Beauty In The House

Ker-pow! What a gorgeous season of creative and performing arts at BNS!

Even weeks later, just cannot shake the splendor & pride of that Fourth Grade Musical. 

The BNS Arts Committee shouts out KUDOS AND THANKS TO THE TEAM THAT MADE IT HAPPEN, particularly to fearless leaders JONATHAN and JOSE and DONNA, and MELISSA heading up scenic design.

Beauty in the HOUSE!!

-Mike Shapiro (text) & Justin Weiner (photos)

To view Justin's full slideshow go here: http://tinyurl.com/bns-2013-ic
Feel free to download from gallery, share and/or re-host the images.  A simple photo credit is appreciated, where applicable (on blogs, in print, etc.)

Maker Fest Magic

Congratulations to all those who made the first ever Makerfest such a fantastic event.  From knitting to weaving to cooking to toy making to worry doll creation to LEGO robotics and 3D printing.  It was totally cool!

-Anna Allanbrook, Principal

Photo courtesy Sam Erickson

Photo courtesy Sam Erickson

Photo courtesy Sam Erickson

Photo courtesy Sam Erickson

Photo courtesy Sam Erickson

A true example of everything that is right about our school. It was so awesome to see all of the parents working so hard. All of the kids and parents had so much fun. And did you hear? I won one of the raffles! I screamed and Briam and I danced. The true highlight of the evening. ;-)

-Jennifer Fleming, Teacher

I thought it was wonderful and inspiring to see so many families truly engaged in "making stuff" together. The combination of our dedicated volunteers with the families who were excited to come and experience Maker Fest was magical!
-Annmarie Matava, Parent

Photo courtesy of Justin Weiner

Photo courtesy of Justin Weiner

Photo courtesy of Justin Weiner

Photo courtesy of Justin Weiner

Photo courtesy of Justin Weiner

Photo courtesy of Justin Weiner

Photo courtesy of Justin Weiner

I saw a 7 year-old BNS 2nd grader discover knitting! She struggled with needles and stitches, but kept at it so so long. I wonder if she even knew that the sweaters and scarves she wears and sees around her were knit by hand and that she could do it too!

For me, looking up from a table to all at once see a virtual SEA of BNS families fill the cafeteria, visiting, smiling, sitting with each other to teach and make was so powerful!  Such concentration on the learning makers' faces and everywhere, busy hands and people sitting and standing together, totally engaged!

-Tish Doggett, Parent

Photo courtesy of Kathryn Kirk

Photo courtesy of Kathryn Kirk

Photo courtesy of Kathryn Kirk

Photo courtesy of Kathryn Kirk

Photo courtesy of Kathryn Kirk

Photo courtesy of Kathryn Kirk

"Glorious, industrious, lively, lovely."

-Mike Shapiro, Parent

Photo courtesy of Kathryn Kirk

Photo courtesy of Kathryn Kirk

Thank you to everyone who made this inspiring event possible: Janine, AnnMarie, the awesome PTA, Barbara and Johanna, all the volunteers and our wonderful documentarians Kathryn, Justin and Sam. 

Which side are YOU on? Dream and Reality in the Gallery

BNS 5th graders held center stage in the art gallery next to the art room last fall.

Art and social issues have gone hand and hand for centuries, and at BNS, our fifth graders continued the tradition of spreading their message through creativity.  After viewing the video, "Which Side are You On," by Rebel Diaz, they created peace posters expressing their own interpretations of war and peace.

The fifth grade also had an exhibit of their own watercolor/collage mixed media pieces based on their study of the Surrealists paintings of Rene Magritte and Salvador Dali. The aim of Surrealism was to "resolve the previously contradictory conditions of dream and reality." Our fifth graders have responded to this through their magical, mystical and often paradoxical renditions of works that feature the element of surprise, unexpected juxtapositions and non sequitur.

Thank you 5th grade teachers for keepin' it real!

Janine Sopp

From Cypriot to Clemente: Portrait Artists in the Making

I stumbled on these portraits outside of Andrew's class one day.

His students are expert portrait artists, I thought. I asked Andrew about their process. It started simply. Looking in the mirror, students explored their own features then made portraits in clay concentrating on getting the texture of their hair just right.

Next they travelled, physically and conceptually, back and forth in time, to focus on figurative sculpture from ancient Cyprus to modernist and contemporary painting and photography. At the Met they saw Cypriot sculptures and Chuck Close's work. (He used photographs as the beginning of a painted portrait).

They also studied the portraits of painters like Kirchner, Matisse and Picasso.

Once students grasped some different approaches to making portraits they practiced taking photos of themselves and then traced them to learn more about the lines and shapes in their own face. This led to another portrait using oil pastel. 

Francesco Clemente's watercolor portraits provided stylistic and technical inspiration for the final version. Students again took original photographs, enlarged them on the copy machine and

traced over them to get the lines right. They transferred their tracings to large watercolor paper

and used Clemente's wet-on-wet techniques to add dimension and expression.

Working hard, taking time, using culture for inspiration and...voila! Thank you, Andrew, for your words, your photos and your ingenuity!

Have you ever tried to make a self portrait? Tell us about it- post a comment below.