Students in grades 4 and 5 have been learning about mandalas in art class and this weekend, there is an extraordinary opportunity to see a mandala being created at the Mandala of Compassion program at The Hammer museum in Westwood. The monks will sprinkle millions of grains of sand into a design that represents the embodiment of the compassion of all Buddhas combined. Friday and Saturday, October 10-11, the public is invited to watch the Lamas as they work on the mandala between the hours of 11am-7pm. On Sunday, October 12, you can watch from 11am-1pm as the mandala is completed and at 3pm they will sweep up the sand as the mandala disappears – part of the Buddhist belief that life is transitory. At approximately 4:30pm, the public is invited to the dissolution ceremony (parking is at Santa Monica Parking Lot 8), as the monks scatter the sand into the sea, believing that it will travel all over the world, bringing boundless compassion for all beings. Click here to read more about the monks and the mandalas.
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In Art classes, grades 1-6 were introduced to themes of Identity, Self-portraiture and "Selfies" by our new artist-in-residence, Mario Muller, a working artist and parent. Mario will come to present new ideas and concepts several times this year, giving students an opportunity to get to know a real artist and his work. As a result of this introduction, Mrs. Navah is following up with new and exciting projects for each grade which further develop this theme, as students work on different ways of expressing their own unique identities. First graders are learning about proportion as they create full body likenesses, second graders are experimenting with drawing realistic facial features as they observe themselves in mirrors, third graders are looking for images of things they like in magazines as they compose self-portrait collages, fourth graders created plaster masks and are now adorning them with words that describe their personalities, fifth graders are using their names to build mandalas that represent rotational symmetry, and sixth graders are combining digital photography and drawing skills to create unique self-portraits. Kindergarteners are learning how to use basic lines, shapes and texture as they begin their exploration and practice of beginning drawing skills, incorporating techniques of proportion, depth and composition.
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AuthorMrs. Jan Navah Archives
November 2015
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