The students will be introduced to two contemporary artists in the US: David Stably and Lares Feliciano. Feliciano has an art installation in the Denver Art Museum that is focused on collective memory. The students will use cardboard, tape, paper, and paint to each create a whimsical little house. They will be expected to include one open window or door, with a scene inside relating to a memory of theirs. Together with the other grades, the little houses will be placed in an installation that will use the ideas in the students’ art to create a representation of the AA community. Other artists inspiring this unit include:  Nina Derkert in the Netherlands, Zimoun in Istanbul, Alfredo and Isabel Aquilizan in Autuland, NZ, and Ana Serrano in LA. 

Third Grade:

In this unit, students will work in small groups to make cardboard houses to be used in an all-school installation. They will work in groups of 3-5 to first build a house out of cardboard. Once the house is built, they will be expected to create a wall paper-like repetitive pattern to use as decoration for the outside of the house. The inside of the house will be decorated by second graders, and the roofs of the houses will be decorated by fourth and fifth-graders.

Second Grade:

The students will contribute to an all-school art installation by drawing pictures of a happy memory on handmade paper. First, they will make the paper, then they will use sharpie and watercolor paint to draw and paint a picture of a happy memory, as though looking at it through a window. They will install the windows on the inside of cardboard structures made by the third-grade classes, and all will be displayed along with miniature houses by the 4^th and 5^th graders in the front lobby. The whole installation is intended to be a visual representation of the community that makes up AA Lincoln Meadows.

First Grade:

The students will learn about portraits: what they are, why they might be made, and the usual basic elements of a portrait. They will then use markers, colored pencils, or crayons to create three self-portraits: one as a human, one as an animal, and one as a piece of fruit. They will be encouraged to maintain a style across all three portraits, and they will have an opportunity to look at their work and describe what makes each of the pictures a self-portrait.

Kindergarten:

This week we will use out understanding of color to explore depictions of emotion in art. The students will make several painted fish demonstrating different emotions, and will then tie them all together in a mobile.