Each month, the art teachers from Altamont Elementary, Guilderland Elementary, Lynnwood Elementary and Westmere Elementary highlight students who have demonstrated they are practicing Studio Habits of Mind. These eight habits – develop craft, engage and persist, envision, express, observe, reflect, stretch and explore, and understand art worlds – encourage and enable students to be more mindful during the creative process. This is not a contest; the Young Artist of the Month accomplishment acknowledges specific learning and critical thinking that happens in the art room, in relation to Studio Habits of Mind. The students’ pictures and statements are framed and hung in the schools’ entryways.
Altamont Elementary: Fallon Marciano
The Altamont Elementary Young Artist of the Month is Fallon Marciano in Mrs. Johnson’s first grade class. Fallon has demonstrated outstanding creativity and imagination in the art room. Her work is a great example of the Studio Habit: Envision. She skillfully planned and brought her ideas to life with vibrant colors and thoughtful details. Fallon’s artwork showcases her ability to picture new possibilities and translate them into beautiful, expressive pieces. Way to go Fallon!
Guilderland Elementary: Jake Esposito
The Guilderland Elementary Young Artist of the Month is Jake Esposito. Jake is in Mrs. Youman’s fourth grade class. During art, Jake has exhibited the Artist Habit of Mind:EXPRESS. This means he can create art that expresses his own unique ideas, feelings and stories. Jake not only participates fully in the art activities and projects we are working on in class, he also uses any free art time to work on his own drawings and ideas. He has very strong drawing skills and can express his ideas and stories through his drawings. His drawings are unique and interesting. You can’t help but wonder about the story behind his images. Great job Jake! Keep drawing and sharing your wonderful ideas.
Lynnwood Elementary: Toby Tario
The Lynnwood Young Artist for the Month is Toby Tario. Toby is in Mrs. Panza’s fourth grade class. Toby embodies the Studio Habit of Mind; Stretch and Explore. Stretch and Explore means to experiment and discover new ways of working. Toby is a creative thinker and a problem solver. He loves to take our project guidelines and give them his own twist to make an artwork that is interesting and unique. In our lego printmaking unit, Toby instead of doing one simple design, he reworked the legos for each print to create a Pac Man inspired grid of prints. In order to do this successfully he had to use the Studio Habit of Mind, Envision; to picture your ideas and make a plan. As he printed he laid out his finished prints to make sure his idea all worked together. Keep up the amazing work Toby!
Westmere Elementary: Ryan Diggs
The Westmere Elementary Young Artist of the Month is Ryan Diggs. Ryan is a third grade student in Mrs. Hussey’s class. He has demonstrated the Studio Habit of Mind: Engage & persist. Ryan was very engaged for this project; he loves clay and was busy sculpting all class long. He persisted when he made little clay coil spirals that are inside the heart — his hard work paid off. Ryan comes to art class with a positive attitude and always tries his best. He is a good friend to others and makes kind choices. Really great work, Ryan!