Gearing up for Seussical Jr. the musical!

Students in my exploratory arts class have been working hard on all things Seussical for our upcoming musical on May 22nd.  The props and sets were designed by an outside artist, but we are having an amazing time painting!!  Oddly enough I have found myself dreaming of being in Whoville morning, noon and night.  

Art Rocks was a great celebration!

Friday night from 7-9 P.M. was our second annual student art exhibit which showcased the artwork of our students throughout this school year.  There was an overwhelming amount of art spread out throughout our building due to the fact that I displayed everything that every child had made.  The hallways and gymnasium flourished with large scale, small, two dimensional and three dimensional art!  The ceiling contained suspended Dale Chihuly inspired works and outdoors our sidewalks were lined with mosaic garden sculptures to invite our viewers in! The fundraiser of the evening was largely successful as well, as students and parents could purchase a ceramic mug their child had made with a root beer float inside.  Thank you to all who attended and for all of the wonderful comments that were made about the blossoming art program at FACA!

 At the end of the night, my son Grady told me he thought the show was nice too!

Adding a little art to our space!

I have been passing our boys and girls restrooms for months, thinking how sad and dismal they look.   This week I took on the task of painting them taking inspiration from two of my favorite artists, Georgia O'Keeffe and George Rodrigue.  The children have been so excited about the addition, and I even had to laugh when I heard one little boy come out of the restroom telling his teacher that there was "a blue dog in the boys bathroom!"  :)

Guess what's coming up?

Spring is a time to celebrate the arts at our school and our front windows are a great way to promote this!  Coming April 20th is our visual arts show-- our 2nd annual display of student work.  Every student has made a mug and when they come that night they can purchase their own mug with a rootbeer float inside for $5.00.  What a cool concept... walking around looking at art and drinking a root beer float!:)  Unpurchased mugs will be returned to their rightful owner after the show.

Then on May 22nd our music program will be highlighted through the production of Suessical Jr.  All things Suessical are buzzing in our hallways as I hear our children singing the songs and reciting their lines.  Mrs. Goldman, our music teacher does a fabulous job with our productions and this year Mrs. Koppelberger is helping us with the acting portion.  Her background in theater has been a great addition to our school!  YAY for the arts!  And thank you to my exploratory class and Miss Flegal for your help in painting these windows.  

ART ROCKS coming to FACA April 20th!

Art Rocks is our 2nd annual student art exhibit and will be held Friday, April 20th from 7-9 P. M.  This is a highly anticipated night for our students and visual arts program because it showcases all visual products from all students throughout the school year.  As you enter the building you will be encouraged to look up, down and from side to side as creativity is really flourishing in our building!  Some of the highlights of the evening include suspended sculptures, large scale silhouette art, two dimensional and three dimensional work, refreshments and an art fundraiser! Every student has made a mug using our classroom Bailey slab roller and their parents will have the opportunity to buy the mug from the art department in order to raise funds for supply purchases next school year.  Mugs are of high quality with rich glaze colors, food safe and will be sold ONLY to the child's parent for the price of $5.00.  Un-purchased mugs will be returned to the artist at the end of the school year, although for a small amount it is highly encouraged for you to buy your child's mug and support our program!  Please come and celebrate the visual arts!  We can't wait to show you what we've made this year!  

A guest artist from Ghana!

Today was an exceptionally exciting day as our students were able to participate in a workshop put on by native Ghana artist, Kwame Awuku.  Kwame is here visiting Kent State where his wood carvings are currently on exhibit.  He captivated our children's attention through teaching them how to sculpt clay in traditional African style.  Some of the subject matter he tackled with them were spiders in webs, fish and African masks.  Students were mesmerized by his style and technique and loved hearing his stories of how when he was a boy in Ghana he would travel to the riverside to collect clay to create toy figures to play with.  Kwame speaks five languages and shared some native words today.  We were so thankful for this unique opportunity and would love to have him back again!  Below are some of the student's creations...

Look what's happening in our hallways!