RPA Middle School Students Explore Their Artistic Sides

RPA Middle School students have been exploring various artistic mediums, colors wheels, textures and more.  In Instructor Patricia Smith’s art class, students have access to acrylics, watercolor, charcoal and colored pencils, and have been making some creative and fun pieces of work the past few weeks.

“One of my goals in art class is not to show students an example before they start,” Smith explained.  “Otherwise, they end up creating what I made. Instead, I encourage students to think outside of the box and mix mediums in order to allow their creativity to truly surface and shine.

Smith said she has two rules in her art class: try something that is new outside of your comfort zone and making a mess is preferred! Projects have included: making homemade paper, sharpie art, collages, and even learning how to paint with our toes.

In Ceramics, each student has their own batch of air dry clay, a sponge and sculpting tools. Students sit in a circle while working with clay on their personal place mats. This is an introduction to ceramics class, where students are learning about slabs, coils, pinching and how to create geometric shapes. They have had a variety of “theme” weeks. One week, students made sea creatures and last week students made food.

“My favorite part of the class is watching the students realize that clay can be therapeutic and the creativity and interaction which occurs while their hands are busy,” Smith said.