Kindergarten Mixed Media People

Students from my autism kindergarten class viewed the iconic art of Keith Haring alongside Frida Kahlo.  We used Frida to discuss the features on a face and Haring when tracing our bodies discussing line.  After our bodies were traced, we used a variety of cars to run paint tracks across our silhouettes.  

Keith Haring

Frida Kahlo

Next, we used a plethora of textured and patterned paper to add clothing and facial features to our bodies.  The last step was using tape to strengthen our fine motor skills and tempera sticks to add line and design.

Student Art Examples

Kindergarten Creates a Community

Kindergartners created people and animal stick puppets inspired by the works of  the work of Paul Klee after to conclude their unit on collage.  After several weeks learning about how to arrange, cut and distinguish between different textured paper, they used simple geometric cardboard shapes to create person puppet or animal.  

Student puppets

We kept these puppets in a safe place and several months later we began creating a background for them.  Students examined the collages by Harlem based artist Romare Bearden and brainstormed what is needed to make up a community.  We listed buildings, people, and transportation.  

  

Romare Bearden, The Block, 1971

Our kindergartners started their community collage  by using paper squares to cut and arrange to make buildings.  Next, students used patterned and painted paper to cut windows and doors.  After our buildings were complete, we worked on the transportation and created buses, cars,  and trucks.  The last step was adding in our puppet animals and people!

In addition to learning about Romare Bearden and how he created collages to represent the community he saw from his bedroom window, we also studied Mexican Muralist Diego Rivera.

Diego Rivera

  

Diego Rivera mural depicting Mexico's history at the National Palace in Mexico City, 1921

Students creating the buildings for the communities

We discussed how similar to Bearden, community played an important role in Rivera’s artwork as well.  Our students pointed out by Rivera painting his art as large frescoes on buildings in public spaces, it allowed for everyone in the community to see the work and bring people together.  Students learned how Rivera often painted scenes to celebrate the past/culture of his people and to create a hopeful future.  We hope you enjoy our mural displayed by a popular location in the school for everyone to enjoy!

Haring in The House!

Keith Haring 

The kindergarten cap program just finished studying mural artist Keith Haring and made these large scale paintings in response to his work.  First, we learned how when Haring was younger, he loved to watch his dad draw cartoons.  Once he got older, he moved to New York City to study art, and started showing up in subway stations drawing cartoon like characters on the empty advertisement black boards.   

Keith Haring and his artwork in a NYC subway. 

We discussed why someone would want to make art outside or in public areas versus for a Museum.  Students concluded that it cost money to go to a Museum and art that was public could be   enjoyed by EVERYONE, rich or poor.  Before starting our own public mural, we examined a few paintings by Haring and tried to pose our bodies in similar positions showing both emotion and movement, without using our faces.  Finally, we took turns tracing our silhouettes and painted the inside with bright colors to pay homage to Keith Haring, who often worked collaboratively with schools and children to create public art.  I got this great idea as well as many others from a colleagues who has a wonderful art blog definitely worth checking out In The Studio.  

            Students had a blast trying to recreate a Keith Haring painting with their bodies.

Students had fun tracing their bodies in poses that showed movement or emotion.

Mural 1 in Cafeteria.

Mural 2 in Main Hallway.

Assemblage Puppets

Kindergartners created people stick puppets inspired by the works of  the work of Paul Klee and In The Heart of the Beast. We learned that a puppet is a type of art that can be used in a performance to tell a story.   Students used different geometric shapes to form a human body or an animal and added different textured  and patterned papers.  Additionally, we discovered how texture is how something feels and thought carefully about which fabrics could help bring our puppets to life!

Building our puppets with shapes.

Shopping at the material store.

Paul Clay's son holding his father's puppets.

In the Heart of the Beast