6th Grade Symbolic Self-Portraits

Symbolic Self-Portraits

Sixth grade students viewed the artwork of Chuck Close, a contemporary artist who creates portraits by dividing the painting surface into a grid and paints a different design into each square. When viewed at a distance, the designs in the grid form one entire image much like the pixels in a digital photograph. This process was the inspiration for this project.

Students used a photograph to create a self-portrait that they drew a grid on top of. The squares of the grid were filled with symbols that tell something about the students' personality such as interests and hobbies. Some of the squares were also filled with designs  using shape and color.

Four different color combinations were used for the squares of the grid. A two color combination was used for the skin, hair, clothing and background.

History Comes Alive Through Art

History Comes Alive Through Art

An Interdisciplinary Project

    During the 2013-2014 school year, our school received a grant from the 

Syracuse City School District Educational Foundation. This grant was written by our school's library media specialist and art teacher in collaboration with fifth and sixth grade classroom teachers. The grant project, entitled History Comes Alive Through Art, was for the creation of two ceramic tile murals by fifth and sixth graders which would be a permanent installation in our school. The murals have interdisciplinary connections with the fifth and sixth grade social studies curriculums. The theme of the sixth grade mural is Ancient Greece and the fifth grade theme is United States History.

   

     Each student chose a topic to be the subject of their ceramic tile. Students conducted their research on the topics in the library, collecting information and images from a variety of sources. Some students worked in groups of two, three or four. The tiles were created in art class using ceramic relief and glazing techniques.

     In the Spring of 2014 the tile murals were installed in our school. Ancient Greece, by the sixth grade, is located in the hallway outside of the gym, and the fifth grade mural,

United States History, is installed in the hallway entering the cafeteria.

   

Ancient Greece by Sixth Grade

United States History by Fifth Grade

United States History

 

Ancient Greece

United States History