Our 8th grade artists participated in a neurographic artwork. ​This process uses a drawing technique that links the conscience with the subconscious. The link is made by activating connections between brain cells and neurons. The result is an awareness and mindfulness that helps turn stress into calm and therefore, is a strategy used in art therapy. After finding a calm space, students think about a problem that is on their minds. Then, the artists draw an intuitive line, scribble, or doodle that reflects their problem for ten seconds. Following the line drawing, students work on rounding out the connections made with the overlapping lines. Lastly, students take their drawing and transform it into an artwork, applying patterns and watercolor. 

The collaborative bulletin boards have become a staple in the middle school art classroom's drawing center. During independent studio time, students may choose to apply color or other designs to the back bulletin board. The goal for this school year is to complete four - one for each quarter. 

Our 4th and 5th grade artists created Zentangle Leaf compositions. First, they learned about the zentangle method; easy-to-learn, relaxing, and fun way to create beautiful images by drawing structured patterns. After students practiced a variety of zentangle patterns, they collected leaves outside that had fallen from the trees. Following the collection, artists traced the leaves, using overlapping techniques to create new shapes. Next, our artists created a variety of patterns inside each shape using a permanent marker, and finally, added a watercolor background. 

This year our middle school artists can take part in the Post-It Note art gallery. During studio time, students can choose to create an artwork on a Post-it note using any media they'd like. Afterwards, they post their artwork to the space and take another artist's work of their choosing. Over time, the this part artist card gallery becomes a collaborative space that continually changes and evolves. 

To begin the year, students were given the prompt "Art is..." Each class worked collaboratively to create a list to complete the sentence. Afterwards, each student selected a word to illustrate on card stock. Here is our collaborative art piece!