New art for the month of March!

There are many works of art on display at Gathering Grounds that were made at the Neighborhood Charter School in Grant Park by Ms. Curtis' fourth grade art class.

The kids were learning about the life and artwork of Gustav Klimt and began the project by looking at pictures of his paintings as well as reading a book called Klimt And His Cat. The book tells about Klimt from the perspective of his pet cat. Together, they travel the world and work in the studio. It is illustrated in a similar style to what you would see in Klimt's most famous paintings.

Once they understood his work, they made their own Klimt-inspired artwork. The artist used a lot of gold paint in his works, so they used gold paper for their background. They copied the style of background that they saw in some of his paintings using dark red paint applied in a textured way. Then, to create the subject, they combined paper collage with polymer clay. They used the clay to make elaborate dresses and cloaks to simulate the fancy dresses that Klimt had his models wear. Through this project, the students experimented with several materials and techniques: paper, paint, collage, polymer clay, relief sculpture and print making.

Visit the Neighborhood Charter School website at: www.neighborhoodcharter.com