Dear Blossom Families,
“Art must be life– it belongs to everyone.”
–Marina Abramovic
Every child is an artist, and this past month has certainly proven that our Blossom class is filled with incredible painters, scribblers, and artists of all kinds. We focused our study this year on the question “What is art?” and the children’s answer to that question has evolved several times throughout our exploration. Through Impressionism and Post-Impressionism, the class seemed certain that art was about creating something beautiful. They expressed this through some emotional drawings and creating Father’s Day magnets!
Next, we explored Expressionism, and the children’s answer to “What is art?” became: “It’s painting your emotions!” or “It’s making drawings about what you feel.” With this, we transformed our feelings into art and did some finger painting to fully connect with how we felt that day.
The question of “what is art?” expanded as we learned about Surrealism and the works of artists like René Magritte and Salvador Dalí. The children pointed out that art does not always make sense, and there were many strange happenings in the art we examined. We drew inspiration from our dreams and debated what could be considered art and what we felt wasn’t.
Things got tense as we explored Modern Art, and the class had a lively discussion about many works of art they definitely did not think were art—all centered around a conversation about Andy Warhol. We looked at a few different examples of his work, from his repetitive paintings of soup cans to his six-hour-long video of the Empire State Building. Are these works really art? Well, it depends on which Blossom you ask, because not everyone agreed. We then focused on a project everyone could see as art—self-portraits! Each child got their own canvas and was able to paint a picture of themselves! We examined how many famous artists have portrayed themselves over the years—with serious, silly, strange, and beautiful images—and used that as inspiration for our paintings!
The Blossom Room has been filled with all types of art this year, and it’s been a joy to witness the excitement for creation in our space. We hope this enthusiasm continues into our next study as July brings us to our Music Study! And what greater form of art is there than music?
As always, if you have expertise in our study and are a musician yourself, we would love to have you! The best way to learn about music is from those who create it. Please reach out to us, and we’ll find time for you to visit our class and teach about your instrument of choice.
It’s getting hotter! Please ensure your child has appropriate clothing for the summer heat, along with a backup pair in case of accidents or if their clothes get wet while playing.
All of the love,
Miss Madeline and Ms. Stephanie
