Art & Design Education
A great deal of learning takes place outside of school. Expanding the frame of students' art experience includes visiting museums and cultural sites, speaking and working with visiting artists and seeking out opportunities to exhibit their work. Such experiences allow them to place art under a life and global context that helps shape the way they understand its role in society and in the world.
IB Visual Art Overnight Trip: Venice Art Biennale 2019 & 2022
The Venice Art Biennale in Italy is considered to many as the "Olympics of Art". Two IB Visual Art cohorts traveled on multi-day trips to Venice at the beginning of their respective school years to experience May You Live In Interesting Times (2019) and The Milk of Dreams (2022) and Venice's surrounding museums. These immersive trips provided tremendous Process Portfolio enrichment, Comparative Study considerations, and Exhibition inspiration where students returned with a deep understanding of art's expressive capabilities. For Y1 students in particular, this trip served as the driving force that catapulted their own art making -- with many considering this trip an invaluable source to guide them throughout their entire IB Visual Art journey.
Huffington Post recognition
In wake of 2015's Paris attacks, Beirut bombings, Baghdad bombings and other global events, the curriculum changed for a day:
"One World - Our Children" Downtown Mural
Entitled "One World, Our Children", this NYC mural was a collaboration between artist Chinon Maria, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation and the Alliance for Downtown New York. Located next to the World Trade Center and 9/11 Memorial in NYC, the mural's goal is to raise awareness about refugees, inspire unity, share that NYC welcomes all children globally, and showcase what the next generation's hopes and dreams are for our future. Students signed up for this event where they participated in workshops, painted the mural, and attended the final unveiling. This mural plans to stay up for many years to come.
Field Trip: "Volez, Voguez, Voyagez" Louis Vuitton Exhibition
Field trips serve an important role not only by placing art in a real-world context beyond school walls, but also as a hands-on physical experience where students can engage with the very things they are learning about. Aligning with curriculum and project goals in my 3D Design course titled "Design & Form", images below show students taken to a Louis Vuitton pop-up exhibition in downtown NYC to investigate the essential question, "How can an object create an experience?" Students were also challenged to sketch and analyze samples of strong material manipulation and examine how a design can reveal a target audience.
Other noteworthy field trips, for IB/Advanced Art:
Field trip to Villa Borghese in Rome, Italy
Field trip to India Art Fair in Delhi, India
Field trip to Brooklyn Museum in Brooklyn, NY
Other noteworthy field trips, for IB/Advanced Art:
Field trip to Villa Borghese in Rome, Italy
Field trip to India Art Fair in Delhi, India
Field trip to Brooklyn Museum in Brooklyn, NY
Student Artwork on Display
To gain their own public recognition and ownership, primary school students had their works put on display at the New York Public Library and in a local New York City coffee shop.
