Champlain Valley Regional Art Show

28 artworks by PPS students are on display now through March 25th at the University Mall in South Burlington, VT. Check it out this week, before the stunning display comes down! If you can't make it, be sure to  find room in your schedule to see the Spring District Art Show, held in the Colchester High School gymnasium May 3-6.

Puppets!

In art for the past several weeks, students in 2nd grade have been designing, building and creating puppets using a whole lot of imagination and problem solving. In Mrs. Hooper's class, students worked in small groups to write short dialogue discussing their new knowledge about some important Americans. Check out these puppet shows we put on using the dialogue they wrote in class. Thanks to Mrs. Hooper for being an amazing collaborator and helping to make this happen. It has been a blast!

Snowflakes

Mrs. Millham came into the art studio just as Mrs. Belaski's Kindergarteners were finishing up these beautiful "make-and-take" snowflakes. We decided it would be a good opportunity to get a picture of the entire class along with their finished work. I'm thankful for such perfect timing! Say "Cheese," or better yet; say, "Snowflake!" We are ready for winter!

Painting Spirals

Spirals are everywhere; from the tiniest organisms to the largest galaxies. 1st Grade students at PPS created these vibrant paintings after viewing a series of images of spirals seen throughout nature (including snails, hurricanes and fiddle-head ferns). On day one of this lesson, students drew a spiral and used it's shape to guide the direction and movement of their paintings. On the second day, students finished painting and embellished their spirals with colored oil pastels. These 1st grade artists have demonstrated immense creativity, color sensitivity, and expression through movement.

Using our Imaginations to See

If you are interested in fun and easy drawing activity to activate the right side of your brain, I've got just the one for you! Take some strips of tape and place them randomly on a piece of paper. Turn your paper around until you "see" an animal or creature in the tape. Then use a pencil to outline the animal; you can add more details with colored pencils and markers.

Why is Drawing Important?

I just wanted to share this video because it really aligns with my thinking. We all appreciate the arts, but it's important to think deeply about why we appreciate them, and why we need them...

Drawing Featheriness

Feathers make excellent subjects for drawing. Kindergarten students studied a variety of feathers today, representing them using a wide selection of materials to demonstrate their fluffy, light-weight nature. Students were able to select materials they found necessary. These materials included graphite pencils, water-soluble graphite crayons, charcoal pencils, vine charcoal, handwriting pens, metallic crayons, white cray-pas, and watercolor paints.