Creating Together: Dots, Stitches, and Sculpture
The art room is buzzing with color, concentration, and hands-on discovery!
Kindergartners and first graders started the year by turning their names into colorful layered collages inspired by Pop artist Roy Lichtenstein. They then moved into sculpture, sewing yarn through cardboard bases and drawing, cutting, rolling, and arranging construction paper into playful forms. Children shared pieces with one another as they worked, adding different colors and patterns to their sculptures and enjoying the simple fun of creating together.
Elementary students have been especially fascinated by the work of Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama, from her signature polka dots to her infinity rooms and large installations. That exploration led into a project combining Kusama-inspired circles with Sashiko, a traditional Japanese hand-stitching technique used to mend, strengthen, and decorate fabric. Students carefully stitched colorful patches onto their circles, which are being brought together as a shared classroom installation. Kusama’s famous “Obliteration Room” also inspired a Peace Day project using white polyhedrons and colorful dots.
The older students are taking those same ideas of building, shaping, and experimenting in very different directions. Third graders have been creating desert habitats from the ground up, beginning with sandy circular bases and handmade paper cacti. As the scenes grow, they will continue adding plant and animal life with a mix of materials, giving them the chance to think about both the look and the structure of a desert ecosystem.
Fifth graders are working with cardboard in a much more personal way, starting with the first letter of their own names and transforming it into a stylized sculpture. Sixth graders, meanwhile, have reached a project many students look forward to as they move through the program: whimsical wire and nylon sculptures. Bending and shaping the wire takes patience and a willingness to keep adjusting until the form feels right, and the stretched nylon gives each piece its own unexpected personality.
Staff joined in the creating this month, too, beginning a collaborative canvas with their own brushstrokes and ideas. During the Montessori Journey, parents added the next layer, bringing their own color and detail to the work. Next, students will add stitching as the final layer, completing a piece shaped by staff, families, and children together. We’ll share the finished canvases soon.
It feels like a fitting way to begin the year, with teachers, parents, and students all contributing to something shared, each layer carrying the touch of the people who helped create it.