art. He had some success as a Cubist painter, but the course of world events would strongly change the style and subject of his work. Inspired by the political ideals of the Mexican Revolution (1914-15) and the Russian Revolution (1917), Rivera wanted to make art that reflected the lives of the working class and native peoples of Mexico.  Rivera painted several murals in the United States. Some of his works created controversy, especially the one he did for the Rockefeller family in the RCA building in New York City.   Rivera died of heart failure on November 24, 1957, in Mexico City, Mexico.

For more information about this famous artist, ask your teacher, visit the library or click here! 

KidsArt Fairs

Did you notice some special paper and beautiful artwork in the hallways of PS4? If you did, then KidsArt Fairs is the company to thank! Parents of students in Pre-K to 2nd grade had the opportunity to purchase their child's artwork. Each student completed a masterpiece on art paper and, through a fundraising opportunity created by KidsArt Fairs, parents were able to take their child's masterpieces home in a beautiful frame. "It's great, because it's in a frame and you take it home", said Esmeralda M (class 201), "then your parents can hang it up on the wall".

For more information about KidsArt Fair, click here.

Famous Artist of the Month: Dorothea Lange

The artist of the month is Dorothea Lange (1895-1965). She was born in Hoboken New, Jersey. She has been called the greatest American documentary photographer. She is best known for her photographs taken during the Great Depression and for her photographs of migratory farm workers. Her most famous photograph is of a woman named Florence Owens Thompson and her children, taken in 1936.

Click here to see her famous photo and click here to see a video about the Great Depression.

Art Exhibition at PS4

On March 15 and 16, the Dia/Hispanic Society Museum and PS4M officially opened an art exhibition showcasing student artwork inspired by Koo Joeng A. "This year, the artist's work is very abstract", says Education Associate, Christine Hou, "and the students really have to use their imagination". Miss Christine (as she is fondly called by our 5th graders) worked with Ms. McLeod's class to discuss how the artist was inspired by the five senses. Since January, each 5th grade class worked with an art instructor to create their masterpieces. Click here to see an article about how it all began. The exhibition will remain in the 4th floor lobby during the month of March.

If you are interested in purchasing framed artwork for your child (any grade level), click here for more information or contact the school's librarian by calling the main office at (212) 928-0739.

P.S.4 Partners In Education: Dia/The Hispanic Society of America Museum

Each year, 5th grade classes partner with artists and instructors from Dia/Hispanic Society of America Museum to create artwork inspired by exhibitions at the museum. This year, students will focus on the work of Koo Jeong A.

"This year, the artist's work is very abstract", says Education Accociate, Christine Hou, "and the students really have to use their imagination". Ms. Christine (as she is fondly called by our 5th graders) will work with Ms. McLeod's class to discuss how the artist was inspired by the five senses. Each 5th grade class will work with an art instructor on four different occasions. On January 21, students walked to the Hispanic Society of America Museum to see the exhibit. "It smells like paint", said Franklin S. and Carlos D. (pictured above) as he walked in the large white room housing the artwork of Koo Jeong A. During the month of February, P.S. 4 will host it's own exhibition showcasing student work inspired by this abstract artist.

To see a photo of our students working with Dia/Hispanic Society of America last year, click here.

Art In A Box

Fifth grade students recently unveiled thier Dioramas exhibit in the lobby of our school. After visiting The Hispanic Society of America on 157th Street and Broadway, students began working with a teaching artist from the Dia Art Foundation. The teaching artists taught the boys and girls how to create dioramas. Dioramas are 3-D displays of a picture or scene. These dioramas were created in boxes. Christine Hou (pictured above with students), from the Dia Art Foundation, made a special appearance at a 5th grade celebration to tell students what a wonderful job they did. "They did such a great job", said Christine. The dioramas will only be in the lobby during the for a short time. But, the Hispanic Society of America is open all year and is FREE!