Educational Services Division
Arts Integration
Paint Like Picasso
The Fifth Annual Special Art Show
The County Office of Education hosted the fifth annual Special Education Art Show on Wednesday, February 23rd, 2011. The art show is the brainchild of Brook Knoll teacher Wendy Harrison and is open to any student with special needs in the county who would like to be involved. The original concept behind the show was to illustrate that everyone is creative and can produce art. The public reception is a vehicle for the wider community to recognize and celebrate the ability and creativity of this particular student population.
Wendy explained that participating in the art show is a voluntary activity and a flier inviting submissions is sent to each district at the beginning of the school year.
This year approximately twelve schools participated, demonstrating a wide range of both age and ability in the hundred plus pieces of art which were submitted.
Each year there is a particular theme for the show and Wendy explained how this year’s theme, “Paint Like Picasso,” came about: the students in her class were making pictures of clouds using the medium of sponge painting. One student used a square sponge and the result reminded the staff of some of Picasso’s cubist art. The idea for the theme “Paint like Picasso” was born and students throughout the county rose to the occasion.
In some instances teachers drew simple examples based on Picasso’s work for students to copy. In other cases, students looked at books of Picasso’s work and chose elements which appealed to them, and then created their own interpretation of Picasso’s subjects, with highly imaginative results.
Shapes of the Rainbow
This student was inspired by Picasso's Cubism movement. He used a sponge painting approach to capture the vivid colors and shapes.
Pamela Eiriksson, one of the teachers involved, explained how her second/third grade combo class had produced creative pictures through using a directed drawing method. Having looked at some images by Picasso, they chose his 1938 rendering of
“The Rooster” as their inspiration.
One of the aides modeled building the image of the rooster by starting with a basic shape then adding more shapes. The students copied the shapes at each stage, went over the lines with crayon, wet the paper, then dropped paint onto it – creating a ‘wash’ effect. Pamela also commented on how well the students seemed to retain the technique with the directed drawing method.
Speaking to two of the young artists who had worked on this project, the students were clearly proud of their work and the creator of (A) told me how her pink rooster was “pretty”, while the artist who produced (B) agreed with my comment that his rooster seemed to be a rooster with attitude!
Student Ownership
Many of the students wrote insightful or whimsical comments which lent an extra dimension to their work.
Faces are not easy to read.
The Screaming Lady
I was randomly drawing with paint inspired by Picasso's use of emotion and funny shapes. What I saw in the random drawings was a screaming lady.
Picasso’s Rearranged Face
Artist Statement:
(Well, my teacher) told us we were doing a type of art Picasso used to make. He wouldn’t paint people, he would paint what he thought people were feeling. I used dark blue paint for the outside part of the head, used light blue paint for the eyes. I outlined the mouth yellow for lips, painted the inside dark blue, the nose purple, yellow ears, and painted facial skin under the outlining with glitter blue. At the moment I was feeling creative, so I mixed facial parts around and used as many shapes as possible: an oval for the head, two ovals for the eyes, a triangle for the nose, and two diamond shapes for ears. Personally, I wanted it to be my own kind of Picasso face.
Another teacher, Anne Spoon, told me about the artwork produced in her class. Her K - 2 students worked on self-portraits which reflected their individuality. The teacher and aides took photographs of the students engaged in their favorite activity, then, either independently, or with help, the students cut up the photographs and rearranged the pieces on the page - truly in the spirit of Picasso! I spoke to one student who likes yoga and had chosen to be photographed leading the class in a yoga session. She then cut up the photograph and rearranged it on the paper. Another student loves drumming and her picture reflects that aspect of herself.
The same collage approach was used by another teacher; this time though, it was a study in ‘hands’ – the students’ hands were photocopied, the copies painted and cut up, then finally re-arranged as a picture.
Color and Shape
Although all the work had strong elements of color and shape infused through it, some students focused specifically on color as these flower studies show – the caption under one of them read: I wanted it to look pretty. I worked really hard and I like it.
Flowers
There also were examples of art clearly influenced by Picasso’s cubist movement in the use of shape.
All Ages and Levels Welcome
The pre-school offerings of egg shell collages were colorful and vibrant…
The Elementary school students had some very imaginative offerings…
The Psyched Robot
Artist Statement: This is my picture of a robot inspired by Picasso done in chalk pastels.
...while examples at the High School level showed a different level of expertise…
The art show highlighted the support which the students give to each other, so that every student who wanted to participate was enabled to make a unique contribution.
Painting
(student) painted this picture with the help of his big buddy (who) helped him choose colors and student painted.
Everyone is a Winner!
The art show is sponsored by Balance4Kids* and the Community Advisory Committee, two organizations which support students with special needs in schools. Every student who submits a picture is honored by receiving a ribbon.
In addition, each year, one submission from the art show is chosen by a panel of judges to illustrate the annual poster promoting the work of the CAC. The poster is then distributed and displayed throughout the county in schools and offices.
This year’s award-winning picture was a wonderful self portrait – in Picasso style of course.
One of the judges, James Hughes, has been involved with the show since its inception and has seen it evolve over the years. He observed that although this year’s theme was more specific than ever, it produced a wider variety of artwork, which posed a conundrum for the judges – what exactly did “like Picasso” mean!
As for choosing a picture for the poster, he told me, it was important that the image they chose would “pull people in.” James “couldn’t take his eyes off (the self-portrait) from across the room.” When the other two judges agreed that the image was compelling, they decided to give this year’s award to the student who had created the self-portrait. The picture will now be used as an illustration on the 2011 CAC poster.
All in all the Special Art Show was a wonderful testament to the creativity of both students and teachers and illustrated the team efforts throughout the county which helped bring this excellent exhibition together.
The Happy Firebird
If you would like to see more images from the show go to a special slide show.
*Victoria George, the founder of Balance4Kids, recounted how she had conceived the idea for the organization when her own two children began school. There was a dearth of equipment and resources for children with special needs so Victoria decided to start a fundraising campaign to help bring enrichment into public school classrooms; the first efforts yielded funding support for computers, therapy equipment and field trips for students.
The Community Advisory Committee (CAC) is comprised of parent volunteers, special needs educators and other interested community members who seek to support children with special needs in schools. They offer workshops regarding special education topics which often include guest speakers.
