Captured: America in Color from 1939-1943 – Plog Photo Blog
These images, by photographers of the Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information, are some of the only color photographs taken of the effects of the Depression on America’s rural and small town populations. The photographs are the property of the Library of Congress and were included in a 2006 exhibit Bound for Glory: America in Color.
Monday, February 6, 2012
Kindergarten Snowflakes
Kindergarten artists read the book "Snowflake Bentley". We learned about the life of photographer Wilson Bentley. According to his website (www.snowflakebentley.com) many of us can remember hearing the phrase "no two snowflakes are alike". This discovery was made in the small rural town of Jericho, Vermont by Wilson A. Bentley (1865-1931).A self educated farmer, Bentley attracted world attention with his pioneering work in the area of photomicrography, most notably his extensive work with snow crystals (commonly known as snowflakes). By adapting a microscope to a bellows camera, and years of trial and error, he became the first person to photograph a single snow crystal in 1885.
Kindergartners learned to fold square paper twice to make a small triangle. We drew small, simple shapes on our triangles and cut these shapes out. We then carefully unfolded our creations to see what we made!
4th Grade Relief Scupltures
Fourth Grade artists looked at the artwork of renowned sculptor Louise Nevelson. Nevelson was a Russian immigrant. Her father was a wood worker and because of this Louise began using his scrap wood to build assemblages out of these found objects. Her sculptures typically featured hand-built wooden boxes filled abstractly with pieces of wood. Her sculptures were also painted one color, usually a neutral color. She did this because her artwork was about shapes (2-D) and forms (3-D)--it was not about color. 4th graders built a box out of scrap mat board. We used scrap wood and found objects sent over from the middle schools to build our abstract sculptures. Mr. K spray painted all 80-something boxes black and students were able to choose one metallic paint to give their work just a touch of color using sponge brushes. Every 4th grader has a sculpture hanging outside the art room creating one large relief sculpture.