October artist Catalina Degado-Trunk inspired our Day of the Dead altar with her art, teaching students about the customs behind this tradition. The Louise Nevelson retrospective exposed our students to sculptural concepts while educating about the struggle of women in the arts and the Post WWII journey of Jews to America. Viewing Jospeh Cornell’s once-in-a-lifetime retrospective gave students the chance to dive into the medium of collage, while January artist Ollafur Elliasson’s work focused on perception and sensory awareness.

This month, we welcomed eco/artist Tim Gaudreau as our Artist in Residence. Tim’s art practice uses humor and personal examples to bring about environmental awareness. He spent the second week of February at SFDS speaking at assemblies and working in the art studios.  He was kind enough to let us host his recent work Self Portrait as Revealed by Trash, a photographic installation. 

Tim’s work served as a jumping off point for the art and science departments, who integrated key concepts of environmental and social activism into their curriculum. In science, students learned about what happens to plastic after it has served its original purpose, while art students will re-purpose plastic as an art medium by creating murals with their family’s recycling. Look for project results on Science Night (March 20th) and at the Art Show (May 7th&8th).