Oyster Art http://oysterart.posterous.com Oyster-Adams Bilingual School - Washington D.C. posterous.com Tue, 07 Aug 2012 19:09:00 -0700 Goodbye for now http://oysterart.posterous.com/goodbye-for-now http://oysterart.posterous.com/goodbye-for-now

Pk

 

Dear parents and teachers,

I am very sad to say that I have resigned as the Art teacher at Oyster. My husband has been posted to Brazil with Reuters news agency and we are leaving DC at the end of the month.

It's hard to leave when I had so many new ideas and projects I wanted to spring on the students! As a teacher and an artist, it has been such fun to be surrounded by students who were always hungry for new artistic experiments. It always made me laugh when students would line up outside the Art room door and stick their noses up against the glass to try to figure out what project awaited them. I could hear "Yes", "Awesome", "I told you so". So cute! 

I loved working with a dynamic and hardworking school staff. I wish to thank the Oyster administration, in particular, for giving me the opportunity to teach at the school for two years and allowing me all the space I needed to be ambitious and creative in the Art room.

All the artwork produced by the students at Oyster from 2010-2012  -- about 13,000 pieces  --  can be seen on the Artsonia on-line gallery. Look up "past exhibits" to view them and you can still order artistic gifts with the work of your child on them.

All the best to the Oyster community for the coming academic year.

Goodbye.


Fiona Murphy 

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Wed, 13 Jun 2012 21:06:00 -0700 Ice cream collages to end the year http://oysterart.posterous.com/ice-cream-collages-to-end-the-year http://oysterart.posterous.com/ice-cream-collages-to-end-the-year
Dominicfederditoro

In the Art room this week we organized portfolios, took down exhibits and cleaned up in preparation for a new year of Art starting in August.

To keep cool, some students created ice cream collages, like the deliciously loaded sundae above by second grader Dominic Feder Di Toro.

I wish you all a great summer and look forward to seeing your creative kids again after a refreshing vacation.

Fiona Murphy

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Fri, 08 Jun 2012 10:28:42 -0700 Summer wishes and U.N. awards http://oysterart.posterous.com/summer-wishes-and-un-awards http://oysterart.posterous.com/summer-wishes-and-un-awards
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This week in the Art room we have been giving back work and trying to make room to complete the last of this year's projects. PK worked on bead sculptures. Kinder through 2nd grade worked on expressing their wishes for a happy Summer with symbols instead of words. 
Kinder and 1st grade finished two small murals on canvas that will be hung in the front office this week. 1st grade also designed animal patterned costumes that they will wear on Monday for their musical performance with Mrs. Zwi. 
Some students from all grades where chosen -- based on their constant good behavior throughout the year -- to decorate our office windows with glass paint. 
3rd graders drew on T-shirts using fabric markers and others finished painting umbrellas glass cups and vases. 

Also this week, an Art reception was held at the Martin Luther King Library in downtown DC for the winners of the North American division of the UNEP-Bayer International Children's Painting Competition to foster environmental awareness. Three of our Oyster students were among the winners: Luka Boadle was awarded D.C.'s "Best Artist", Laine Holman won DC's "2nd Best" and Natalie Fernandez received a special recognition. 

The students got to discuss their work with the event's special guest Dr. Mae Jemison, who was the first African-American woman to become a NASA astronaut and fly in space, aboard the space shuttle Endeavour in 1992. Since her retirement from NASA, Dr. Jemison has dedicated herself to promoting the se of science to improve our planet's environment.

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Thu, 31 May 2012 18:17:00 -0700 Butterflies, beads and breakfast http://oysterart.posterous.com/butterflies-beads-and-breakfast http://oysterart.posterous.com/butterflies-beads-and-breakfast

Carlossalas3rd_grade

 

This week in the Art room we were juggling around with a lot of fun projects. 

PK to Kinder worked on butterfly shapes, coloring them in with oil pastels and watercolors.

1st grade did mural designs on canvas and block prints. 

2nd grade painted on glass.

3rd grade made necklaces using various types of beads and finished their circular designs. Look at that one above by 3rd grader Carlos Salinas.

Hope to see you all at the Parent Appreciation Breakfast!

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Fri, 25 May 2012 05:44:54 -0700 Insects in Spring http://oysterart.posterous.com/insects-in-spring-25863 http://oysterart.posterous.com/insects-in-spring-25863
Coletterodriguezgrade2

This week in the Art room PK to 1st grade worked on line drawings with the theme of "Insects in Spring" and using scratch paper, like the one above by Colette Rodriguez. 

2nd and 3rd grade students worked on posters for poetry day. Some of them continued decorating glass bottles and vases using glass paints, while others designed umbrellas using fabric paint and markers. 

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Thu, 17 May 2012 18:51:10 -0700 Matisse and painting wine glasses http://oysterart.posterous.com/matisse-and-painting-wine-glasses http://oysterart.posterous.com/matisse-and-painting-wine-glasses
Setytekeu1stgrade

This week in the Art room PK and Kinder worked on Matisse-style collages and learned about positive and negative space. 1st grade worked on posters for Poetry Day to be held here at Oyster  on May 24.

2nd and  3rd grade began a new project painting simple designs on wine glasses, candle holders and glass tiles using glass paints.

Congratulations to our Oyster students who were winners in the North American division of the UNEP-Bayer International Children's Painting Competition. Luka Boadle from 2nd grade placed in the top ten and was Washington D.C.'s best in the competition. Laine Holman from  1st grade was one of two "D.C.'s Best" winners, Natalie Fernandez and Jourdan Garnier from 3rd grade won honorable mentions. The works by these students will be exhibited throughout the summer at the Martin Luther King Jr. library at 901 G Street NW, as of June 5.

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Thu, 10 May 2012 17:54:00 -0700 T-shirts and posters for La Fiesta!! http://oysterart.posterous.com/129912691 http://oysterart.posterous.com/129912691

Sophiadesaigrade1

 

Congratulations to Sophia Desai from 1st Grade!!  She won the competition for the best design of a T-shirt celebrating 40 years of Bilingual Education. The T-shirts will be on sale at  "La Fiesta" on Saturday.

This week has been a busy one in the Art room. PK-1st grade worked on drawing and painting spring flowers on circular cardboard using oil pastels and watercolors. Next week we will attach sticks to the cardboard circles and make large flowers.

2nd grade finished their double Cubist portraits influenced by Pablo Picasso. Some 3rd graders worked on the resistance of watercolors to oil pastels, while others finished painting their Impressionist-styled umbrellas. Still others painted patterns on plastic wine glasses - using glass paint. We also worked on the posters for "La Fiesta" on Saturday. See you there!!

Have a great weekend!

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Wed, 25 Apr 2012 20:52:34 -0700 23 Oyster students to be published in art book http://oysterart.posterous.com/23-oyster-students-to-be-published-in-art-boo http://oysterart.posterous.com/23-oyster-students-to-be-published-in-art-boo
Architecture7

Events:
The auction on Saturday night was a great success. Many art projects were on display and were auctioned off to raise money for the school. A fun night was had by all.

In the Art Room:
This week in the Art room students in PK worked on collages of Spring birds. Those from K to 3rd grade worked on designing T-shirts for the 40th anniversary of Bilingual Education.

Exhibitions:
Many thanks to the students and parents who came to the opening of 3A's architectural project on Monday evening. The 3A students worked hard on this project for eight weeks and displayed their final piece at Washington's Architectural Foundation. It was a great evening!. We also got to see what other schools around Washington DC had created. The Oyster students gave a brief explanation on their project. They described how they recreated a part of Woodley Park and made buildings with scaled structures of paper. Photo above.

Competitions:
Works by 23 of our Oyster students have been chosen to be published in a book called "Celebrating Art Spring 2012". This was a nationwide art competition and we are proud that so many of our Oyster students were chosen. The book comes out in September. There will be one copy for the school but if you would like to purchase a copy of your own please go to 
www.celebratingart.com.
And the winners are:

KINDER:
Carolina Bercasio
Janiece Blanco
Lucy Miller
Veronica Duran

GRADE 1:
Julia Alswang
Mariano Frare-Finnerty
Sarah Panetta
Isabel Reid 
Charlotte Beers
Laine Holman
Selden Pickens
Esther Susman-Pena
Kate Thephorarat

GRADE 2:
Luka Boadle
Bianca Martinez
Clara Morton

GRADE 3:
John Aispuro
Elena Rubens Goldfarb
Nadeem Elamine
Sol Davila Gehring
Santiago Duran
Beraliz Alvarado
Samuel Kurtz

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Fri, 20 Apr 2012 06:29:00 -0700 Trees of life a la Klimt - and the auction!! http://oysterart.posterous.com/124427612 http://oysterart.posterous.com/124427612

Genevieveharrisgrade1

 

This week in the Art room all grades got a chance to start their "Tree of Life" inspired by Gustav Klimt or finish the one they began last week. Check out the work above by first-grader Genevieve Harris. 

The Art room was busy finishing furniture pieces for the auction this coming Saturday. The pieces of furniture up for auction have contributions from every student in the school, anything from a fingerprint (or a hand print) to decoupage of their art work by adding paper cut-outs to the surface of the furniture.

Come and see the art work on Saturday April 21st from 7-11 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Georgetown.

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Sat, 14 Apr 2012 15:13:00 -0700 Painting umbrellas for auction http://oysterart.posterous.com/painting-umbrellas-for-auction http://oysterart.posterous.com/painting-umbrellas-for-auction

Blog

 

This week was a short one in the Art room -- we only had two days of classes on Thursday and Friday. But we have been busy inviting 3rd grade students down to do extra projects for the Auction coming up next Saturday. Take a look at them painting umbrellas above.

Kinder, 1st grade and some 3rd graders worked on their Personality Tree inspired by Gustav Klimt's "Tree of Life". Stay tuned for images of those creations on next week's blog.

Don't miss the Auction on Saturday April 21, 7-11 p.m. at the Holiday Inn in Georgetown.
See you there!

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Thu, 29 Mar 2012 19:43:21 -0700 Easter eggs and urban design http://oysterart.posterous.com/easter-eggs-and-urban-design-28922 http://oysterart.posterous.com/easter-eggs-and-urban-design-28922
Theblog

This week in the Art room we worked on designing colorfully patterned eggs with each student adding their own personal touches.
3A completed their course with the Washington Architectural Foundation with a special visit from the foundation's program manager Beth Judy. They worked on redesigning the whole block around the Oyster school. Their final product (photo above) will be on display alongside the work of other DC schools at the District Architectural Center (
421 Seventh Street NW, Metro Gallery Place). Come to the opening reception on April 23 from 6-7p.m.
Have a great Spring Break!

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Thu, 22 Mar 2012 07:11:54 -0700 The robots are coming - in 3D too! http://oysterart.posterous.com/the-robots-are-coming-in-3d-too http://oysterart.posterous.com/the-robots-are-coming-in-3d-too
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This week in the Art room grades PK to Kinder worked on geometric shapes and patterns that they used to design robots. That's Zoey Feder Di Toro's creation above!
Students from 1st, 2nd and 3rd grade also worked on making robots, but using 3D shapes and designs.
3A worked with the folks from the Washington Architects Foundation and focused on making model buildings for their final project.

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Fri, 16 Mar 2012 13:56:00 -0700 St. Paddy's Day and the Book of Kells http://oysterart.posterous.com/st-paddys-day http://oysterart.posterous.com/st-paddys-day

K-mariano

 

This week in the Art room all students learnt about celebrating St. Patrick's Day. In PK we made St. Patrick's Day hats.
In other grades, students learnt about the Book of Kells, Ireland's treasured manuscript created by Celtic monks 13 centuries ago. We worked on the amazing calligraphy used by the monks. Pictured above are letters created by first-grader Mariano Frare Finnerty following the book's style. 
Last but not least, 3A concentrated on city planning and aerial views this week in another session with the folks from the Washington Architectural Foundation.

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Fri, 09 Mar 2012 12:22:24 -0800 Self-portraits and Bengali printing http://oysterart.posterous.com/self-portraits-and-bengali-printing http://oysterart.posterous.com/self-portraits-and-bengali-printing
Carolinabercasio1stgrade

This week in the Art room students from PK to 1st grade worked on drawing the facial features of their self-portraits, emphasizing that we are all different from each other. "Me, myself and I," was the theme we followed.
The work pictured above is by first-grader Carolina Bercasio.
Meanwhile, 2nd and 3rd grade worked on their second week of "Green Communities" demonstrating through their drawings their understanding of being green and "reducing, reusing and recycling" stuff.
And 2B had a special workshop offered by Monica Bennett about block printing on fabrics, using techniques from the Bengali culture of her native Bangladesh.
Students in 3A learnt how town plans are mapped out in their fifth session with a team from the Washington Architectural Foundation.

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Fri, 02 Mar 2012 12:40:03 -0800 Cats and green cities http://oysterart.posterous.com/cats-and-green-cities http://oysterart.posterous.com/cats-and-green-cities
Biancamartinez2ndgrade

This week in the Art room PK and Kinder worked on geometric shapes, tracing and patterns. They created cat designs influenced by the art of Laurel Burch.
1st, 2nd and 3rd grade worked on the theme "Green Communities", brainstorming on ideas on how to keep our city Washington DC green. Students produced great drawings highlighting this theme.
3A is in their fourth week working with the architects from the Washington Architectural Foundation. This week the students and architects worked on neighborhood design, focusing on base maps and spaces.
The picture above is the work of second grader Bianca Martinez.

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Fri, 24 Feb 2012 05:46:50 -0800 Medieval castles and flip flops http://oysterart.posterous.com/medieval-castles-and-flip-flops http://oysterart.posterous.com/medieval-castles-and-flip-flops
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This week in the Art room PK, Kinder, 1st grade and 3B learnt about medieval castles and how they can draw castles by using simple geometric shapes.
2nd grade worked on the 2nd part of their flip flop collage and made drawings representing their hobbies and interests that were pasted onto their flip flop collages. We titled them "Personality Flip Flops".  That Ruth Williams' flip flop photographed above.
3A had their 3rd lesson with the Architects from Washington Architectural Foundation.
3C finished their 2nd week of mixing tones to create a portrait influenced by Henri Matisse.

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Fri, 17 Feb 2012 06:30:00 -0800 Flip-flops, cityscapes and paper making http://oysterart.posterous.com/flip-flops-cityscapes-and-paper-making http://oysterart.posterous.com/flip-flops-cityscapes-and-paper-making

Papermaking

 

This week has been a very productive one in the Art room. We had two paper-making sessions with the Pyramid Art Center: 2C on Monday and 2A on Thursday. The Pryramid Center taught our students to make their own paper out of recycled materials. (Photo above)
3A is doing its 3rd week of architecture with volunteers from the Washington Architectural Foundation. The theme we are following is " Cityscapes and City Planning" and the course will last a total of 8 weeks. When it ends we will exhibit the Sculptural Plan done by our class along with other DC schools. We will send out a notice to all parents and students to attend the exhibition sometime before May.
Pre-Kinder and Kinder worked on book-worm drawings using a variety of lines. 1st grade and 3rd grade worked on Henri Matisse portraits concentrating on the importance of color and how color can be mixed to create a number of different tones. 2nd grade created their own flip-flops using cardboard and pipe cleaners. Students needed to represent their personalities using images and collage on the flip-flops.
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Chancletas, papel y ciudades

Esta semana ha sido muy productiva en la sala de Arte. Hemos tenido dos sesiones sobre cómo hacer papel con el Centro de Arte Pirámide. El lunes le tocó a 2C y el jueves a 2A. Expertos del centro enseñaron a nuestros estudiantes a hacer papel a partir de materiales reciclados. (Foto arriba)
3A está haciendo su tercera semana de arquitectura con los voluntarios de la Fundación de Arquitectura de Washington. El tema que estamos siguiendo es "Ciudades y Planificación Urbana" y el curso tendrá una duración de 8 semanas. Al final exhibiremos la maqueta realizada por nuestra clase en un concurso con otras escuelas de Washington. Antes de mayo enviaremos un aviso a todos los padres y estudiantes para asistir a la exhibición.

Pre-Kinder y Kinder trabajaron en los dibujos sobre ratones de biblioteca usando una variedad de líneas. Y los estudiantes de 1er y 3er grado trabajaron con retratos al estilo de Henri Matisse concentrados en la importancia del color y cómo el color puede ser mezclado para crear una serie de tonos diferentes.

Los de 2º grado crearon sus propias chancletas flip-flop con tubo de cartón y productos de limpieza. Los estudiantes tenían que representar su propia personalidad en las chancletas usando un collage de imágenes.

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Fri, 10 Feb 2012 01:16:00 -0800 Rainbow Fish, quilts and paper making http://oysterart.posterous.com/rainbow-fish-quilts-and-paper-making http://oysterart.posterous.com/rainbow-fish-quilts-and-paper-making

F-paper2

 

In the Art room this week, Pre-K and Kinder read the award-winning children's book "Rainbow Fish" by Marcus Pfister and then created rainbow fishes of their own with paper plates, collage and paint.
2nd grade worked on Freedom Quilts for Black History Month and 3rd grade learned about migration through the works of African-American artist Jacob Lawrence.
2B had a special class this week. They learned about recycling and creating their own paper in a half-day workshop given by visiting artists from the Pyramid Atlantic Arts Center. Photo above.
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El Pez Arco Iris y papel hecho en casa

Esta semana en la sala de Arte, los estudiantes de Pre-Kinder y Kinder leyeron el libro infantil "El Pez Arco Iris" del autor Marcus Pfister, y luego crearon sus propios peces arco iris con platos de papel, colage y pintura.
Los estudiantes de 2do grado trabajaron con las Mantas de la Libertad para el Mes de Historia Negra, y los de 3er grado aprendieron sobre la migración a través de la obra de Jacob Lawrence.
Los estudiantes de 2B tuvieron una clase especial esta semana: aprendieron cómo hacer papel en un taller de medio día con artistas que vinieron del Pyramid Atlantic Arts Center (foto arriba).

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Thu, 26 Jan 2012 19:05:01 -0800 Penguin collages and a special visitor from Argentina http://oysterart.posterous.com/penguin-collages-and-a-special-visitor-from-a http://oysterart.posterous.com/penguin-collages-and-a-special-visitor-from-a
Inesabeledo

This week in the Art room PK-1st grades worked on penguin collages with watercolors. They learned about penguin's habitats and how their bodies adapt to extreme temperatures. We placed the penguins on the page underlining the difference between foreground and background.
2nd grade started their first week of Alexander Calder's portraits, drawing a portrait with one line and recreating it using wire. 3rd grade created banyan trees on cardboard, using oil pastel and watercolor.

We had a special visitor in 1A: Ines Abeledo, an artist and Art teacher from Argentina who is 1st grader Tomas Abeledo's aunt. Ines showed us images of her circular art work and explained the content of images of everyday scenes. She then got students to recreate their own circular piece of work. Students drew forms and images that focused on scenes from their everyday life and created their own impressions of their environment using oil pastels and watercolors. Thanks to Ines's father Carlos (Tomas' grandfather) for taking photos of our activities.

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Fri, 20 Jan 2012 01:53:00 -0800 Sea creatures and banyan trees http://oysterart.posterous.com/sea-creatures-and-banyan-trees http://oysterart.posterous.com/sea-creatures-and-banyan-trees

Imarymaciel-3rdgrade

 

This week in the Art room PK to 1st grade worked on an underwater theme, learning about the different types of fish and mammals that can be found under the sea.
In 2nd grade we finished our Romero Britto project. Check out Imary Maciel's work pictured above.
And in 3rd grade, 3B went on a field trip to the National Portrait Gallery, while 3A and 3C learned about banyan trees, creating a silhouette of the tree using oil pastels and water colors for a multicolored background sky.
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Arte submarino y higueras de Bengala

Esta semana en la sala de Arte los estudiantes de Pre-Kinder hasta 1er grado trabajaron con el tema submarino, aprendiendo sobre los diferentes tipos de peces y mamíferos que se encuentran bajo el mar.
Los de 2do grado terminaron sus proyectos de Romero Britto, el artista brasileño. Vean el trabajo arriba de Imary Maciel.
Los de 3B fueron en una excursión a la National Portrait Gallery, y 3A y 3C aprendieron sobre los árboles llamados higueras de Bengala, creando siluetas del arbol y un cielo multicolor en el fondo con pasteles de óleo y acuarelas.

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