All For One, One For All

Fourth graders in my art and writing residency at a D.C. elementary school created collaborative abstract paintings using bright liquid watercolor and sprinkled salt on the paintings as part of their studies on paper decorating techniques. Afterwords, students looked at the textured paintings from a variety of angles and visualized images that were suggested by the colors and shapes. A theme was chosen by each group. Each student then wrote one sentence about what they saw, thought about or felt when looking at the artwork and tied it into the theme. A title was then chosen and all the sentences written together to form a group poem. At the end, each collective poem was read aloud and the artwork shared with the whole class.

Expressions 2014 @ the Corcoran

Displaying the 7th grade collagraphs of Brookland at Bunker Hill students.

The Expressions 2014 exhibition allows DC students in the Corcoran's ArtReach in School and after School program a rare opportunity to exhibit their creations in the Corcoran Gallery. The ArtReach program capitalizes on the rich resources of the Corcoran Gallery of Art and College of Art + Design to reach underserved communities in Washington, D.C. Art teachers and teaching artists use the Corcoran's collection as a primary resource. While I was teaching art last fall at Brookland at Bunker Hill School in D.C., teaching artist Kristine DeNinno collaborated with my students to create rich collagraphs that incorporated their own personal symbols. ArtReach promotes visual literacy, critical thinking skills, and creative expression, but more importantly allows students to make meaning between art and their own lives. Expressions 2014 student work will be on exhibit through June 15, 2014 .