Claire H.
For Lower School art teacher Mrs. Abraham, the annual art show is not just a display of student work, but rather a core memory in the making.
This year, Abraham designed the show around two ideas: the theme of underwater, and a featured artist, Jean-Michel Basquiat. Every grade level, from Explorers through fifth grade, engaged with one or both elements, weaving art history and skill-building into creative and fun projects.
For Abraham, Basquiat was the perfect choice for a featured artist, allowing her to incorporate his time as a street artist into the fifth grade’s project with skateboards. His signature three-pointed crown, found across much of his work, became a talking point in the classroom. Each point represents one of his three loves: poetry, art, and music. Abraham said, ” They talked about things that made them proud, things that made them who they were, and wearing our crown tall and always being true to ourselves.”
In addition to incorporating one or both of the elements into each grade’s projects, Abraham also combined different skills into each one. Fifth graders used a gridding system to enlarge their designs, creating a cross-curricular bridge in their projects. Fourth graders utilized plaster to create sculptures with pool noodles, learning about positive and negative space along the way.
Abraham said that from the moment students came back from spring break, planning for the art show was already underway. But it isn’t until the day of the show that the space truly comes to fruition. She started this process by organizing all the projects in her room, and our after-school CASE helped her set up.
Now in her third year at Academy, Abraham has created the art show, an all-school affair. When she first arrived, she approached the Middle and Upper School art teachers about combining their shows into one shared evening, a night so successful that it continues to this year. She said, “I am so fortunate to have such a great art team with the Middle Upper School art teachers.”
At the show, Abraham asks the students two questions: did they find their artwork, and what was their favorite project? The projects this year were all new. And she’s already planning to make sure next year’s are, too.
When asked how she comes up with ideas, Abraham’s answer was simple: “I’m kind of just always thinking,” she said.
