Students of the Arts Block Painting class had a special opportunity to get up-close and personal with Tom O’Neil and his artworks today as he welcomed the students to his home studio in Stockbridge. The students engaged in a dialogue with Mr. O’Neil about his process and about his finished and unfinished artworks. The group remarked that, after having worked with the concept of abstraction in class, they were able to relate to Mr. O’Neil’s work in a tangible way based on their experience with similar ideas and materials. Having the ability to step into a professional artist’s space helped to actualize the notion of what it means and what it looks like to make art for a living. Thank you, Mr. O’Neil!

Some Notes on Abstraction…

In abstraction, you pull out and push in the positives and negatives to create different grounds and spaces. – Mimi

One thing can always fold into another. – Beatrice

It’s important not to get caught up in one place in the painting. You have to move around it. – Elena

If you don’t like something (or if you like something), it’s okay to cover it up rather than try to work through the painting. – Doree

Don’t be afraid to mess up. – William

A Sampling of Student Works in Progress…

Last week the 5th and 6th Grade classes, along with Mr. Spitzer and Ms. Sicurella, spent the afternoon among large-scale contemporary art at Mass MoCA in North Adams, MA. In conjunction with their current studies in the Drawing & Painting studio, students spent time with the work of Sol Lewitt, experiencing his early, mid-career, and recent works throughout three floors of the museum. Highlights of the trip included the immersive installations of Lee Boroson featured in his “Plastic Fantastic” exhibition. Among our favorites, Deep Current (2014), a kinetic sculpture/machine that produces a ‘waterfall’ of ping-pong balls. Eclipse (2014), a stunning video installation by artists Sayler/Morris with Elizabeth Kolbert also caught our attention. This projected image of a tree gaining and losing its leaves (in the form of birds) examines species extinction through the passenger pigeon, whose once-massive population disappeared 100 years ago.

We also had the opportunity to explore the Kidspace exhibition, It’s Only Human featuring the work of Nick Veasey and Marilene Oliver who both use state-of-the-art medical imaging technology and x-rays to explore humans from the inside-out. We ended our visit with a hands-on art-making activity related to themes of this show.

The ice is terrific on the pond and we have been ice skating with a few classes already.  We plan on skating next week as well, so if your child wants to use their own skates, please bring them in.  We have a good number of helmets, but please feel free to provide a helmet if you have one for your child.

Thank you,
Mrs. Heady

Below are pictures from today’s skating with Kindergarten. Check back next week as more pictures get added.

For those of you viewing pictures on your iphone or ipad, you can see them here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/bcdtech/sets/72157648093881254/