During the three weeks following its regular school year, Mountain View 3rd and 4th graders (and alumni) participated in the school’s 14th annual Summer Art Program, where they used a personalized learning approach to generate art of interest in a variety of mediums.
Personalized Learning is a teaching method that encourages students to decide what they want to learn and how they want to learn it. In Art class, children are responsible for coming up with an idea and choosing what medium(s) they will use to best express their idea. The teacher provides materials, advice, and one-on-one instruction.
For example, fourth-grader, Evelyn Angulo chose to use dry pastels to create an image of a howling timber wolf, while classmate, Analy Armenta used charcoal and graphite to create a lion portrait. Fifth-graders, Genesis Arias and Cataleah Briones each used oil pastels to create their renderings of African animals (a cheetah and a giraffe respectively). Mountain View alumni, Kenslee Lopez (graduated 2022) and Lyra Lopez (graduated 2019) found they could express themselves best using a clay and acrylic paint.
To create their pictures, the younger girls used a grid-transfer method. Since the Renaissance (1500s), artists have enlarged small drawings by placing a grid of squares over a reference picture and making a similar grid of larger squares on another surface. Then, focusing on one square at a time, they replicate what is seen in each. This technique is widely used by students in Coatimundi Middle School’s Advance Art class, a program the Mountain View fourth-graders hope to qualify for next year.
“The squares on my little picture showed me what to put in the squares on my big picture,” said Analy Armenta in her artist’s statement. “My lion took a long time, but it really turned out good!”
The other students, equally as proud of their finished pieces, echoed her remarks. “I just can’t believe I made something that looks this good,” said Cataleah Briones, with a look of both amazement and satisfaction.
Mastering dry mediums takes time. To create their art, each girl had to learn to apply pressure on the pastel, graphite, or charcoal at just the right angle. They also needed to analyze the color they were trying to replicate or select a combination of colors that gave them the look they wanted. While experimenting with oil pastels, Genesis Arias said, “You can’t use them like crayons; they are more like colored lipsticks.”
Mountain View alumni, Kenslee Lopez (Grade 7) and her sister, Lyra Lopez (Grade 9) returned to join the summer art class as teacher assistants. “Kenslee was a big help,” said her former teacher, Mr. Mark Dittmar. “Besides other things, she mixed paints and showed the younger girls application techniques and how to care for their materials. That left me free to work one-on-one with the others.”
Besides providing an environment to create art, the Summer Art Program gave students an opportunity to discuss art with others of like mind. During breaks, for example, Lyra and Mr. Dittmar formulated a plan to market her impressive sculptures. As a result, she was commissioned that week to make three figurines. On another day, Rio Rico High School senior, Paulina Fontes, stopped by for input on a self-portrait she’d been working on.
“I’m speechless,” said Tubac Career of the Arts Office Manager, Mrs. Sarah Vicery when Mr. Dittmar showed her the work the children had made. “There is so much talent in our community!”
Indeed, there is; and mining that talent is why Mountain View’s Summer Art Program and its after-school program, the Cartoon Club, exist.
Each of these programs is fully funded by tax credits. If you would like to learn more about them or would like to make a tax-deductible contribution, please contact the school office or email Mr. Dittmar at mdittmar@scv35.org for more information.