What is the Purpose of Art?

This is the question I posed to my 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade students at the start of the year. In table groups, and with the aid of art postcards, students brainstormed reasons why people, for thousands of years, have made art.  We posted their findings in the art room and shared their responses.  "For decoration", "to have fun", "to record history", "to show your emotions" were just some of the ideas. We looked at this further and identified some reasons like, art can be functional, narrative, persuasive, for ceremonial purposes, and for artistic expression.

As students transition from their Personal Logo project to their CHOICE studio, I am asking them to consider their intent and reasoning for making their art.

Illuminated Letters

1st and 2nd Grade students started the year with a drawing and painting project called Illuminated Letters.  We looked at the decorated letters of manuscripts from the Middle Ages as inspiration. Students chose an initial in their name and decorated it by communicating ideas about themselves. They used colored sharpies and gold and silver sharpies, and metallic and glitter watercolor paints.
Looks for these finished pieces in the hallways at Mountain View.

Kindergarten Art

Kindergarten started the year with a few activities that serve as informal assessment on several art skills including drawing, cutting, coloring, and their knowledge of basic shape sand colors.

Every student drew a self-portrait using a variety of pencils and markers. They could include other details in their self-portrait like members of their families, pets, things that they like to do etc...

We also made a person by cutting, arranging, and gluing shapes down.  Each shape had a specific prompt like 'make a pattern in the rectangles".  No examples were given so the students were free arrange shapes as they liked.  There was quite a variety of interpretations on what a person looks like using these shapes.

Students have completed several projects based on lines.  We studied artists like Wassily Kandinsky and Piet Mondrian and discovered the types of lines they used in their paintings.  We began noticing how lines show up in our classroom, our homes, and our yards.  Students have made some resist paintings, experienced lines through clay, and created line collages as well.

Personal Logos

Students in 3rd,4th, and 5th Grade all started the year by creating a personal logo or 'artist signature'.

They combined their initials or nicknames with  imagery or symbols that communicate something about them.  We started by experimenting with ways to change fonts,  filling spaces with letters of the alphabet, and developing personal symbols to represent who we are.

3rd and 5th graders used a variety of media on paper to create their final work of art, while 4th graders placed their logos on tote bags with fabric markers.