Mexico Mural

This week we started our mural project with artist in residence Kristin Helberg. Students in the seventh and eighth grades at Harlem Park are creating a mural depicting elements of Mexican culture. Kristin is also team teaching other grade level classes with Morag, with projects as diverse as cactus paintings and collages of adobe houses. Kristin's residency is provided through the Maryland Sate Arts Council'sArts in Education (AiE) Program.

Cactus

Pre-Kindergarten students looked at and talked about images of Mexican landscapes before using crayon and watercolor to create their pictures of saguaro cacti.

Pinch Pots

Seventh and eighth grade students are taking part in a new ceramics program at Harlem Park. Our thanks go out to the Middle School Ceramic Art Program  who have provided out materials for ceramics classes and an after school ceramics club, and without whom this program would not be possible. We started by looking at images of Mexican ceramics before creating pinch pots and then exploring decorative techniques.

Clay Mexican Animals

Middle school students studied images of Mexican animals before selecting their subjects for their ceramic sculpture. Below are the spider, armadillo and iguana pieces. Our thanks again to the Middle School Ceramic Art Program for their support.

Olmec Heads

Students looked at sculpture created by the Olmec and Mayan people in ancient Mexico. Students used these sculptures as inspiration for their celluclay heads.

Talavera Suns

Talavera pottery is the famous pottery of Puebla with distinctive bright colors and patterns

Third grade students used celluclay to make suns in the style of the Talavera potters.

 

Maracas

Second grade students used balloons, beans and paper mache to create their maracas. 

Bird Rattles

In Mexico, paper mache rattles are popular during New Year's celebrations.  The rattles are shaken to welcome the generous spirits of the new year and to drive away the unhappy spirits of past years.

First grade students used paper mache to make their Mexican bird rattles