ArtsMatter
A Journal of Creativity
2019
Mission Statement At Rawson Saunders we believe participation in the arts is essential to all students’ education. Through the arts, students enrich their analytical skills as they approach problems and tackle projects from an individualized perspective. Students with dyslexia often have significant strengths in the arts. We recognize and support these gifts by offering a dynamic array of artistic opportunities in drawing, painting, ceramics, sculpture, printmaking and digital design. Art at Rawson Saunders creates a space for young artists to develop authentic reflection, creative problem-solving and communication skills.
1st Grade
Batik Pillows
The first grade artists studied the Indonesian technique of batik. Students made their own version of batik fabric by using glue as a form of wax resist to draw their picture. Then they created their The first grade artists learnedThey about the Indonesian technique of Batik. Weitmade own an beautiful works of art on fabric. finished off their project by hand sewing into aour pillow, version Batik fabric example of of functional art. using glue as our resist, as opposed to wax. The student’s created their beautiful works of art on fabric. They then finished off their project by hand sewing it into a pillow; a functional piece of art.
2nd Grade
Looking at the work of artists Rachel Ruysch and Georgia O’Keefe, students learned how to apply scale and use different drawing tools to create their own still life drawing.
Students enjoyed pinching clay to make their own pots and used different types of lines and marks to create a design when applying glazes.
Third Grade
Artists explored painting with different tools and movements. Learning through movement is just one of the ways that the arts are multisensory.
Third grade artists rotated through different stations exploring color mixing with tinted lenses, finger paint, and Model Magic.
Ä°znik Tiles
Turkish Tapestries
Artists learned how to apply the design elements of repetition and pattern to their own textiles and tiles as they studied the history and work of Turkish artisans.
4th Grade Art
4th grade artists studied how the Pueblo peoples in Texas used clay in their daily lives and why they continue to create clay pots and vessels today. They expanded their knowledge of clay from making pinch pots from a small ball of clay to rolling out coils to make even bigger pieces.
Pueblo Pots
4th Grade City Project
Students worked in groups to create city plan proposals of what their ideal city would include. After debating the difference between what people in a community need versus want, the groups collaborated to create giant paper maps.
After completing their city proposals, each student selected one building that they thought should be included in our city. They sculpted an architectural model of their idea using recyclables like boxes, bottles, egg cartons and paper towel rolls.
To make their construction more secure, students added layers of paper mache until their building could pass an “earthquake test.� Then they painted their projects with textures to communicate what their building would be constructed from in the real world.
Students completed their projects by visiting the creation stations where they could use scraps of wood, beads, paper and plastic to create people, plants and decorations to add to our city.
5th Grade Art
Musical Collages
5th grade artists studied the work of Romare Bearden, and responded to music through creating large abstract paintings that they cut into shapes to form a collage.
Survival Sculpture Masks
Students researched animal adaptations as they considered what “survival� strategies they wanted their mask to embody. Then they constructed the armature of their masks, working with newspaper, cardboard and wire to complete the underlying structure.
After completing their armature construction and paper mache layers, students thought about colors choices and practiced textures to make scales, feathers and fur to represent the different animals on their masks.
Students completed their projects by performing some of their animal adaptations in a final photoshoot.
5th grade students developed their cartooning skills through practicing different facial features, expressions and learning how cartoonists both rely on and disregard the rules of human proportion as they develop original characters.
6th Grade Art
Random Acts of
Creative Kindness Students in 6th Grade Art created postcard-sized artworks where they could experiment with different materials to create original designs. They considered the impact of their creativity on others by giving away their cards.
Drawing
Collage
Painting painting
Printmaking
Students took the skills they developed from designing their RACK postcard stickers to develop their very own Coat of Arms to represent their heritage and their individuality. After playing with composition, they used their graphic design as a template for embossing copper into an original shield.
Coat of Arms
MS Art
Students in the 7th & 8th Grade MS Art class, participated in musical chair portrait drawings. After receiving their portraits, drawn from many different hands, they considered: does this portrait represent me? What message could be written or stenciled over top to lend a new meaning to the image?
Middle School artists went on study trips to the Blanton Museum of Art to explore how artists call attention to issues they care about. Upon returning to campus, they drafted final project ideas to communicate a message about an issue of their choice.
Clean Water Deficit
Environmental Protection
Ocean Pollution
World Hunger
School Violence
Immigration
Homelessness Animal Neglect & Abandonment
Discrimination
Gender & Identity
MS Electives
Mosaics with
Ms. Drew
Drawing with Wire with Ms. DeWees
Upper School Design Lab
DESIGN LAB is an upper school elective introducing students to human-centered design as a framework for creative problem-solving. Design learning, thinking and play build the skills needed to transform challenges into opportunities - through analysis, imagination and creative action. Students have explored topics and collaborated on projects drawn from the disciplines of art, communication design, architecture, product and game design.
Students learned about the key elements of game design - with a special focus on core mechanics and user experience - by studying play patterns, modifying classic board and arcade games, and creating their own original video game pitches.
Students’ final projects synthesized their passion, creativity and skills resulting in a variety of innovative ideas such as inclusive products to make dance and skateboarding more accessible to all, a service and center that brings together homeless teens and animals, and an organic injection system that could reduce medical waste by 15.7%
Personal interests also inspired a “sea yoga� flow for kids and a video mapping Austin through motion and music.
Students across the whole school submitted designs for our first Specials Celebration Shirt Design contest. The winning design was made into T-shirts to show off our creative Panther pride!
Thanks for participating!