Experiential Learning Brings Art Alive in Lower School
Principia’s Lower School Gym was recently transformed into a living Louvre, showcasing art across the centuries—and the artistry of our grade 4/5 students.
A highlight of the annual Lower School calendar, this year’s Art Alive! spanned three continents (Asia, Europe, North America) and six centuries and featured work by 21 students. The oldest piece depicted was from 1484 (Albrecht Durer’s Self Portrait at 13), with the most recent one being Springtime Is a Comin’, a 2013 painting by Louisiana native George Rodrigue.
Discussing the intensive, project-based approach to this unit, classroom teacher Heather Tibbetts explains that “students move beyond just learning a topic to actually doing and experiencing the material, which makes the learning authentic and meaningful. The students create the art; they conduct the research; they write and edit their monologue; and they transform (literally!) into the artist, who will teach museum visitors!”
To support students in this highly experiential activity, the grade 4/5 teaching team of Tibbetts and Denise Mouser (US’85, C’89) collaborates closely with Lower and Middle School art teacher Louise Elmgren (C’84), who identifies a range of artists and artworks and recommends them to specific students. Elmgren reminds students that “masterpieces” aren’t only products of the past. “Art is alive today,” she tells them. “It is still being practiced by artists, famous or not, in cultures around the world.” As students work on their projects, Elmgren says, they come to understand that “art is not only a noun or an object; it’s a verb, a creative process.”
Once the writing, drawing, color mixing, and painting are completed, each student is outfitted in a costume that closely depicts the persona of the artist or a character from the artwork. In many instances, the “artists” go beyond the expected research and learn a few words in a different language, for instance, try their hand at a complex technique, or dig deeper into the history of the specific time period.
At this year’s exhibition, the Lower School Gym was humming with visitors—not just grade 4/5 parents, but many parents from other classes as well as students from all levels and teachers and administrators. As they moved along from artist to artist, they learned about various art techniques (e.g., pointillism) as well as little-known facts about the artist. (For instance, a student outfitted in a WWII airman’s uniform informed visitors that pop artist Roy Lichtenstein served in the military for three years.) Visitors were equally impressed by the students’ creations and their poised presentations.