February

Early Childhood A is studying the continent of Asia.  To integrate art in their cultural learning, they created these Chinese lanterns.

Early Childhood B artist studied the self-portraits of Frida Kahlo.  Inspired by her work, ECB artists drew their own self-portraits.

Early Childhood B artist also read The Mitten by Jan Brett and made their own mittens. They traced their mitten, cut them, and colored them. Then they laced them through the holes.

Lower Elementary artists collaborated with Kolidiko to create a winter painting to add to our season collection.  Each student painted a winter scene.  Kolidiko took the paintings and cut them up to create this large collaborative painting.

Lower Elementary artists created these hands to represent their individuality to honor the life and achievements of Martin Luther King Jr.

Middle Elementary artists did a unit on pop ups, beginning with simple folds and cuts and working to more complex three dimensional designs.

Upper Elementary guide, Maria Burke, visited the National Gallery Art last year and was fascinated by an art installation by Byron Kim, called "Synedoche".  Maria wanted her students to study this piece, so they created their our own version, also in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr.  Synedoche is a figure of speech by which a part is put for the whole or the whole for a part. This installation is comprised of over four hundred 8" x 10" panels, each of which has been covered by a colored wax. Kim acquired each color based on the skin color of people who volunteered to be part of the work.  Upper Elementary artists experimented with paint to create a skin color that they felt best represented their skin.  They then painted fourteen (the number of students in their class) 3" x 4" swatches. Each students took one of each classmate's swatch and 
created their own "synedoche". 

Christy Berryessa, Abintra alumnae, is conducting our current art unit: a production of The Diary of Anne Frank. There will be multiple opportunities for participation for all in the play. Thus far, the students are thoroughly enjoying the work.

January

Early Childhood artists studied the work of Piet Mondrian.  They learned that during his time, Mondrian’s friends liked to paint landscapes but he liked to paint lines and shapes using the primary colors. 

Early Childhood A artists have had tissue paper collage work on their art shelf. Some of them decided to frame their work.

Early Childhood B artists combine gluing within lines and order of colors of the rainbow to wrap up their color wheel art.

Lower Elementary artists kicked off the winter with a painting of birch trees.  This project was a review of the 6 elements of design. They used masking tape to "shape" the trees and limbs on white paper. They were careful of how they used the "space" when making their trees and branches.  They painted over the whole paper with cool "colors".  They then removed the tape exposing the white paper and "forming" the trees.  They then used "lines" to create "texture" in the trees.  .

Birch trees by Beckett

Lower Elementary artists studied the work of nature sculptor, Andy Goldsworthy.  They created their own Goldsworthy inspired sculpture out of nature founded on campus. They then created frames out of nature for the photographs of their sculptures. 

Middle Elementary artists designed mini flags for their own imaginary countries. They discussed the many symbolic meanings of color and continued to experiment with 
color mixing.

Middle Elementary also created gratefulness mandalas usually colored pencils.  

Upper Elementary artists studied "Pandora's Box" by Odilon Redon, a piece in the NationalGallery Art Collection.  The students created their own box to illustrate a feeling of their choice.

Visiting artist, Asher Wood, gave Upper Elementary a brief history of encaustic paintings and it's relevance during the Industrial Revolution. Asher did a demonstration and then walked the students through creating their own encaustic painting.

Upper Elementary also visited the Frist to see the exhibition of American Chronicles:  The Art of Norman Rockwell.

Middle School artists studied the self-portraits of Paul Gauguin, then created their own.  They will have the opportunity to see some of his portraits in the National Gallery of Art during their trip to DC.   Gauguin’s challenge when painting self-portraits is to show his many sides.  Some of his portraits are realistic; some are more abstract using symbolism. Middle School artists had the choice to create their own self-portrait realistically or symbolically. 

Self-portrait by Rebecca

December

ECA artists have been studying the work of Eric Carle through reading his books and learning about his technique.  Influenced by Carle's technique of using tissue paper to create animals , ECA artists created their own animal of choice.

ECB artists are learning about primary colors by painting the colors on a color wheel. Painting is an important lesson in Early Childhood.  It is a way to strengthen muscles and refine motor skills and it improves concentration and coordination in our young artists.

by Presley

LE artist continue their study of the elements of design, focusing on line. 

  

Lower Elementary  musicians have been studying different styles of music such as Hip Hop and Latin American.  Recently their music study has taken them back to Folk music and dancing.  Singing and dancing to songs such as Zodiac, Rig a Jig Jig, and Shoo Fly.  They are learning basic steps like dosey doe, skipping with a partner, and creating dance formations as a group.  We have had two visiting artists so far that have brought their skills and talents. 

Middle Elementary visited the Nashville Chidlren's Theater to see the performance, Pinocchio.  "This coming of age story was based on the original Carlo Collodi novel, first published in 1833 and interpreted for the stage with inventive puppetry and set design.  TPAC collaborates with the acclaimed Canadian company to bring their English translation to America." -NCT

 

Middle Elementary artists created artwork to depict various parts of Pinocchio.

"The Serpent in the Road" by Ava

Middle Elementary artists have taken the opportunity to do color matching as leaves outside have been changing color.  Using the three primary colors they created a wide variety of mixes to match the subtlety of the leaves they brought in from outside. Some students traced their leaves and some drew them freehand. The words transparency and opacity also entered the discussion of painting effects.  

Upper Elementary students performed their play, Where There's a Will, There's a Play.   This play was a compilation of the Shakespeare plays, As You Like It, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Hamlet, Merchant of Venice, Twelfth Night, King Henry, and The Tempest.

Upper Elementary also visited the Nashville Children's Theater to see the performance, Schoolhouse Rock Live!.  "This iconic musical revue, originally broadcast as a series of animated shorts on ABC in 1973, endures via its assortment of catchy songs that teach about math, science, history, civics and grammar." - Nashville Scene

Middle School artists are really breaking in their new art space by stretching and priming their own canvases to create self portraits.

Chorus has been busy rehearsing their celebration songs from around the world for their end of the year performance.  They are singing songs from Israel, Africa, India, Korea, and the United States.  They are also using percussive instruments that enhance their singing and performance.  Friends are singing these songs in the countries' native language and have been practicing how to pronounce the words correctly through singing.

November

Early Childhood A artists are studying leaves.  They made leaf prints by doing pencil rubbings as well as a study of positive and negative space using pin-punching.

Early Childhood B artists were introduced to a new medium, collage.  They created these collages using recycled paint swatches.

Lower Elementary artists continued their study of the elements of design focusing on space the last two weeks.  We discussed the importance of making good use of space when creating their artwork.  To prepare for their classroom study of the planets, LE artists created artwork of "outer space" to illustrate their knowledge of the three elements of design: color, shape, and space.

Middle Elementary artists created these elaborate works in marker using overlapped initials to divide space for pattern making.

Middle Elementary has also been working really hard on their Great Lessons Play which they successfully performed this week.

Upper Elementary is working hard learning their parts for their upcoming Shakespeare play.

Middle School artists explored the elements of design by creating a sculpture out of their name.  Using cardboard, they created these 3D sculptures in their own creative style.

ME, UE, and MS visited TPAC this week to see the performance, Ballet Hispanico.  This performance conveys the vibrancy and passion of the Latino spirit through a fusion of Latin, classical, and modern dance. 

Aftercare artists created these fall trees by blowing black paint through a straw to create tree limbs.  They used daubers to stamp fall leaves around their trees.

by Michaela

Friends in chorus are listening for the beat and tapping along as one continuous beat. They are learning about legato (slow) and presto (fast) beats.

October

Early Childhood Artists were introduced to the work of the American painter, Jackson Pollock.  They created their own Pollock-inspired art by moving a marble dipped in paint around on a piece of paper. One week they focused on using primary colors, and the next week they used secondary colors.

          

LE friends had fun working on their theater project with Christy Berryessa, an Abintra graduate. They prepared their theatrical demonstration of the two African folktales Kitoto the Mighty and Mabela the Clever.

Each student had an important and active role in the theater production. Their practice helped them learn to bring mindfulness to their voices, body language, eye contact and placement relative to the other performers. They learned to project their voices as they retold the stories to an audience. Students had great fun with this project, from acting and staging, to creating props and backdrop.

Kitoto the Mighty by LE 2nd year students

Mabela the Clever by LE 1st year students

Lower Elementary friends have rehearsed their songs for the play with Vanessa. 

They started the plays with an Arabic greeting song and closed the plays with a South African folk song.

 

In preparation for The Great Lessons Play, Middle Elementary artists have drawn a variety of planets with pastel on black paper, and painted large planets to be used as props 

in the performance.

Middle Elementary and Upper Elementary students visited the Nashville Children's Theater to see the production of A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L'Engle.

Upper Elementary students also visit the Nashville Symphony to see the Young People's Concert, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!.  This concert features Stokowski’s arrangement of Bach’s Little Fugue in G Minor, Stravinsky’s Royal March from L’Histoire du Soldat and Ives’ Variations on America.





Middle School Artists have been working on drawings as the result of two September afternoons of "en plein air". As the stark white paper can be inhibiting, they first applied a beautiful tone of pastel pigment to the surface. After discussing various techniques and selecting tools - graphite, charcoal, colored pencil, pastel, and erasers - each chose a quiet location upon the Abintra campus to begin drawing. Students were encouraged to meditate, contemplate, and to strengthen their powers of attention and observation.

by Shira

Aftercare artists have been studying the work of the artists James Rizzi and Joan Miro.  Inspired by their bright and playful work, they created these paintings using watercolor and oil pastel as resist.

 James Rizzi inspired painting by Avery

Miro inspired painting by Zach

Friends in chorus are practicing how to keep the beat together. This exercise encourages active listening to others playing the beat around them and to the metronome while tapping the rhythm sticks or shaking the egg shakers.