Art Vistas

Art Show

Art Vistas is a "hands on" approach to education that brings art from around the world into the classroom. Our children are given the opportunity to critique, analyze and appreciate historical and contemporary works of art. The students see and experience the numerous ways line, shape, color, texture and value can be depicted by world-valued artists of our past, and by the students themselves.

This year-long, comprehensive art education program includes art lessons specifically tailored to each grade level. Projects from kindergarten to fifth grade include drawing in many different mediums, painting, portraits, clay sculpture, still life, cityscapes, seascapes, horses, trains, abstract art, pointillistic (painting with dots), Cubism, Surrealism, Realism, Primitivism, Expressionism, Colonial Art, floral pastels, distance composition, charcoal shading, and photography.

Each spring our cafeteria is transformed in to an art gallery during our annual art show. The event is open to the community.

The PTA sponsored Art Vistas program is directed and supported by a dedicated team of more than 70 parent volunteers. Teachers and parent volunteer docents working together have made the program a success for 9 years. If you would like to become a part of our Art Vistas program, please contact Christina Deane, Valerie Speno, your child's teacher or the school office.

Why is Art Vistas important to your child?

Most of the school day is dedicated to left brain training. Left brain activity is almost entirely dedicated to the verbal, analytical, symbolic, abstract, rational, logical and linear. The right side of the brain deals with the spatial, synthetic, intuitive, holistic, imagining, and visualizing. Right brain training is almost entirely neglected during the course of the school day. In her book, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain, Betty Edwards discovered how students, through drawing and art training, can be taught how to access the right side of the brain. While teaching students how to process visual information in a new way, Ms. Edwards teaches them how to make cognitive shifts from one brain mode to the other. This skill can be applied to all areas of study requiring creative thinking. This is precisely why Los Alamitos Art Vistas is committed to the idea that an art education is important to every child.

Please read the
basic rules for
our Art Room.

2008-2009 CURRICULUM

Kindergarten
1st Grade 2nd Grade 3rd Grade 4th Grade 5th Grade

KINDERGARTEN

Children are introduced to the art of the Great Masters through the study of trains, animals, horses, boats, and houses. The year culminates with a lesson on portraits and each child doing a portrait of one of their classmates.

#	Lesson	Goal and Objective	Hands-on Project
A	Trains	The students will begin to identify the basic elements that make up a work of art.	Torn Paper Collage
B	Horses	Reinforce concepts of color, line, and shape learned elsewhere in the kindergarten curriculum.	Crayon Resist
C	Animals	Students begin to understand that they are able to contrast and compare various paintings	Clay Animals
D	Boats	Identify and understand the use of lines and color in paintings. The students will begin to appreciate the variety of styles with a common subject matter.	Fish Prints
E	Houses	The student shall review line and demonstrate their understanding of the use of color (Primary, secondary, neutral) in painting.	Oil Pastel Houses
F	Portraits	To introduce the student to portraiture as a subject for painting.	Drawing Self-Portraits

Students are introduced to the five elements of art- Line, Shape, Color, Texture, and Value. The students use a variety of art mediums-perhaps many for the first time. They have a chance to do ink prints, rubbings, watercolors, and oil pastels! The first grade featured artist is Vincent Van Gogh.

#	Lesson	Goal and Objective	Hands-on Project
A	Line	Identify and understand the use of line in works of art: man-made, natural, vertical, horizontal, curved, and imaginary.	Styrofoam Ink Printing
B	Shape	Increase student’s awareness of shape in art : man-made, natural, geometric or fee-form.	Creative Rubbings
C	Color	Learning about color and identifying color families: primary, secondary, warm colors, cool colors, neutral colors, and complementary colors.	Color Wheel and Wet on Wet Watercolors
D	Texture	The students will increase their awareness of texture in their environment and identify texture in art prints - learning that artists create texture that may be illusionary or real.	Clay Food
E	Value	The students will understand the meaning of value in painting. They will identify hue, tints, and shades in a painting.	Painted Single Hue Abstract
F	Vincent Van Gogh	Review of the elements of art by studying the paintings of Vincent Van Gogh. Students will observe how an artist can use the elements to create a feeling of distance in a painting.	Expressive Portraits

SECOND GRADE

Children learn that art can be grouped by subject matter. The "Principles of Art" are introduced: light, balance, harmony, unity, emphasis, pattern, contrast, rhythm, movement, and repetition. Students are able to discuss and describe how artists use the elements and principles of art to communicate ideas and feelings. They study landscapes, seascapes, cityscapes, still-life and portraits. The year ends with a lesson on Impressionism and Pierre Renoir (their featured artist).

#	Lesson	Goal and Objective	Hands-on Project
A	Landscapes	Introduce the subject of landscape and the art style, primitive. Space – Understanding how artists can represent near and far on a flat plane (foreground, middle ground, background, overlapping, relative size (proportion)…).	Tissue Paper Landscapes
B	Seascapes	Review the elements of design and introduce one of the Fundamental components of art: rhythm.	Watercolor Seascapes
C	Cityscapes	Students learn about perspective along with repetition and rhythm in cityscapes. They are also introduced to the concepts of balance and pattern.	Oil Pastel Cityscapes
D	Still Life	To introduce the subject of Still Life. To also introduce the idea of contrast in line, color, and shape = value.	Still Life Sketching
E	Portraits of Children	To introduce the students to portrait painting by looking at artists representation of real people. The students will understand the vocabulary: portraiture (full, frontal view, ¾ view, and profile).	Clay Masks
F	Pierre Renoir	To study in detail the life and work of a master artist and to review art principles.	Impressionistic Painting

Students study the elements and principles of art through the varied styles and interpretation of different "art themes". The students begin their year by viewing art on the theme, "People and Their Feelings". This lesson is followed by lessons on the theme "People at Work", "People at Play", "People and Music", "People and Animals", and "People From Around the World". The featured artist for third grade is Faith Ringgold.

#	Lesson	Goal and Objective	Hands-on Project
A	People and Feelings	Review the basic elements (line, shape, color, texture, value) and principles (balance, rhythm, space) of art. Discuss techniques used by artists to express feelings.	Oil Pastel Expressive Clowns
B	People at Play	Introduce ways in which artists show movement and emphasis through scenes of everyday life and people at play.	Clay/People in Action
C	People at Work	Review techniques used by artists to convey the idea of distance. Understand the vocabulary of Overlapping and Perspective (aerial and linear).	Distance Composition
D	People and Music	To expand upon the concept of rhythm by discussing selected paintings that depict different musical instruments. Students gain an understanding of how culture and personal experiences influence an artist’s work, and how visual art connects to the other arts (music).	Drawing to Music
E	People and Animals	To introduce the concept of harmony and review the principles of art already learned in previous lessons: distance, rhythm, and balance).	Painting Imaginary Animals
F	People and Family, Featured Artist: Faith Ringgold	To introduce the artist Faith Ringgold and her story Tar Beach. Discuss the closeness of family and wishes for the future. Cooperation within the class dynamic will be fostered by creating both individual and small group work.	Paint and fabric collage.

Students learn that art is sometimes classified by style and gain an understanding of two and three dimensional art styles that developed in the late 19^th century and early 20^th century known as "modern art". The students study various artistic styles- Realism, Primitivism, Impressionism, Expressionism, Cubism, Surrealism and Dadaism. The featured artist for fourth grade is Pablo Picasso.

#	Lesson	Goal and Objective	Hands-on Project
A	Realism and Primitivism	Review elements and principles of art and learn the differences in art styles presented, realism and primitivism.	Watercolor Pencil perspective study
B	Impressionism	Learning about art from the Impressionist movement and its importance in developing a new artistic perception and expression interested in light and the surface of objects.	Pointillist (Q-tip) Painting
C	Expressionism (and Fauvism)	Review Impressionism and begin to discuss one of the three (expressionism, abstract, and fantasy) major trends and most important influences in modern art (painting, sculpture, poetry, theatre, photography, and cinema).	Plaster Mask Project, part 1
D	Abstract Art	To introduce abstract art-to bridge realistic and non-objective art. The student will understand that the same elements and principles of art apply.	Plaster Mask Project, part 2
E	Picasso and Cubism	Learning about this innovative style developed by Georges Braque and Pablo Picasso which abandoned the traditional system of perspective and form for painting and sculpture for a new system of representing subjects as many-sided and multi-faceted.	Cubistic Portraits
F	Fantasy: Surrealism (and Dadaism)	The student will gain an understanding of the meaning of Surrealism. One will begin to understand how politics and war influenced artistic expression.	Surrealistic Dream Painting/Collage

The fifth grade curriculum begins with a continued discussion of art styles begun in fourth grade with emphasis on American contributions to art. The lessons encompass the study of "Art of the First Americans" , the study of "Colonial Realism and Primitive Art", "Art of the Revolutionary Period", and "Art of the Westward Movement". The fifth graders finish up their art vistas lessons at Los Alamitos with a very special "Poetry and Photography" lesson

#	Lesson	Goal and Objective	Hands-on Project
A	Art of the First Americans	Students will understand the influence of environment on the development of a group’s culture and art.	Totem Design in Clay
B	Colonial and Revolutionary Art	Introduces the students to the painting styles of the Colonial and Revolutionary art periods. Students begin to explore the effect of democratic ideals as they influenced art.	Charcoal Shading
C	Westward Movement	To introduce the students to genre painting as influenced by the upsurge of a strong middle class. To study the effects of the Westward Movement on romantic realism of the landscape and genre (scenes of everyday life) painters. To present the chroniclers (a narrative history) that tell of an exotic life in the unsettled west.	Asymmetrical Compositions
D	Regionalism and Abstract Expressionism	To introduce the students to the two prominent schools of American Art – Regionalism and Abstract Expressionism	Georgia O’Keeffe Contour Painting
E	Pop Art, Op Art and Beyond	To introduce the students to some of the more recent art movements including Pop Art, Op Art, Minimalism, Installation Art and more.	Andy Warhol inspired self portrait
F	Photography	To present photography as an art form that is available to the amateur as well as the professional. To increase awareness and encourage the children to use the elements and principles of art that they have learned in art vistas to make more memorable photographs of their own. The students will use the photographs they take as a stimulus for writing poetry.	Black & White Photo Studies

History of Our Art Vistas Program

The Art Vistas Program was originally formed in 1984 by eight parents interested in art from Alta Vista School in the Union School District. Its purpose was to provide instruction and enrichment in Art History, Art Appreciation, and Art Techniques for all children. In early 1993 Carol Grady and Julie Perrucci together reviewed the program in place at Union School District and presented the goals and objectives of the program to the administration, faculty, and PTA of Los Alamitos. There was unanimous support from all and PTA voted to support (financially) the purchase of the lesson plans, art prints, supplies, and training of docents (by Union School District). The inaugural year began with 24 dedicated docents. The first year, grades 1^st through 5^th all were presented 1^st grade lessons and kindergarteners were presented their own group of lessons. One of the early highlights of the program was when it was decided to do "fish print" t-shirts for the entire school! What excitement!

For the next 3 years additional lessons were added until in 1996 Los Alamitos had different lessons for each grade. Throughout the years the leadership of art vistas at Los Alamitos has been responsible for assisting many, many schools in the area develop and implement their own programs. Art Vistas curriculum development is an ongoing process. Many of the original lessons have been revised throughout the years to better suit our school curriculum and needs. One of the unique features of the program at Los Alamitos is that we have incorporated a three dimensional hands-on project into every grade level. Los Alamitos’ program also incorporates one lesson at each grade level on portraiture. This is generally one of the toughest subjects for students to master, therefore, by introducing it each year the students become familiar and at ease with it. The art vistas program includes a yearlong comprehensive art education for each student with art lessons specifically tailored to each grade level. There are six lessons presented to the students throughout the year. Each lesson includes an art appreciation discussion followed by a hands-on art experience.

The spring of 1994 was the first annual "Kaleidoscope of Color" showcasing the accomplishments of the first year of art vistas at Los Alamitos. The evening is accompanied by a hands-on art fair where the students get a chance to create artistic masterpieces and enjoy the company of family and friends. The show is traditionally well attended by the entire community and has received much positive feedback and publicity. As an added attraction we incorporate 5^th grade students researching and becoming their favorite artists for the evening (in costume and character ready to answer questions from the community).