Week 10 Finale!

Time again for our grand finale.  On Friday, May 13th, our gym was once again transformed into the P.S. 373 Museum of Modern Art.  The theme was instruments, inspired by the exhibit of Picasso Guitars displayed at the MoMA.  Our young artists shared their work with their friends and family.  Ms. K, our museum educator, presented each student with a gift from the MoMA in recognition of their outstanding work.  Light refreshments were served and a good time was had by all.

Week 9

The second MoMA trip was a wonderful experience.  The weather was beautiful and again the traffic was not a problem.

We looked at a number of sculptures and paintings by the artists Duchamp, Miro, Boccioni, and Brancusi and of course Picasso.  Miss Paula’s group was intrigued by the sculptures In Advance of a Broken Arm and Bicycle Wheel, both by the artist Marcel Duchamp.  They were both curious and amused with his “ready made art”.  Ms. K’s group was impressed with the painting, Self Portrait I,  by the artist Joan Miro.  The student critiques ranged from “cool and colorful” to “scary and creepy”.

Weeks 7 & 8

We started session 7 by looking at Woman I. 1950 – 1952 by Willem de Kooning.  Miss K talked about color, mood, brush strokes, proportion, and size.  We learned that a portrait is an artistic representation of a person.  The students assignment was to draw a self-portrait to represent their likeness, and mood of themselves while playing their instruments.  Session 8 was spent using paint color to further capture these moods.

Week 6

Session 3 of making our Picasso inspired instruments was exceptionally creative.  Students studied their instruments and took note of any strings, buttons, or knobs.  They then moved to a table full of collage materials; buttons, beads, sequins, fabric, sticks, strings, pipe cleaners, and much more.  They worked tirelessly to create the perfect instrument.  As you can see in the photos, the finished artwork is spectacular.

Week 5

The day finally came to go to the Museum of Modern Art!  The weather was cool, overcast and it threatened to rain.  The bus ride there was exceptionally quick and, believe it or not, we arrived via school bus early.  We took advantage and sat across the street to enjoy a oatmeal raisin cookie snack!  Our tour began at 11:10 am.  After meeting with Miss K and our new friend Miss Paula, we broke up into 2 groups.  Both groups went directly to Pablo Picasso’s guitar exhibit.  Miss K’s group took the escalator while Miss Paula’s group went via elevator.  Walking down the hallway, there it was staring at us through the glass entrance doors, Still life with Guitar.  We sat on the floor to get the best view.  We looked at each part and saw shapes, paper and a toilet paper role center.  It was really cool.  A vote was put to the group, some liked Picasso’s sculpture, while others liked our sculpture better.  The rest of the room was filled with drawings, paintings, college and sculpture, all of guitars!  All done by Picasso!  We looked at guitars.  This sculpture was similar to still life with guitar except it was made out of metal.  The guitar was painted and there were no crossbars on the neck.  We looked at some collages too.  Picasso loved to use scraps of textured paper, newspaper, chalk and pencils.  He turned all those shapes into guitars!

Week 4

Session 2 of working on our instrument sculptures was quite an undertaking.  Students wore old clothes and bibs and had their own work areas.  The instruments were carefully painted on the floor.  Primary colors plus black, white, and dark green were their color choices.  This didn’t limit the end results.  Mixing colors gave us many hues of purple, grey and orange.  Our students had a great time painting.  Check back week 6 to see the finished decorated instrument sculptures.  Next entry:  The MoMA visit!!!

Week 3

And so begins our most intricate project to date…..our Picasso inspired collage instrument. After studying their chosen instrument, and breaking it down into shapes, our students were up for the challenge to create their own masterpiece! Students were asked to sort through various pre-cut cardboard shapes, both organic and inorganic. Their task was to capture the essence of their instrument using only these shapes. (NO CUTTING ALLOWED) The results were breath taking. The talent and imagination of our 1st and 2nd graders is just….well see for yourself….mind blowing!!

Week 2

We visited Pablo Picasso’s guitars on the MoMA website.  Each student picked an instrument to work with for the duration of the partnership.  They looked for the shapes that made their instruments.  Students then made a collage of their instruments using various shapes and colored papers.

"Bongo" By William

"Drum Set" By Torre

"Guitar" By Brandon

"Keyboard" By Ezequiel

"Violin" By Chris L.

Week 1

The students were introduced to Ms. “K”.  She used our Smart Board to view 2 collages by the Artist Pablo Picasso.

Musical Score and Guitar

Guitar and Sheet Music

We looked for different shapes in the pictures.  Then we made our own collages with different shape, texture, and colored papers.  We cut , glued, and over lapped.

Welcome to the 2011 PS373R MoMA Access Partnership

Here we go…  We have been eagerly awaiting our collaboration with the Museum of Modern Art N.Y.C.!  The museum educator, Ms. Kirstin Broussard will once again lead us on a 10 week artistic journey.  Our students will be learning about producing artwork for 8 sessions.  In addition, we will visit MoMA and interact with original works of art for 2 sessions.

We are so thankful to have this experience for the 5th year in a row!!!

This blog is set up for you to follow on our journey.  Please view this with your child, so you can share the experience with him/her.  Check back weekly and feel free to leave your comments.