It has been a busy term in Junior Art, with Stage 2 and Stage 3 exhibitions displayed in conjunction with Creative Arts Nights in Weeks 5 and 7.
Our Year 3 students spent the first half of the year creating pencil and chalk self-portraits, which were then transformed with full body glam rock outfits with plenty of bling and platform soles. Our sparkly ‘Power Rock’ blocks were fun to make and are fun to arrange in different combinations. Artists like to play!
In keeping with the rock ‘n’ roll theme, Year 4 students made observational drawings of an arrangement of musical instruments, including drums, a saxophone and an electric guitar. They have been learning about visual conventions of position and overlapping of shapes, refining their compositions with collage and tempera watercolours.
The entire Year 5 cohort worked collaboratively to create huge lanterns from traditional materials of bamboo and paper. Together their big letter sculptures spell out the theme of the Stage 3 Creative Arts Night: A NIGHT ON BROADWAY. These demonstrate how learning in Visual Arts and Design enriches and supports the hands-on development of STEM skills, group skills, problem solving and creative thinking skills. Thinking and working in three dimensions is very challenging.
Year 6 students explored the theme of icons - from the traditional religious styles of Byzantine and Eastern European iconography, depicting the holy figures, to Andy Warhol’s Pop Art style of silkscreen images in bold colours featuring famous stars, such as Marilyn Monroe. For their exhibition, students used technology to posterise a photograph of their favourite actor or musician, adding bright watercolours to their digital print. These images were elaborated using the embossing technique to create a silver frame for exhibiting their work.
Exhibiting is an important Visual Arts practice that features in the new NESA Creative Arts K-6 Syllabus:
“Exhibiting involves developing students’ understanding that artworks are valued, displayed and interpreted by audiences. Students develop observation through a critical and creative lens in the interpretation of their own and others’ artworks. They explore ways curation and display can contribute meaning to artworks and develop understandings for audiences. Students have opportunities to exhibit or display their own artworks for an audience through virtual, physical, indoor or outdoor displays.”
Thomas Hassall Anglican College students’ work is now featuring in the IPSHA Virtual Art Show. Our Year 5 student, Liliana Garzaniti’s mandala artwork is prominent on the promotional poster for the show. You can check it out alongside the best of Sydney’s Independent Primary Schools’ junior artworks.
Mrs Ann McDermott
Junior School Specialist Teacher (Visual Arts)
