New Observational Drawing Partnership With Guggenheim for Grade 7

Seventh Grade boys are exploring the history, architecture, and art works on view on at the Guggenheim Museum as part of Saint David's special partnership with the institution.

After learning about Frank Lloyd Wright's application of organic architecture and geometry in his design for the museum, boys were asked to find examples of these concepts within the museum's interior, and to make carefully observed drawings of their findings.

They will apply the observational drawing skills they learned during their fall Drawing Boot Camp, in order to draw and study chosen works in the permanent Thannhauser and Guggenheim collections by artists such as Picasso, Cezanne, Seurat, and Mondrian. As a culminating project, they will choose one of these works to study closely and draw in detail, synthesizing their drawing skills. They will also write an essay explaining the artist's motivation and process, and how he or she used concepts of line, proportion, value, and space in the work.

In February, the boys will exhibit their drawings in the museum's educational spaces, illuminating the progression of their learning to "draw what they see" as a means to more deeply understand themselves and the world around them.

Saint David's new partnership with the Guggenheim this year is one of the many ways we are harnessing the vast resources of our city's cultural and scientific institutions to augment and deepen the boys' learning across the educational program.

Comments

OLIVER!

This morning our fifth graders continued a great year-end tradition at Saint David's, The Fifth Grade Musical. The boys performed Oliver! and they were fantastic, providing impressive performances and demonstrating great vocal ability. They have been mastering the dialogue and musical numbers for weeks, and clearly gave it their all. Congratulations to the cast on a job well done, and to their Producers/Teachers James Hubbard and Jamie MacNeille, Director Phyllis Clark, Musical Conductor Jeff Moore, and the Parent Committee of Cynthia Chapman, Susan Kissane, Tara Neumann, Joyce Restituto, and Ann Roberts. Musical theater is alive and well at Saint David's!

NE Patriot Tom Brady at Saint David’s

Last night, Saint David’s was honored to have one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time, four time Superbowl champion and three-time MVP winner Tom Brady, as the guest speaker for our Alumni Parents Council Lecture Series. Tom, who is the father of one of our Saint David's boys, addressed a standing-room-only audience in Hyman Hall comprised of our eighth graders, alumni, alumni parents and faculty. Friendly, introspective, witty, and wise, he directed his talk to the delighted eighth graders in the front of the room, and focused on the topic of leadership. “You are the young men and leaders of Saint David’s,” he noted. Tom debunked the perception that leaders are born not made, and credited his leadership abilities to “standing up to and facing fears” and to “cultivating a mental strength,” which he cited as “more important than being physically strong.” He also stressed the importance of working hard, honoring teamwork, believing in oneself and being a good lis...

Fascinating Art Talk by Michelle Marder Kamhi at Grandparents Event

Yesterday evening, independent scholar and critic Michelle Marder Kamhi ( www.mmkamhi.com ), co-editor with husband Louis Torres of Aristos , an online review of arts; author of Who Says That's Art? A Commonsense View of the Visual Arts ; and grandmother of two Saint David's boys, gave a thought provoking talk on art for our grandparent community. An advocate of objective standards in arts scholarship and criticism, Ms. Kamhi focused her talk on the ways in which art critics such as Clement Greenberg promoted the shift from representational art to abstraction. Kamhi argues that the abstract and post-modern art prevalent today, which often requires explanation by docents in order to be understood, goes against art's purpose. Taking issue with Greenberg's contention that representation is an expendable convention of painting, she quoted the late art critic John Canaday: "Art is the tangible expression of the intangible values that men live by." ...

Headmaster's Blog

Search This Blog