Album Cover Art

by Mr. Kilpatrick, Art Room 100

 Project Objective: Students will be able to design  a 12" x 12" album cover for a musical artist or group of their choosing in order to apply past lessons of primary and secondary colors, complementary colors, and warm and cool colors.

In March, I brought my tabletop record player and several albums into Art Room 100 to show students the value of album cover art. Students agreed that packaging for LPs gives a musical artist a great opportunity to connect with a listener visually as well as auditorily.

First, we watched a "How Its Made" video about vinyl records.

The project took approximately 5 class periods. Every day, 5th and 6th grade students were allowed to pick different records to listen to - some old, some new. A lot of the music was weird and alien to these young scholars, but they kept an open mind. We discussed many different genres of music, touching on lessons they already covered in Ms. Gould's music class earlier in the year.  I was impressed by the vast amount of musical knowledge students had comprehended since last semester.

Guest DJs:

Ashlynn and Jordyn chose the Beatles.

Raymond chose Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong.

Jade played the sounds of Philadelphia with Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes.

Janeliz was very curious and excited to hear the Flaming Lips & Fwends covering the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper album. She especially liked the songs Miley Cyrus sang on.

Kyria chose Philly jazz queen of the organ Shirley Scott.

Tymire soothed the class with the fragile but beautiful voice of Billie Holiday.

Some days, we would even break into short, impromptu dance parties:

Stan Kenton's "Cuban Fire"!

Rawkin' out to Philly's own Man Man!

These guys really seemed to get into Johnny Cash.

While listening, students worked really hard on album covers of their own. Here are just a few:

Sonieris' Taylor Swift album cover design

Chrystal's Ariana Grande album cover design

Gianberto's Daddy Yankee album cover design

Kathie did an alternate take on Les Claypool's Duo De Twang album cover, using mostly cool colors instead of the warm in the original.

Najia's Beyonce album cover design

Shaniah's take on a Shakira album cover design

Paula's Tyga album cover design

Wildcat Mardi Gras 2015

Since there was a snow day on Fat Tuesday this year, Memphis Street Academy's 5th and 6th Grade Mardi Gras party was pushed to the following Thursday. In Art Room 100, after learning about New Orleans and the Carnival holiday, scholars partied down to some New Orleans Dixieland and Funk music. They also created Mardi Gras masquerade masks as they ate Jambalaya and homemade King Cake.

Students had a blast learning about the culture and holidays of another city. Some even asked why we can't have Mardi Gras every week.

Happy Holidays 2014 from Memphis Street Academy Arts!

This holiday season, our young artists not only continued their tradition of sharing the gift art with cards for kids at the Children's Crisis Treatment Center. They also made handmade holiday cards for firefighters at local firehouses.

Students also did some cooperative learning, working together to research and create posters depicting what the holiday season looks like all around the world, from Israel to the Congo to Belgium and back home here in the United States...

 

The posters were hung in the hallway outside the first floor art room, so all staff, faculty, and students could get a multicultural and multinational view of the holiday season. Our scholars love giving the gift of art every year, and look forward to sharing more with you when we come back to class in 2015. Happy Holidays, everyone!

AMALGAMATION - An American Paradigm Art Show

On December 18, 2014, students from all American Paradigm Schools were able to attend a very special art show in the American Paradigm offices in Center City Philadelphia.

The title and theme of the show: "AMALGAMATION: the action, process, or result of uniting or combining"

This was the first of quarterly “APS Artist Showcase Series at the Bellevue”. The purpose of these shows is to celebrate American Paradigm's partnerships with local artists and to reflect the community's distinct individualities.

The show featured pieces from many students that supported the theme in many different ways. Some students achieved amalgamation by combining and mixing media. Some united in cooperative group projects.  Aside from student work, local artists Brian Alles, Shane Leddy, and Eric Remer also had work on display, making the show an amalgam of many different styles.

In the center of the exhibit, all attendees were invited to participate in a cooperative "Art Jam" using several different types of art supplies.

Jonathan, a 5th Grade Memphis Street Academy art student, was very excited about the Amalgamation art show. He proclaimed, "I've never been to anything like this before. I have to keep reminding myself that this isn't a dream!"

This was truly a magical experience for all students involved. Our students look forward to being involved in future shows, and thank everyone involved with making this opportunity possible.

The Art of Early Man - 6th Grade Hominid Posters

Cooperative, Cross-curricular Learning Through the Arts

The homeroom classes of 6-3 and 6-4 created posters of the first five hominid groups to help them better understand the quality of living for the earliest humans. The scholars worked in groups to draw and list the different characteristics of each hominid group. These characteristics consisted of tools, height, food,  time frame, nicknames, and homeland. Both classes worked very well together to gather information to display on the poster board. 

With the help of Mr. Kilpatrick, each scholar had the opportunity to sketch their hominid as an experienced artist and paleoanthropologist. The scholars absolutely loved the activity, and I look forward to doing this activity in future classes.

- Mr. McCarthy, 6th Grade Social Studies Teacher

New STEAM Team Video!

Mrs. Christidhis, Mr. Marchetti, and the advanced STEAM Team students have been working hard all year on integrating Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics. They have been learning and creating some amazing things inside and outside of the classroom.

Please CLICK HERE to view the recent STEAM Team Video!

Engagement Coach Appreciation Day

Today Memphis Street Academy Charter School celebrated "Engagement Coach Appreciation Day" at the school. Our Engagement Coaches are an asset to keeping our school days running smoothly. They not only help with the security of our students. MSAC Engagement Coaches are also counselors, talking students through their problems every day.

All of our Engagement Coaches are United States veterans and part of the "Troops to Teachers" program - a U.S. Department of Defense program that helps eligible military personnel with careers in schools where their skills, knowledge and experience are most needed.

Every day, our Engagement Coaches remain mobile, flexible, strong and sympathetic. They are a huge part of helping our school in its daily mission. We are so grateful for all that they do. One of our 8th Grade students, Carmel, worked on a poster to show the school's appreciation. The poster was then signed my dozens of students who wanted to personally thank our Engagement Coaches.

The poster can be seen here with some grateful students. It was then hung outside our Engagement Coaches' office. (photo by Mr. Marchetti)

Carmel is shown here with Coach Fred "Sojo" Soejanto.

Memphis Street Ballers

 

Over the past few weeks, students in Room 300 and Homeroom 8-10 took on a very interesting project. Both classes designed, constructed, and painted basketball nets made from upcycled materials. Students took old milk crates and plywood and created one-of-a kind, transportable basketball nets.

Students watched videos of Jackson Pollock at work to learn about abstract expressionist spatter painting. They also studied stencil painting and street art, then collaborated on designing and painting the backboards. Our scholars also learned about some fundamental carpentry and construction practices - bolting nets and hooks to the wood and sealing the painted boards with polyurethane.

 

Finally, after weeks of hard work, students were able to celebrate the fruits of their labor. On a sunny spring afternoon, our Memphis Street Ballers tested the nets out in the schoolyard. It was amazing to watch this project come together.  Students were proud that they were able to work so hard on a project that was expressive, fun, and functional.

Room 300 MSA Ballers (photo by Ms. Brittain)