UNESCO - Climate Action
Sa-Hali Art students are recognizing the many ways climate change is impacting our experiences in Kamloops and within the wider Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc. Most students immediately recognized the impacts of forest fires, dramatic weather changes, the loss animal habitat and their concern for the decline of bees. To gain insight into the many way citizens can have a positive impact on climate change, Jaimi Garbutt, from the City of Kamloops, spoke to the students about the 8 Big Moves identified in the Kamloops' Community Climate Action Plan. Students are currently in the finishing stages of painting. Their image concepts touch on ideas of reducing emissions, saving energy at home, recycling and compositing, building community gardens, and planning for greener infrastructure in the future. There are a few more to come! So check back here to see the final results and the artist statements which will be ready in time for Earth Day, April 22nd. Click on completed paintings to read the artist statements.
UNESCO - Empty Bowls Project
Working in conjunction with the Sa-Hali UNESCO club, art students, created pottery bowls, ceramic food dishes and acrylic paintings. All artwork was showcased during an evening fundraising event to auction off the bowls. This event gave art students a meaningful reason to create art and an opportunity to see how artists can inspire and give back to their community. In total, Sa-Hali was able to donate $2,300 to the Kamloops Food Bank!
Just for fun - mini sculptures!
"Open Hearts" Art for National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
For this project, students were asked to create a heart collage of imagery reflecting their understanding of the many complex issues associated with Truth and Reconciliation. The clay piece were mounted on wooden stands and now remain in the Sa-Hali Library.
Abstract Watercolour and Ink Designs
Check out these recent works by Kate Zulinick, Camryn Elder, and Olive DeRose
Check out these recent works by Kate Zulinick, Camryn Elder, and Olive DeRose
Self PortraitsFor this assignment, senior students were asked to draw a self portrait. Students learned about facial features, proportions, and shading as they endeavoured to create realistic graphite impressions of their faces. This was a real challenge for many! Beyond the face, students were encouraged to bring visual creativity and a variety of mediums to imagery that would convey information about their unique personalities. Students connected with culture, travel destinations, sports and hobbies, role models, music lyrics and inspirational quotes.
From the portraits below, you can see some of the very unique and diverse thoughts and interests of our students. |
Contemporary Landscapes
This project was completed while most of Canada was experiencing various stages of lockdown because of the Pandemic. With many people dreaming of getting out and travelling, students were asked to connect with a landscape where they would like to go. From outings with family close to home, to exotic international destinations, students contemplated colours schemes, brush strokes and other painting techniques to artistically represent their ideas of where they would like to be!
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Grade 8 Mosaic
Originally, maracas were used by the indigenous inhabitants of Latin America in religious chants and ceremonies. They gave a vibrant sound that highlighted these ceremonies. The maracas are made from a native small tree called the "higuera", which produces a fruit with a hard shell. The Tainos made a small hole in the shell to extract the pulp, and after letting it dry, would fill it with seeds or pebbles.
For this clay project, students were challenged to create a sculpture that would function as a maraca, but come up with an original shape that would surprise the art teacher - who has seen many maracas...
Students explored clay handling skills as they built their maracas, and added the necessary elaborations with shapes and textures. The students learned about pinch pot techniques, along with score and slip processes, that helped ensure their success!
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Self Portraits
There are many ways to view a person and many faces to every person.
For this assignment, students were asked to make realistic representation of their faces. In the background, students were encouraged to incorporate personally meaningful imagery in mediums of their choice. Their backgrounds included plants, animals, environments, books, songs lyrics, arts, sciences and a variety of other interests. Students considered these questions: What is important to you? Who is a part of your life? What do you read, think, listen to, look at, dream about, or want to do? Where are you now as a high school student? The final outcomes represent the skill and diversity of our senior art students.
Clay Program at Sa-Hali
Ceramic Dishes
Grade 9/10 art students explore coil construction processes for plates, trivets, bowls and jugs.
A Sense of Place
Their challenge was to create a compelling message of human connection with nature.
"A Sense of place is a combination of characteristics that make a place special and unique. It involves the human experience in a landscape, the local knowledge and folklore. Sense of place also grows from identifying oneself in relation to a particular piece of land on the surface of planet Earth. That is a sense that requires time, energy, and paying attention to realize. Many people in the 21st century spend so much time online, in their cars, at Starbucks, or in an office that they may have little connection to any unique place. Is the sense of place becoming a lost sense?” - The Art of Geography
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For this assignment, art students connected with the TRU Botany department to understand relationships between scientific and artistic observations of our local landscape. Under the guidance of Botanist Lyn Baldwin, we gained insight into what it could be like to study science at TRU, while also, recognizing the value of making visual records of the land around us. The class made a special visit to the TRU Botany Lab, and spent time field journaling in Peterson Creek.
Back in our studio space, students considered their experiences and decided what elements of field journaling they could incorporate into a personally meaningful art piece. |
After completing their artworks, students were asked to write artist statements. Below are some of the insightful thoughts of our students:
Sam
Grade 12 The Contrasting Silhouette of One I loved this project because we got to go outside to get some fresh air unlike all the other science classes where we have to wear goggles and write labs. Getting air was the second best thing since the experience I got was much greater than what I expected. When we first went to TRU to meet Lyn Baldwin, she showed us various techniques for field journaling. Next, we went to Peterson Creek to get some actual experiences in the nature. I had to look back on our beautiful landscape because we seem to always know that it’s there, but we never pay close attention to our mountains. How groovy some lines are, and how rigid some peaks are. In my art piece, I wanted to express the outlines and the colours of our mountains. When someone looks at my art piece, I would like them to read the quote on the top and think about how we are blindfolding ourselves from the beauty that surrounds us. Jenna Grade 12 A personal Perspective My work represents pieces if Kamloops - from a leaf I found on a hike, to the view I am blessed with every time I trail ride. I enjoyed this project because it allowed me to connect with nature, and with Kamloops. I did however, struggle with capturing the colours of Kamloops in my painting, but thankfully I managed to pull it off! I have never field journaled before, and I am so happy that I was granted the opportunity to learn from Lynn Baldwin, it is definitely something I will continue to do! |
Anonymous
Gr. 11 "What would speak to us?" Throughout Lyn Baldwins introduction to field journaling, what had struck me as the most interesting was her story: of how a bird was oddly jumping from one tree to another, for what appeared to be no reason at all; except upon further inspection the little bird was gathering seeds from the ground and storing them in the bark. I thought 'wow how interesting', if she hadn't been paying attention or surveying her environment she would've never stumbled upon this discovery. And it made me think of just how many 'missed' opportunities there were to discover something, anything for ourselves. Sure the scientists already knew this, it was already in the textbooks. . . But still it felt like these were all the wonderful unread books that sat upon a dusty shelf in a hallway, the ones we would pass by each day going along our daily routine never stopping, never noticing. And they were right there. So anyways, I started with a tree (classic, I know) and its story. The stories in both my rough draft and good weren't pre-thought of, I just saw my picture and said " hey, this is what needs to be written." (or something on the lines of that). |
Preet
Grade 12 Peterson Creek Field Journal Being able to go to TRU and work alongside Lyn Baldwin has been a wonderful experience. I was able to learn about a form of art that I had no knowledge of prior to this experience. Creating my own field journal page has allowed me to go out, explore and become one with nature. Some aspects of this project that In struggled with were being able to interpret and transfer Kamloops landscapes onto mt own art piece as well as capturing Kamloops colours in my art. Overall, field journalism has been a great learning experience and has brought me closer to nature. April Grade 11 Smallest Landscape I want my viewers to understand that the smallest, most simple things create the bigger picture. Home isn't just in the tallest mountains, or the whole geography of the land, but can be in a mere leaf. We need to realize that we must protect the small things in order to sustain the large. Each element of an ecosystem is essential to the success of it. Size and value should not be equals, and to keep our home thriving we must look to help the small. Kamloops may be a semi-arid desert, but it still has beauty and is home to many. |
Intuitive Painting
For this assignment, students were asked to create a non-representational painting. The process involved a combination of painting, dipping, rolling textures, splattering and even finger painting. This required students to let go of the need to control their painting and, instead, let something develop more intuitively. For many, this process was very challenging. They soon discovered that even though they had the freedom to create something abstract, they needed to engage in a continuous decision-making process. Colours schemes, rhythm, unity, contrast, balance, and pattern became important in creating an aesthetically pleasing finished painting. Students also needed to self-asses as they worked and give careful consideration to when the pieces were completed. Learning how to add to work that didn't quite seem finished, yet stop before if became too much.
Lots of learning - and so much fun!
Lots of learning - and so much fun!
Jack O'Lanterns
What do you get when you give 30 teenagers pumpkins and knives??
These grade 9/10 students carved pumpkins for the Barn Haunt Vale Family Yard Haunt https://www.facebook.com/Barn-Haunt-Vale-Family-Yard-Haunt-232514340248346/ , a special Halloween for the Kamloops Food Bank http://kamloopsfoodbank.org/. The smell of pumpkin invaded the hallways, as 30 kids cut, carved, and painted their artistic Jack O' Lantern interpretations! Bring your non-perishable food items Friday or Saturday night to contribute to this great cause!
These grade 9/10 students carved pumpkins for the Barn Haunt Vale Family Yard Haunt https://www.facebook.com/Barn-Haunt-Vale-Family-Yard-Haunt-232514340248346/ , a special Halloween for the Kamloops Food Bank http://kamloopsfoodbank.org/. The smell of pumpkin invaded the hallways, as 30 kids cut, carved, and painted their artistic Jack O' Lantern interpretations! Bring your non-perishable food items Friday or Saturday night to contribute to this great cause!
Clay Houses
Students were tasked with the construction of creative house designs. First they were required to think about houses they are familiar with and the details one might see on a house (shutters, door frames, attic windows,etc). Then they were asked to imagine creative house with more artsy design details. The drawings they came up with were very creative! The challenge then became how to translate their 2D images into a 3D clay sculpture! They soon realized that math would be a necessary component of figuring this out! Paper and rulers were used to accurately calculate the size of the floors, walls and roofs! Math in art?? The effort paid off. Before long the walls were going on and the students realized a whole new set of skills would be required. Understanding of clay terms and strategies determined individual success. Visual richness and complexity of the finished artworks required students to consider the principles of design and elaboration techniques. Only one step left - the final glaze fire! (more pictures coming) |
Postcards for Peace - Messages of Peace, Hope and Compassion
For this assignment, grade 9 and 10 art students were asked to consider the recent media coverage of Syrian refugees - to consider the terrible circumstances that are forcing families to leave their homes and risk their lives, with little more than the hope of a better future. As we approached September 21st, we discussed the importance of recognizing the International Day of Peace and how, on that day, so many people worldwide are not at peace. With the intention of sending artworks to refugee children, the art students needed to consider ways in which they would be able to use images, colours and words, to send messages of Peace, Hope, and Compassion. The images below reflect the caring and empathy of our students!
Thanks to the Jesuit Refugee Service, these postcards will be delivered to a refugee camp in Jordan, later this fall,
Thanks to the Jesuit Refugee Service, these postcards will be delivered to a refugee camp in Jordan, later this fall,
“Creativity takes courage.” - Henri Matisse