Grade 4 Collaborates With Upper School Photography Students on Surrealism Project—See the Artwork!
A cross-divisional project inspired new connections between students of different ages sharing and working off each other’s creativity.
A study of the Surrealism movement was taking place simultaneously in both the grade 4 STEAM block and the Upper School’s intermediate photography class. Lower School art teachers Mary Mayer and Upper School photography teacher Amanda Albanese recognized a perfect opportunity to make the learning cross-divisional, and the result was inspired projects and new connections between students of different ages sharing and working off each other’s creativity.
Surrealism was a 20th-century cultural movement that began in Europe, known for visual artwork and writing which described illogical scenes with strange creatures, dream worlds and everyday objects.
Students in both classes learned the history of the movement, then grade 4 students used their imagination to create art through a series of surrealist drawing prompts inspired by what they learned.
After their art was completed, the intermediate photography students selected one of the grade 4 works to recreate as digital artwork, interpreting the younger Tartan’s art and adding their own elements of surrealism using Photoshop composition techniques like blending, layering and brushing.
The unit culminated when the two classes met after the artwork was completed. The photography students interviewed the grade 4 art students about their work and the inspiration behind it. The older students then unveiled their own digital-photography creations and discussed their process and how the grade 4 student art inspired their final work.
St. Margaret’s Episcopal School
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