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MARCH 2025 UPDATE

Throughout the month of March, K-8 students raised an additional $5,625 to promote spiritual peace, peace at home, around the country and throughout the world.

We will continue this good work throughout 4Q!

Thanks to all of our ARTivists!

Kindergartners rounded out 3Q practicing early years Genius Hour Building Challenges with OG toys---potato heads, Lincoln Logs, Etch-A-Sketch, Knex, Legos, garden builders, storytelling houses, Tinkertoys, floor puzzles and magnetic blocks...

We first read If Picasso Painted A Snowman (Amy & Greg Newbold), a fun and easy introduction to the Western European art canon. We talked about how each artist used three circles to begin their snowmen but then improvised them to create their own style or voice. We then encouraged students to pursue their own "personal genius" flow...

After our Genius Hour story time (Our FAVORITE Genius Hour story is If I Built School... by Chris van Dusen:)).), we transitioned into our free-form build studios using simple building prompts. Students also had the option to build their own ideas. At the end of our studio rotations, students shared their creations and personal successes and challenges.

This early years introduction to future Genius Hour experiences is a favorite for all and something that we try to do at the end of each quarter. What fun!

We are looking for cardboard tubes of all sizes, cereal boxes, and cardboard egg crates for our Found Object Picasso-inspired Sculptures! Please drop at the Main Office! Thanks in advance:)).

"The artist is a receptacle for emotions that come from all over the place: from the sky, from the earth, from a scrap of paper, from a passing shape, from a spider's web."

---Pablo Picasso

Hello Everyone!

Happy 4Q & Earth Month 2025! We are starting a new quarter and honoring Mother Earth by using one of Pablo Picasso's favorite art materials throughout the month of April---CARDBOARD! (It's my favorite art material too---:)!) Please send in any extra cardboard you may have in your recycle bins. See above for our specific upcycling requests. Thanks in advance:)!

We are looking forward to continuing our study of Pablo Picasso this month by delving deeper into his 3D forms and Cubist abstractions. We will look at his use of found objects, unique sculpture materials and innovation of space and form. Each artwork will be showcased in our upcoming exhibit and will be rooted in homeroom learning and arts integrated texts. We will also be featuring a variety of forms of poetry throughout April as additional visual culture to honor National Poetry Month.

Kindergartners will be exploring emotions and how Picasso used the colors red and blue to convey his feelings when he was first starting out as an artist. We will look at one of the Art Lab's favorite art series---Matsomuto Hoji's woodblock frogs, the philosophy of wabi-sabi as a coping strategy, and Matsuo Basho's most-famous frog haiku---as we look at our own emotions and conflict resolution in this watercolor studio. I look forward to seeing how our frogs share our unique perspectives on the world.

2nd graders will be creating upcycled mythological animals as a reinforcement of their recent mythology and fairy tale units. We will be looking at Picasso's found object animal sculptures as we create our own Pegasuses, sphinxes, griffins and other OOAK mash-up animal 3D renderings! Please have students bring in old or broken toys for a new look at life in this project! Thanks in advance!

4th graders will be creating Cubist self-portrait sculptures based on "Hairs" by Sandra Cisneros as an extension of their House on Mango Street study in ELA. 4th graders will create a composite poem that shares who they are today and where they come from as they practice alternative perspectives in this project.

5th graders will be creating cardboard ukulele assemblages as homage to their ukulele unit in music class last semester. Students will learn about Picasso's use of cardboard and his elevation of common, everyday materials to high art in this study of form, texture and unity while practicing 3D assemblage based on blueprinting and design prototyping.

6th graders will utilize Cubist abstraction as they deconstruct landscapes and land forms to get to their foundation---the rocks that create them. We will look at famous rock formations throughout the American Southwest and talk about environmental impacts of wind, water and man-made alterations of the landscape in this mixed-media pastel exploration.

7th and 8th graders will be creating mixed-media animal avatar masks in a Cubist style to look at our ever-changing self portrait---life. We will talk about the Fauvist influence on Picasso's work, his response, and how we present ourselves differently throughout the day and in different contexts. We will read Paul Laurence Dunbar's "We Wear the Mask" to launch our study and celebrate the creative power of poetry as self portraiture in this study honoring National Poetry Month.

Self Portrait Journals and Genius Hour studio projects are continuing and many new community collaborations are in the works...Tune in next month to hear all about it:)!

As always, thank you for your support.

With Kindness,

Mrs. Vecchioni

"While not much is known about the printmaker Matsumoto Hoji, his series of frog woodblocks remain remarkably popular to this day. Active in the late 18th century, his works were originally included in the "Meika Gafu", a compendium of famous and popular artworks produced in the late Edo period around the turn of the 19th century. Much like trading cards today, woodblock prints were shared, reproduced and coveted amongst friends, and collections like the "Meika Gafu" brought the most renowned and celebrated works together into a single book. The original was so popular that they made another two volumes, the last of which contains the now-notorious series of Matsumoto Hoji's frogs."

Matsumoto Hoji's frog print is typical of Japanese artwork in 1814. It embodies the principles of wabi-sabi, a philosophy that values simplicity, imperfection, and impermanence, and draws on the folkloric symbolism of the frog in Japan. In Japanese mythology, the frog symbolizes good luck, prosperity and spring.

“Hairs”

By Sandra Cisneros

Everybody in our family has different hair. My papa’s hair is like a broom, all up in the air. And me, my hair is lazy. It never obeys barrettes or bands. Carlos’ hair is thick and straight. He doesn’t need to comb it. Nenny’s hair is slippery—slides out of your hand. And Kiki, who is the youngest, has hair like fur.

But my mother’s hair, my mother’s hair, like little rosettes, like little candy circles all curly and pretty because she pinned it in pincurls all day, sweet to put your nose into when she is holding you, holding you and you feel safe, is the warm smell of bread before you bake it, is the smell when she makes room for you on her side of the bed still warm with her skin, and you sleep near her, the rain outside falling and Papa snoring. The snoring, the rain, and Mama’s hair that smells like bread.

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 April 9, 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

• 🐰 4/3, 4/17 🐰
• 🐰 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

• 🌎 4/10, 4/24 🌎
• 🌎 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