Patapsco Teachers’ Artful Lives
Hello and WELCOME! This page is dedicated to showcasing the importance that the visual arts play in the staff here at Patapsco Middle School. I asked teachers to email me with stories about the importance of art in their lives, their classrooms, and even pictures of art work they have made or creative activities that they engage in. I hope this will illustrate how much a part of everyday life art can be for us all.
Teacher: Ms. LeAnne Rice
(7th Grade Social Studies)
Favorite Artists/Art works: Salvador Dali’s “La Persistencia de la Memoria” (the Persistence of Memory) aka the Melting Clocks. El Greco’s “Vista de Toledo” (View of Toledo).
“The Persistence of Memory”, Salvador Dali1931. Oil on canvas, 9 1/2 x 13″ (24.1 x 33 cm). MOMA, Given anonymously. © 2009 Salvador Dalí, Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation/Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York
View of Toledo
c. 1597
Oil on canvas
47 3/4 x 42 3/4 in. (121.3 x 108.6 cm)
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Use of Art in Social Studies Class: “I enjoy using art to highlight different periods in history and different historical figures as well. I use a painting in my classroom to depict the Fall of the Roman Empire and the students are able to see how the historical information can be depicted in an artistic format. I have also used an image of the Crusade of Kings that shows King Richard I of England and Louis of France on the 3rd Crusade.
The council at Jerusalem decides to attack Damascus. Illuminated Manuscript miniature painting.
I ask the students to figure out the different people in the piece. The students are able to figure out that the two men in the middle of the artwork (on horses and with crowns on) are the kings. They also recognize the Muslim people in the scene and are able to differentiate them from the knights because of how their style of dress is depicted. Additionally, I have used an image of “The Arnolfini Marriage” to show the differences between medieval art and the Renaissance art. It’s the one with the man and his wife (she looks pregnant & is in a green dress). It also shows that art was becoming less religious during the Renaissance and could be about “normal” people, too.
The Marriage of Giovanni Arnolfini and Giovanna Cenami; Jan van Eyckl; 1434 (130 Kb); Oil on wood, 81.8 x 59.7 cm (32 1/4 x 23 1/2 in); National Gallery, London
Teacher Quote: “A lot of my knowledge of art came from my upper level Spanish classes in high school and my trip to Spain in 10th grade. I went to the Prado Museum in Spain and saw “Guernica” by Picasso.
Guernica, Pablo Picasso, 1937, Oil on Canvas, 137″ x 305″, Museo Reina Sophia, Spain
Teacher: Mrs. Goody Rodgers
(7th Grade English)
Favorite Artists:Degas and Renoir
Edgar Degas, “Little Dancer, Age Fourteen”, Bronze, Cloth, Silk Ribbon
SEE THIS SCULPTURE AT THE BALTIMORE MUSEUM OF ART IN THE CONE COLLECTION! www.artbma.org
Renoir, “The Washerwoman”, 1891, Oil on Canvas, Private Collection
Favorite Art Movement: Impressionism (“Impressionism rules!!”)
Teacher Quote: “From the time I was a little girl, my mom, who was an awesome artist and an English and art teacher, shared her passion for art with my sisters and me. Although we had no car and limited means, we took taxis to the Clark Art Museum in Williamstown, Massachusetts as often as possible and immersed ourselves in her art books.
Clark Art Institute, MA. www.clarkart.edu
It was a lifelong gift she gave to us, and in turn, we have passed it on to our own children. One of my greatest pleasures was taking my children to the Clark Art Museum and showing them in person all the paintings and sculptures I’d spoken of so often. Now they have their favorites too. When my sisters and I travel to Massachusetts, we make a point of going to Williamstown where we’re flooded with wonderful memories of our mom and shared times.”
