To start off 2021 at The International School of Moscow, all of our campuses held Art Week from 11th to 15th January. This year’s theme was A Love of Art and it was warmly embraced by all staff and students.
Each class was given the freedom to choose their own style of art and an artist to focus on for the week. From abstract art in EYFS to expressionism and cubism in Year One, our younger students really showed their creativity. They learned how to blend colours and worked in a variety of mediums; using toy cars, straws, bare feet, stamps and sponges to create wonderful pieces of art.
At Krylatskoe Lower Campus, Year Two explored Fauvism, pointillism and contemporary pop art from Andre Derain, Henri Matisse, Georges Seurat and Michael Craig Martin. They learned new painting techniques and played with colour to create their works of art. In Year Three, the inspiration ranged from indigenous Haida art from Canada to the performing arts, creating masks and expressing emotions through movement. Our Year Four students created self-portraits in the style of traditional comics and using Picasso’s signature cubism.
At Krylatskoe Upper Campus, we embraced our love of art by focussing on sculptures and sculptors. Each class worked on creating clay models representing famous landmarks, animals and specific cultural features of the continent they were assigned. Our final pieces ranged from Machu Picchu in Peru and dragons from China to totem poles and kangaroos.
In Rosinka, children in Year 2J and both Year Five classes explored cubism using a range of materials including chalk on black paper to create self-portraits and other types of abstract paintings. Years 2J and 3I studied pointillism and created Russian landscapes by painting small but distinct dots. Year Four classes explored identity and beauty by looking at various artists’ styles, from Picasso’s cubism to René Magritte’s The False Mirror. They also looked at ways to be inspired to portray what beauty or identity means to each of us.
Year Six classes looked at pop art and the creation of comic books using contrasting colours and lines of symmetry.
Classrooms across all our campuses are now adorned with beautiful artworks and sculptures, and some of the best pieces will be selected to take pride of place on permanent display around school. A virtual exhibition held online next week for parents to admire the works of art created by their children.
Written by Maree Spence, Year 2 Teacher, Beatriz Tinning, Year 1 Teacher, and Pratibha Arora, Year 5 Teacher
