At ISA, we’ve been enjoying the warm spring weather by relaxing outdoors with watercolor. The students have been working on perspective drawings of their ideal cities and landscapes. After practicing their color mixing, they’ll begin to fill in their drawings with beautiful flowing color.
Watercolor circle
Inspired by HEArt instructor Francesca’s recent trip to Washington DC, the students at Starr King began designing and constructing monuments for the people, places and events important to their lives. As architects, they began by learning the concept of “scale” by using a ruler and graph paper to design their unique monuments. This week they began to build their visions with Popsicle sticks and glue in hand.
Taeja works on her monument, inspired by a bird house
Over the past couple of weeks, the Chavez students have been fashioning tree houses made primarily from firewood, tree branches, and popsicle sticks. These tree houses represent safe havens – a utopian environment where they can go to escape worries and woes. Working in teams, the students have been constructing houses, swings, bridges, stairs, jacuzzis and airplanes to represent their ideal reality.
Isaiah and Viri work on a tree house
We also celebrate the new “HEArt Gallery” where we will showcase artwork on a rotating basis!
Viri, Sarah and Monica celebrate a new gallery to showcase student work
HEArt of the City signs their signature at Costano with a beautiful, vibrant mural outside the music room. The mural has some finishing touches left to make, but we are almost there!
HHH Teen Lyricist Kyle “KC Sling” Carter takes a moment to share his verse on peace during a writing session last Monday night.
Using the puppet characters they made last week, the Starr Kingers wrote scripts centered on the theme of conflict resolution. They designed and created sets out of large cardboard boxes, and performed their puppet shows at the end of class. The three groups’ set designs are pictured below:
An ice cream parlor in outerspace
Pizza parlor puppet show featuring Rihanna, a dragon, two superheros and a police officer
Puppet show set at a campsite in the woods and vampire cave
Vampire cave
We are reviewing basic elements of design: line, shape, form, color, texture, space and value. In the coming weeks, these skills will be applied to individual canvasses that the students will design and create themselves. Tuesday we had a short, fun activity based on SHAPE and MATERIAL. We talked about the importance of natural resources in our environment, and the ways artists incorporate different types of materials in their work to create meaning. The theme was TRASH INTO TREASURE. Using materials normally considered to be trash (cans, bottles, yogurt tops, broken beads, etc), we practiced creating positive and negative space, layering shape and pattern. The students loved using the spray paint and learned ways that it can be incorporated in art forms beyond graffiti lettering. 
The mural at Costano is coming to life! Look how beautiful:
Chavez students finished their headdresses on the final day of our Mardi Gras Indian unit. Through a three-week series, the students were able to consider what the word “gang” means to them and how creativity can be used to vent aggressive tendencies. They finished designing their own Mardi Gras Indian-style headdresses, bejeweled with sequins and beads and embellished with feathers. And a brave few “battled” it out through dance to earn themselves some flashy Mardi Gras beads!
The youngest member of the gang!
Good buddies
HEArt of the City laid the first strokes of paint on the music room wall at Costano! On the inaugural day of painting, students continue to build their understanding of how inner peace and strength can help them make a positive impact on their community’s health. Before getting to work in the mural, they discussed the VALUE of art and beauty in their lives. The students then rotated through two workshops that reiterate how the physical act of art is calming and empowering. In the first, students worked on charcoal drawings to practice creating VALUE, one of the key elements of mural design. In the second, the students practiced their graffiti calisthenics before filling in the background sunset.
The beginnings of the graffiti mural
Value drawings
