Illinois Connections Through Art

A City Park
Alisa B.

Welcome to our Illinois Connection !

Throughout the year we have been looking at various pieces of art and wondering about the artist’s big idea. We have worked on describing a piece of art and then writing about the feelings and ALL the things that we see in the piece of art.

For our 3rd grade biography reports, the students focused on famous visual artists. Each student researched a particular artist, wrote a report, and created a painting in the style of his/her artist.

We visited the Art Institute of Chicago to study various artworks that, in some way, represent life - past or present - in Chicago and/or Illinois. With the help of our art teacher and librarian, 36 pieces of artwork were highlighted. Each student then selected one piece of art to focus on - describing the painting, thinking about the artist’s big idea, and making a connection to life in Illinois.

Before our visit, we spent an afternoon studying Many Mansions by Kerry James Marshall. Marshall’s painting reflects his views about life in public housing in big cities, specifically Chicago. We also used several books about how artists view city life through their artwork.

As a culminating project, each student created a collage representation of his/her painting using Lois Elhert as inspiration.