https://sites.google.com/cps.edu/waters-art-lab/home

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Hello Everyone!

My sincerest gratitude for your overwhelming support and kind words as I have announced my early retirement from Waters. Your emails, hugs, heartfelt conversations and thoughtful cards mean so much to me. As I've shared, it is the hardest decision I've ever made. Your kindness and love mean the world...

We are planning a Goodbye Party, June 12, 2025 at 3:30PM, in Waters School Garden. Everyone is invited---staff, families and community:). I hope to share one last goodbye with you--- where it all began nearly 25 years ago...Please join us as we celebrate our time together:)!

Picasso, Peace & Project-based Learning, our final art show together, will be May 30, 2025 from 3:15-5:00PM. We will be showcasing a panorama of hundreds of artworks at our opening.

Our S2 art show will be an expansive student-created retrospective of one of the most impactful changemakers the art world has ever known...It has been so rewarding to share how Pablo Picasso, just 5'4'' among contemporary art giants and against all odds, in a tumultuous time---took on the Western art canon--- redefined how we look at, create and value art. His legacy is what I aim to teach every day...As Greta says, "You are never too small to make a difference:))..." We can't wait to share it with you!

Critter Club, Wavemakers and Grrl Scouts will be partnering with Students ReBuild one last time this year to make origami peace projects with fellow students. Please check out this fun art making extension with an additional purpose---each artwork you make will create $5 to grow peace---in its many iterations---around the world! Enjoy, create and make CHANGE!

Please join us for this transformative community event! All are welcome!

If you can help hang artworks for our show, please sign-up below:). Thanks in advance:)!

Thank you so much for your support, now and always. We couldn't do THIS without YOU!

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With Kindness,

Mrs. Vecchioni

We are looking forward to culminating our study of Pablo Picasso this month. We will create a capstone project by studying the iconic Chicago Picasso in Daley Plaza.

We will look at its form, its particular symbolic significance to Chicago history and its ability to make public art a part of the fabric of a place. We will tie this study into looking at Picasso's later life Surrealist explorations.

We will be wrapping up all of April's project-based learning this week and moving on to our capstone in each grade level...

A sneak peek...

Kindergartners | 3D Chicago Picasso Prototype

2nd graders | 2D Mixed-Media "Our Kind of Town" Chicago Cityscape

4th graders | 2D Mixed-Media "Our Kind of Town" Chicago Cityscape

6th graders | 3D Chicago Picasso Maquette

7 & 8th graders | 3D Pop-up Chicago Public Art Modello

We can't wait to get started:))!

Aneliya is Preslav & Boromir's mom--- and exudes phenomenal kindness in all that she does!

She has volunteered her time to help Grrl Scouts and Wavemaker clubs make ephemeral peaceworks art and long-lasting change in the hearts of Waters kids. Currently we are working in clay imprints and fabric wrapping. Our peacemaking efforts are also an exchange project, collaborating with elderly with long term memory loss in the Lincoln Square community.

We are very fortunate to have Aneliya volunteer her time with us. Aneliya "is a mixed-media Bulgarian artist and teacher based in Chicago. She is the founder of Seventh Green Circle and co-founder of bulgarkamagazine.com. She works with mediums like painting, printing, and weaving, and she's also a conceptual thinker who has been teaching creative classes since 2012."

Again, we are truly grateful...

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We will be answering the seemingly age-old question together and individually...

What is it? What was Picasso thinking? Why create it for Chicago?

We will respond in 2D, 3D and in poetry...:))!

The #1 Personality Quiz for Kids Based on Jungian Psychology That Helps Kids Discover Their Inner Genius & Unique Strengths...

We are an ensemble of parents, students, teachers and staff that are excited about fine arts programming---exhibits, performances, showcases, arts festivals and literary salon events. We need your ideas and enthusiastic spirit to help us give Waters kids the BEST arts education we can...

THIS SPRING we are working on the Students ReBuild & Waters' Arcadia Peace Project as a May Maker Month experience for our community. We will be adding new garden features to our Secret Garden's Outdoor Maker Lab by making sensory garden plots, freestanding art installations, outdoor community looms and clayworks wind chimes. All artworks and classroom experiences will be rooted in mindfulness as a self-help practice and personal peace-making. If you can help out---please let us know!

If you can donate any of the following---please drop off in the Main Office or email me at alvecchioni@cps.edu.

• yarn
• ribbon
• shells
• pine cones
• driftwood
• twine
• fishing line
• Mexican beach pebbles
• S-hooks
• garden plants

Thanks in advance:))!

We need your help! ALL ARE WELCOME! We build community together and have a lot of FUN:)!

Our NEXT PLANNING MEETING is May 7, 2025! (3:00-4:00PM)

COMMUNITY ARTISTS AND GARDENERS---ALL TALENT LEVELS NEEDED---SEE BELOW FOR A SPECIAL REQUEST:))!

Otsaliheliga:)!

🌀ALL STUDENT Wavemaker Art Clubs are on THURSDAYS in April:)! Please note meeting dates on our calendar below: If no school, no meeting. Thanks in advance! 🌀

2024-2025 Wavemaker ART-IN-ACTION Clubs include:

KIDS Arts Leadership Team (ALT) & CRITTER CLUB (5-8)

FIRST THURSDAY & THIRD THURSDAY EACH MONTH (3PM - 5PM)

SEMESTER 2 MEET DATES

• 🐰 5/1, 5/15 🐰
• 🐰 6/5 🐰

Wavemakers Arts Advocacy & Grrl Scout Troupe #27333 (1-4)

SECOND & FOURTH THURSDAY EACH MONTH (3PM - 5PM)

SEMESTER 2 MEET DATES

• 🌎 5/8, 5/22 🌎

*LUNCH CREW LITERARY SALON LIBRARIANS (2 & 3 grades) will be each Wednesday this year! Let Mrs. Vecchioni know if you are interested in joining us:)!*

From CPSArts:

"As a Fine & Performing Arts School with Demonstration Site Status, your school will receive the following:

Badge Certification
Feel free to use this official badge on all school print and virtual documents.

Innovation Grant
Your school will receive a $10,000.00 innovation grant to support the expansion of your arts and arts integration curricula into contemporary and innovative spaces. We encourage you to consider emerging technologies in artistic disciplines and arts integration. We will release further guidance on how to spend these funds as we approach the start of the school year.

Increased Visibility
Your school will become a beacon of inspiration, hosting visits from teachers and administrators at other Fine & Performing Arts Schools who want to learn from your strengths.

Teacher Leadership Opportunities
Your teachers will join a pool of presenters for Fine & Performing Arts Schools professional development, and they will have opportunities to share their successes and experiences with their peers.

Lending Library Early Adopters
Your school will have the opportunity to be an early adopter of the Fine & Performing Arts Schools Lending Library, which will include advanced and specialized art-making equipment. We will issue guidance for how to access this library around the start of the school year."

*This great news and more was cited from The FULL REPORT below. Check it out:)!

We will be working on restoring these powerful homegrown homages to ancestral female strength and Mother Nature as a community action to preserve our past as we continue to grow our future throughout the end of the school year. Any and all help is needed and appreciated! Thank you in advance for your support!

Please contact me---alvecchioni@cps.edu 🎨