Saint Peter Middle School sixth-grade art students are studying the works of Pablo Picasso, the late and great Spanish artist, under the guidance of SPMS art teacher Ariana Bealey. Students spent time looking at many of Picasso’s works, including “Maria Picasso Lopez” created by Picasso when he was only 15 years old. In addition to Picasso’s work, they also learned about Andres Valencia, an 11-year-old contemporary artist from California inspired by Cubism who has recently become very famous for his large-scale portraits. Bealey emphasized the fact that artists at a young age can create masterpieces.
As part of their class work, each sixth grader created their own Picasso Portrait which was incorporated by Ms. Bealey into a Gallery Walk event this week in the art classroom studio space.
“Gallery walks in my classroom are an opportunity for students to see what their peers are creating and provide positive feedback to each other,” Bealey said. “Students learn the value of giving and receiving genuine compliments. In addition, I also like to welcome interested staff into our art space during the gallery walk so they too can observe the amazing artists at work and engage in writing positive compliments. The feedback slips during the gallery walk are given directly to the young artists which fosters the development of their self-confidence and motivation in the visual arts.”
SPMS students and staff were encouraged to take a gallery walk through the classroom, walk around each table, write a positive compliment on a card for some of the young artists, and present the card to the student.
“Taking a small amount of time to recognize the artistic accomplishments of our young artists can have a lasting and positive impact on their artistic self-confidence,” Bealey added.
