Lower School Voices from Friends: Works by Students from Friends Seminary

This exhibition features works from students of all ages at Friends Seminary. The show exemplifies the many ways children can find a voice to express themselves. The ten works by kindergarten and first grade Friends students were produced as part of a classroom method called “Teaching for Artistic Behavior.” Students are introduced to a wide variety of mediums, techniques, and artists, both contemporary and classical. They then choose their subjects, and the teacher assists as the children discover their own approaches to style and representation.

Other students worked in specialized genres. The second graders painted and collaged landscapes after Charles Burchfield, Romare Bearden, and Wolf Kahn. Watercolor washes blossomed into the “seasons” of the backgrounds. Third graders painted self-portraits from observation, using an earth tone palette after studying the related work of Picasso and Alice Neel. Fourth graders painted in the style of Indian miniatures, applying the paint in layers and using tiny brushes and toothpicks for detail.

About the Student Art Project

Four times a year the Child Mind Institute invites public and independent schools to participate in the Student Art Project, a gallery program dedicated to displaying works of art created by student artists. We invite schools to prepare an exhibition for our gallery based on a theme chosen by one of their own art teachers. Student pieces are displayed prominently in the gallery created by our resident curator, Angela Gage. We then invite student artists, their families, and the entire school community to join us for an opening reception to launch the school’s Student Art Project.

If your child’s school would like to participate in a future gallery show, please contact Angela Gage, the Student Art Project Curator, at 646.646.625 or angela.gage@childmind.org. Art teachers are also welcome to contact us on behalf of their students.