Animals at the Museum, 2015-2016 - PS 84 Catalogue

ANIMALS AT THE MUSEUM 2015-2016

CASA (Cultural After School Adventures) with PS 84 Steinway School Program by the Godwin-Ternbach Museum, Queens College

ANIMALS AT THE MUSEUM CASA (Cultural After School Adventures) with PS 84 Steinway School Program by the Godwin-Ternbach Museum, Queens College

The Cultural After School Adventures (CASA) program, provided by the Kupferberg Center for the Arts, Queens College, is made possible through the generosity of New York City Council Member Costa Constantinides, and is supported, in part, by public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.

Cover image: Ideal City by Tazmir Shaikh

Godwin-Ternbach Museum, Queens College, 405 Klapper Hall, 65-30 Kissena Boulevard, Flushing, NY 11367 718.997.4747 gtmuseum@qc.cuny.edu www.gtmuseum.org

PS 84 Steinway School CASA Students

EMILIA ABAD VALENTINA ARCUCCI DENISHA AYALA MOSTAFA CHEBBAK ZACARIA DAOUAOU JOSUE DURAN ADEL ALKHOULI TANIA GARCIA NAIMA GHNAIM RAYAN HAMDAOUL ZOE KOSTOPOLOUS MARIA KONTONCIOLAOU ELSA KULA MEHDI MANSOURI MOHAMED MOHAMED ZAIRA MONTES

DALMA OJEDA JORDYN OKSTENSTEIN JOSEPH OKSTENSTEIN ASHLEY ORTIZ GEORGE PAPADAKIS MARYHELEN PAPADAKIS KAYLA PENAFORT OLTIAN PILANA GIOVANNA RIZZI MELANIE ROMERO RANDY ROMERO LEILA SARACENI COSTADINA SCOUFARAS TAZMIR SHAIKH KAREN VELECELA MARIA VERDUGO

John Buffa, Principal, PS 84 Dominic Armano, Vice Principal, PS 84 Amy Winter, Godwin-Ternbach Museum Director Brita Helgesen, Program Developer & Teaching Artist Mary Giancoli, Teaching Artist Setare Arashloo, Teaching Artist and exhibition installation Andrea Achilles, PS 84/CASA Parent Teacher Coordinator Elizabeth Hoy, Godwin-Ternbach Museum exhibition design

Introduction The 2015-2016 Cultural After School Art program is an arts education class designed for fourth and fifth graders at PS 84 Steinway School in Astoria, Queens. During this program, students engaged with art objects from the Godwin-Ternabch Museum and other collections, studied cultures ancient to present day, learned elements of art through different media and styles, and most importanly explored creativity and self-expression.

Each lesson was a challenge that students approached each week with eagerness and curiosity. From watercolor and ink paintings, to drawings, collage and sculpture, and even printmaking and painting, each student partcipated in open-ended problem-solving and creative investigations.

Teaching artists Brita Helgesen, Mary Giancoli and Setare Arashloo delighted in watching the growth each individual student experienced over the six month program. With each class, minds expanded, focus sharpened, and understanding of media and art making skills grew. Students engaged in close looking and observation, discussion and developing art-making and modes of expression. And each week, each individual took ownership over their final product, knowing that they will be displayed in their own “Animals at the Museum” exhibition at the end of the program! In this catalogue is just a few examples of the lessons the students participated in, more of which are on display in the exhibition.

It is our hope that this catalogue will serve as a reminder to the students to continue their explorations in art making.

- Setare Arashloo, Mary Giancoli, Brita Helgesen

Egyptian Animals, Hieroglyphics & Landscapes After our preliminary exploration of cave painting and early writing forms, students were introduced to ancient Egypt, looking at visual elements and style, including the use of animal symbolism and even hieroglyphs. Students created their own Egyptian style animal and completed their compositions by writing their names in a hieroglyphic cartouche. Afterwards, students explored the the use of perspective, making their own Egyptian landscapes which include vanishing points, foreground, middleground and background.

Joe Okstenstein

Zoe Kostopolous

Giovanna Rizzi

Dalma Ojeda

Karen Velecela

Maryhelen Papadakis

Mohamed Mohamed

Emilia Abad

Jordyn Okstenstein

Ideal Cities

Students learned about ancient Rome and the development of early cities based creating the ideal layout to make for happy citizens. They thought about their own ideal cities, drawing then painting them with watercolor paints.

Mostafa Chebbak

Naima Ghnaim

Tania Garcia George Papadakis

Leila Saraceni

Costadina Scoufaras

Kayla Penafort

Tazmir Shaikh

Manuscript Illustrations and Illuminations Students learned about manuscript illuminations, looking at illustrations and listenting to stories from the Shahnameh (Persian Book of Kings). They also learned other ways to embellish manuscripts, such as the Medieval tradition of illuminated letters. Students chose a story from the Shahnameh to illustrate. The next week they created their elaborate illuminated letters.

Denisha Ayala

Mehdi Mansouri

George Papadakis

Oltian Pilana

Tazmir Shaikh

Ashley Ortiz

Kayla Penafort

Valentina Arcucci

Maria Verdugo

Mandalas

A mandala is a geometric design meant to symbolize the universe. In this lesson about the meditative function of Buddhist mandalas, students incorporated math into art, using compasses to create their own mandala designs, then decorating them with patterns and color.

Oltian Pilana

Ashley Ortiz

Melanie Romero

Josue Duran

Zoe Kostopolous

Maria Kontonciolaou

Adel Elkhouli

Elsa Kulla

Mohamed Mohamed

Mostafa Chebbak

Korean Style Painting In February, the Godwin-Ternbach Museum hosted an exhibition of a Korean painting collective, the Hoyeon group. The students looked at the exhibition catalogue, and learned about traditional Korean painting. Each student made their own paintings of landscape, cityscape, animal or flower using ink and watercolor.

Randy Romero

Elsa Kulla

Joseph Okstenstein

Maria Verdugo

Adel Elkhouli

Melanie Romero

Mehdi Mansouri

Tania Garcia

Josue Duran

Different views of Mount Fuji Looking Japanese artists Katsushika Hokusai and Ando Hiroshige’s Thirty Six Views of Mount Fuji, students explored the number of different ways the same subject can be depicted. Students then made their own views of the famous mountain in Japan.

Valentina Arcucci

Karen Velecela

Naima Ghnaim

Leila Saraceni

African Masks Students learned about the function of masks in many African cultures including Baule, Biombo, Dan, Goma, Kota, Lulua, Pende and Teke. Looking at mask examples from each of these cultures, students created their own collaged mask, with geometric forms and patterns.

Rayan Hamdaoul

Oltian Pilana

Naima Ghnaim

Joseph Okstenstein

Kandinsky, Music & Art

P.S. 84’s history is intrinsically tied to music, as it is named for the Steinway family, who built the school to serve the education needs of the piano factory workers’ families. In this lesson, students explored visual artists for whom music was also of importance, including Vasily Kandinsky. While listening to music that inspired Kandinsky, students created their own musically inspired compositions, interpreting the sound into abstract compositions.

Randy Romero

Maryhelen Papadakis

Dalma Ojeda Zacaria Daouaou

Zaira Montes

Indonesian Shadow Puppets Students learned about the Indonesian dramas and Javanese shadow plays. Looking at the variety and mechanics of the puppets, they crafted their own puppets and decorated with designs and patterns and even moveable parts.

Assyrian Lamassu Students learned about ancient Assyrian lamassu, which are protective deities that are hybrid creatures with human and animal parts, and most often times are winged. After listening to the ancient Mesopotamian story of Gilgamesh, students made their own hybrid winged creatures.

Costadina Scoufaras

Ashley Ortiz

Giovanna Rizzi

Adel Elkhouli

Maria Kontonciolaou

Karen Velecela

Still life by Maryhelen Papadakis