Welcome to the 2022-2023 academic year.

In this section, kindly enjoy a sampling of classroom ART themes!

"Oel ngati kameie": "I See You." Character Development -Avatar

Character designers create characters as a tool for storytelling. Video games, animated television shows, and movies are all driven by stories, and characters drive stories. The main goal for every character creator is to design a memorable character that connects with audiences.

Character design is one of the most essential skills for an artist. In visual arts and animation, artists create characters from scratch. Students had a chance to observe how the characters from the movie Avatar were put together, using animal features (feline) and certain characteristics (flexibility, night vision, etc.). They used body parts and characteristics from one or more animals to create their avatars. Students were encouraged to use extraordinary color pallets to step away from creative blocks regarding the natural or socially approved “skin colors.” *reallygooddesigns.com/how-to-design-character/

Indus Valley Civilization

The Indus River Valley Civilization, 3300-1300 BCE, also known as the Harappan Civilization, extended from modern-day northeast Afghanistan to Pakistan and northwest India. Little is understood about the Indus script, and as a result, little is known about the Indus River Valley Civilization’s institutions and systems of governance. *

The people of the Indus River Valley Civilization achieved many notable advances in technology, including fire-baked bricks, which were uniform in size and moisture-resistant, were important in building baths and sewage structures, and are evidence that Harappans were among the first to develop a system of standardized weights and measures. The consistency of brick size across cities also suggests unity across the various urban areas, evidence of a broader civilization. *https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/world-history/world-history-beginnings/ancient-india/a/the-indus-river-valley-civilizations

Seals decorated with animal figures, such as elephants, tigers, and water buffalos, have been among Indus Valley cities' most commonly discovered artifacts.

The Indus Valley Civilization is credited with the invention of the button, and the earliest one today dates from around 2000 BCE, made from a curved shell. The first buttons were ornamental embellishments to a person's attire and signified wealth or status.

India

India is a vast and diverse country; its culture and arts reflect this diversity. Students learned about India’s location on the map, the variety of food and spices, religions, architecture (temples), music and dance, languages, landscape, and animals.

Symbolism plays a huge part in Indian Art and Culture. Often, these symbols are rooted in religious beliefs. For example, the wheel (Ashoka) at the center of the Indian flag represents the ongoing life and virtues a person is to live by. Students reflected on the two religions of Hinduism (Karma and Reincarnation) and Buddhism, which are highly influential in Indian and Southeast Asian works of art. Students observed that Indian art represents people’s daily life when it is not religious. Indian art is highly ornate and decorated and uses bright and vibrant colors.

"Warli" paintings practiced by the Warli tribe, portray daily activities like farming, praying, dancing, hunting, etc.

"Gond" paintings are mostly themed on animals and birds and are practiced by the Gond tribes.

Geometric designs characterize the "Mahbubani” style of art. Practiced mainly by women, these paintings or murals depict gods, fauna, and flora.

“Kalighat” paintings are made on fabric and depict everyday lives beautifully.

With a solid connection to Persian motifs, "Qalamkari," a 3000-year-old tradition, derives its name from the word "Qalam," or pen, which means 'drawings with a pen' with extraordinary details.

Ancient China

Ancient China was one of the oldest (6,000 BCE) and longest-lasting civilizations in the history of the world. China developed from a collection of isolated cultural communities to a set of organized states and, eventually, a single unified state. The first step was the development of agriculture. In its rise to civilization, China developed a writing system, various beliefs about heaven and the cosmos, and technological breakthroughs that allowed for political control and economic expansion.

Chinese Peasant Painting

"Peasant Paintings," also known as "farmer paintings," are colorful and detailed artwork representing precious yet simple moments of life. Since 1988, when China’s Ministry of Culture granted the title of “Chinese Modern Folk Painting Village” to 35 villages, many provinces, cities, and counties have recognized their peasant paintings as intangible cultural heritage. Local folk traditions and scenery heavily influence today’s peasant paintings. http://en.chinaculture.org/library/2008-01/14/content_77808_2.htm

Kites - Chinese Brush Painting

Kites are said to have originated in China between 475-221 BCE, with the first kites made of wood and mimicking the shapes of birds. Between 618 CE and 907 CE, craftsmen began creating lighter kites, first with silk and bamboo and then paper and bamboo. Students were exposed to "Chinese brush painting" while creating their kites. "When executed with masterful technique, a single ink brushstroke can convey vitality, delicacy, and contemplation—the essence of Chinese philosophy and spirit. It is this “life force” or qi (chee) that the artist aspires to capture and express through brush painting. " https://education.asianart.org/resources/an-introduction-to-chinese-brushpainting-techniques

Beijing (Peking) Opera Masks

"Non-verbal communication begins with Darwin's study of the facial expressions of humans and animals, from facial masks of the ancient Shang dynasty period to network emoticons."* In Peking Opera, colors are of great importance in revealing a character's age, profession, and personality. Originally, only three colors were used -red, white, and black - each with its symbolic meaning. Red is the color of loyalty, integrity, and courage; black suggests a serious and taciturn disposition, including strength and roughness; white reveals a crafty and suspicious character. Although painted faces are extremely stylized in their colors and patterns, no two painted faces are alike.*

*http://design-cu.jp/iasdr2013/papers/1176-1b.pdf **http://en.chinaculture.org/library/2008-01/24/content_46854_2.htm

Inventions of Ancient China

Ancient China held leading positions in many fields in studying nature. Besides the four great inventions, paper making, printing, gunpowder, and the magnetic compass, ancient China contributed countless inventions. https://china.usc.edu/sites/default/files/forums/Chinese%20Inventions.pdf

Silk Production

Legend has it that silk cloth was first invented by the wife of the Yellow Emperor, Leizu, around 2696 BC. The idea for silk first came to Leizu while she was having tea in the imperial gardens. A cocoon fell into her tea and unraveled. She noticed that the cocoon was made from a long thread that was both strong and soft. Leizu then discovered how to combine the silk fibers into a thread. She also invented the silk loom that combined the threads into a soft cloth. Soon Leizu had a forest of mulberry trees for the silkworms to feed on and taught the rest of China how to make silk. https://www.ducksters.com/history/china/legend_of_silk.php

En Route the Silk Road - Connecting the Ancient World Through Trade

“Two thousand years ago, the Silk Road began, bringing exotic novelties from the far east to Europe, particularly silk." The "Silk Road" refers to a network of trails used by merchants for more than 1,500 years. The term “Silk Road” also serves as a metaphor for exchanging goods and ideas between diverse cultures. The Silk Road extended approximately 6,437 kilometers (4,000 miles) across some of the world’s most formidable landscapes, including the Gobi Desert and the Pamir Mountains. Traders joined in caravans with camels or other pack animals to protect themselves. *

Merchants carried silk from China to Europe, where it dressed royalty and wealthy patrons. Other Asian favorite commodities included jade, precious stones, porcelain, tea, and spices. In exchange, horses, glassware, and textiles traveled eastward. Religion and ideas spread along the Silk Road just as fluidly as goods. Towns along the route grew into multicultural cities. The horses introduced to China contributed to the might of the Mongol Empire, while gunpowder from China changed the very nature of war in Europe and beyond. Today, parts of the Silk Road are listed on UNESCO’s World Heritage List.*

* https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/silk-road/

Our interactive end-of-year art show allowed visitors of all ages to journey through the Silk Road. Visitors followed the path of three travelers in their journey, each on a quest with a challenging task.

Short Video -The Silk Road--Elementary Art Show 2023 (Facebook post) (1080 × 1920 px) (2).mp4

Marco Polo was a Venetian merchant and explorer who traveled throughout the Far East and China for much of his life. His stories were the basis for much of Europe's knowledge about China for many years.

Zheng He (1371 - 1433) was a great Chinese explorer and fleet commander. He went on seven major expeditions to explore the world for the Chinese emperor and to establish Chinese trade in new areas.

Xuan Zang was a Chinese Buddhist monk, scholar, traveler, and translator. He is known for his contributions to Chinese Buddhism, the travelogue of his journey to India, his efforts to bring over 657 Indian texts to China, and his translations of some of these texts.

Merchants on the Silk Road transported goods and traded at bazaars or caravanserai along the way. They traded goods such as silk, spices, tea, ivory, cotton, wool, precious metals, and ideas. Our students imitated the process of trade using playing cards!

The journeys of merchants and their caravans along the Silk Road through the Middle East, Central Asia, and North Africa would have been much more difficult if not for the caravanserai (also spelled caravansary) that dotted those ancient routes. Variously described as “guest houses,” “roadside inns,” and “hostels,” caravanserai were buildings designed to provide overnight housing to travelers. Merchants and their caravans were the most frequent visitors. In furnishing safe respite for guests from near and far, caravanserai also became centers for exchanging goods and culture. https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/caravanserai

"Admiral Zheng He’s “Treasure Fleet”—an astonishing fleet of ships that remain the largest wooden ships ever built—brought back, among other things, a giraffe, setting the stage for a fascinating and mostly-forgotten cultural exchange. Zheng had met up in Bengal with envoys from Malindi, which is now part of Kenya. “The men from Malindi had brought with them as tribute giraffes, and they gave one of those giraffes to the Chinese, who took it home."* https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/peculiar-story-giraffes-medieval-china-180963737/

As a topic, the Silk Road provides a pool of information/concepts that can be incorporated into students’ everyday learning. A few examples are cultural exchange (goods, ideas, disease, etc.), economics and commerce, including taxes, geography, cartography, politics, religion, natural resources, food and cuisine, fashion, art, music, storytelling, current events (environmental changes/patterns, China’s new "Silk Road," "Silk Road" versus the "World Wide Web," gene modification of the silkworms and modern usages of silk in medicine), etc.

Usually, for art shows, we put up the students' artwork for everyone to see. This year, the art show was designed as an interactive, educational game about the Silk Road. Elementary students and school staff worked very hard and helped me paint the murals. "Murals are more than just works of art; they are powerful tools for forming communities and getting people involved. They unite people and instill a sense of community pride and belonging. " www.wearelimitlessstudios.com/blog/how-murals-bring-a-community-together

A Message of Gratitude...

Gratitude is a powerful tool for expressing love and appreciation, particularly if done genuinely and through sincere words and actions. Showing gratitude requires dedication of time, honest reflection, and an empathetic view of others. It's not always easy to see and feel things from the perspective of others, as most of us are self-absorbed and focused on fulfilling our immediate feelings and needs. It isn't easy to show gratitude toward those who do not take the time or openly share and communicate their feelings and life experiences with us.

Many of my graduating fifth graders struggled with writing words of gratitude toward their parents. It appeared that there was little connection between hard-working parents and their children. It took a series of reflective, empathetic discussions for my students to see things from their parents' perspective and to be able to articulate their feelings toward them.

At times, we had no choice but to turn the gratitude statements into wishful ones: "Dear Dad, I wish I could see you and spend more time with you." "Dear Mom, I wish you were not always so angry! I feel so happy when you are happy."

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