K.C. Heffernan Elementary School Artist Studies

A walk down the halls of K. C. Heffernan (KCH) Elementary School in the Marcellus Central School District gives one the distinct impression that they have entered an art museum. Not only is a wide variety of student art work displayed, but the walls are being graced during the 2009-2010 school year with a series of “artist studies”. KCH art teacher Fran Hagan, along with her talented student artists, have been studying famous artists. Among the artists that have been or will be researched this school year, are Joan Miró, Winslow Homer, Vincent Van Gogh, Wassily Kandinsky, and Impressionist painters such as Renoir. Through the reading of books/biographies and the studying of individual art works, Hagan’s students learn about each artist’s life and unique styles. The students then create their own art works in the style of the artists they are studying. Hagan also uses the artist study projects to instruct specific art techniques. For example, students learned “perspective” drawing techniques by studying Van Gogh’s bedroom paintings. The artist study projects spans grades pre-1st to 3rd grade with each grade’s activities taking on a different focus. For the Joan Miró study, 3rd grade classes completed a group mural, 2nd grade students created “Miró People”, and 1st grade students completed individual works in the style of Miró. Each artist study is culminated with a hallway display that captures the life, times, and talents of the spotlighted artist through student art work and a narrative on the project. The Winslow Homer “seascape” narrative is articulated below:

“Our second graders learned about the artist Winslow Homer before creating these seascape pictures. Winslow Homer was born on February 24, 1836 and died September 29, 1910. He is most famous for his seascape pictures. Some are very serene while others are very dramatic. Which ones are your favorites?
Winslow Homer first made black and white etchings for magazines, then began painting with oil paints, and eventually became a watercolor artist. He was not afraid to try new things with his art. Many of his paintings look so different you would think that they were not made by the same artist. He continued to learn and grow as an artist his whole life.”
Of particular note is the 3rd grade Renoir Impressionist study that is on display at the Marcellus Free Library.