Middle School Art from a Distance

Fifth and sixth grade artists have continued to create, sketch, paint, iterate, build and draw wonderful works of art in the distance learning environment. Students are asked to do a half-hour of artwork between their art class sessions. They have freedom of expression with this assignment, and they are encouraged to use whatever materials and mediums they have available in their homes. Creativity abounds with these wide parameters and limited resources, and the results are pretty amazing, as you can see in the slideshow of pieces below. The photo captions include student reflections on their work.

Taylor Nuzum ’26 I decided to draw the “Quarantine Cake” in celebration for the people who have had March birthdays. These people have had to celebrate their birthdays alone in solitude due to social isolation. My three layers were the basic cake shape, details (including confetti sprinkles) and blending with a white colored pencil and cotton swab.

Sophia Ashley-Martin ’26 This is a drawing of a tree growing out of a house. The first thing I did to make this was to look at pictures of houses, and watch a tutorial on how to draw a house. After that, I worked on drawing the willow by watching a tutorial, and then looked at pictures on roots.

Madeline Adkins ’26 I drew a bird flying to a flower. First I drew the body of the bird, then I added the wings. Finally, I drew the flower, this way the bird had a purpose. This drawing is realistic because it looks like a bird.

Lilah Pronger ’21 I have been wanting to try out a new art style, so during quarantine I have had the perfect chance to experiment and see what I can find. I usually draw realistically, but now I have been trying out expressionistic artwork. I looked on google for expressionistic art styles and found some very interesting ones so I switched up the style to fit my style better, and I have been enjoying this new style that I can make!

Grant Krainik ’27 I made a scene using a drawing and a few real objects. I was being expressionistic. Layer one was the objects, layer two were the drawings and layer three were the words.

Gabe Weaver ’26 I chose the drawing prompt #1. I made the chair have powers of God, that’s why it has a halo and angel wings. I practice drawing more precise angles and getting better at making it more 3D.

Eleonora Slabun ’27 I did an expressionistic drawing of colors on the water where there are rays of sun. This is a quiet and peaceful scene. Suddenly there is a storm on the other half of the page! My tree is shaking there, where the storm is, while the other side remains peaceful, not shaking at all.

David Levison ’26 I used three different optical illusions to make the human eyes see different things happening throughout the drawing.

Middle School Visual Art Teacher Jayme Zimmer and Middle School Fine and Performing Arts Department Chair JoAnne Vogel are providing some structure for the assignment; however, they are allowing for a wide range of mediums, materials, structures and skills.

Zimmer shared, “During our distance learning experience in Middle School Visual Arts, our main intention is to have fun and enjoy being expressive. Students are using many of the same concepts and skills that we learned in the classroom, just now in the home setting. They are building on their understanding of the modes of expression (realistic, expressionistic, abstract) and they are practicing ‘layering’ as a system for building a visual expression. Students are learning how to be resourceful to create an idea, build skill and use specific materials and processes. We have given students freedom to use whatever materials they have access to at home to express their ideas based on what they enjoy the most.”

Zimmer is a big proponent of the arts and the positive influence they have on students overall. She shared a helpful insight from a website focused on the healing power of art:

“There is an increasing amount of scientific evidence that proves art enhances brain function. It has an impact on brain wave patterns and emotions, the nervous system, and can actually raise serotonin levels. Art can change a person’s outlook and the way they experience the world.”

Head of Middle School Jen Schuckman was so impressed with the artwork that she decided to feature a piece of art in each of her daily morning emails to all Middle School students, faculty and staff. What a great way to build community, lift spirits and celebrate the arts!

Middle School Art from a Distance

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