Drexel Hill Middle School Art Department

Drexel Hill Middle School Art Department updated their website address.

Rest in Power John Lewis.

This portrait of Lewis was painted by Drexel Hill Middle School artist Capri Miller earlier this year as a tribute to his countless contributions to the Black Civil Rights Movement and member of the Big Six. Her work was featured during Black History Month as part of the installation “Portraits of Color”.

Some beautiful nature, found object, and digitally created mandala submissions from hardworking homebound DH art students!

Digital or Analogue Mosaics?
One of the biggest challenges for making the shift to online learning for our art classes was finding programs that allow students without a variety of materials at home to succeed through the use of websites or digital Art-making Apps.

Elective students knocked this mosaic project out of the park, choosing to either create digital mosaics by laying colored squares pixel by pixel, or by using found objects and paper at home to resourcefully create their own tesserae. These scenes from nature are inspired by a digital curriculum that had students visit several world heritage sites virtually and examine the landscape photography of National Park photographer Ansel Adams for inspiration. These illustrations represent "A Place I'd Rather Be."

These WIP clay sculptures from 8th Grade General Art are even more impressive when you consider how they were designed:

Each student had to first make two pots, which were scored, slipped, and joined together to form a smooth spherical form that was the basis for these carefully carved and textured creatures.

Some impressive craftsmanship in these cut paper shadow boxes from Mr. Bucolo’s 8th Grade Advanced Art crew!

6th Grade Elective crushing their contemporary take on Australian Aboriginal Dot Painting.

Make sure to stop in the lobby of Drexel Hill Middle School to see all 9 Portraits unveiled last month in celebration of this year’s Black History Month Theme: African Americans and the Vote in our installation “Portraits of Color.”

Portraits of Color 9/9: Thomas Mundy Peterson, painted by 8th grade artist Ariel Damas!
Peterson is a fitting end to our series, as he was the first African-American to cast a vote on March 31st, 1870.

Portraits of Color 8/9: Barack Obama, painted by 8th Grade artist Iyana Hall-Bright.

This one’s sure to make this hall a little more bright!

Portraits of Color 7/9: Sean Combs. Painted by 8th grade artist James Davis!

Portraits of Color 6/9: Dorothy Height, painted by 8th grade artist Illenea Simmons!

Portraits of Color 5/9: John Lewis, painted by 8th grade artist Capri Miller!

Portraits of Color 4/9: Martin Luther King Jr. Painted by 8th grade artist Keira Kpoto!

Portraits of Color 3/9: Malcolm X, painted by 8th Grader Trey Owens!

Portraits of Color 2/9, Ida B. Wells, painted by 8th Grade artist Jesade Jenkins!

Portraits of Color, 1/9: Dred Scott, painted by DHMS 8th Grader Nia Jackson!

Stay tuned for more beautiful student artwork celebrating Black History Month, including this installation currently featured in the lobby of Drexel Hill Middle School.

Each week we will be unveiling new portraits of historically important and under appreciated figures who hold significance with this year’s national theme, African Americans and the Vote. Each of these silhouettes is a placeholder for some truly amazing works painted by some of our very own 8th grade artists.

Some Papier Mache taxidermy, courtesy of 8th Grade

8th Grade Advanced Artists are taking these colorful value paintings to another level with layers of collage in Mr. Bucolo’s 7th period class.

Unloading the Kiln on Monday morning is like Christmas. Check out these beautiful sculptures from Ms. Kerr’s 8th Grade Art Class!

Plaster Hand Sculptures are always a favorite project of our 7th Grade student artists. Here are some action shots of Mr. Bucolo’s 8th period class!

The finished examples shown were featured in the 2019 District Arts Fest.

8th Grade Advanced Artists impress with the craftsmanship of their layered cut paper designs!

8th Grade General Art Classes explore the Principles of Design through mixed media, while Advanced Art takes a deeper dive into Contrast and Balance in the style of Japanese Notan.

We are excited to add these beautiful monochromatic and analogous color self portraits to our school-wide collaborative portrait wall!

It has been a great first few weeks getting to know all of these faces, personalities, and artistic styles in the Art Wing. Students are about halfway through their first major project of the year, stay tuned for more fabulous art work, and please share our page with friends and neighbors!

DHMS Art Department is back after a Facebook hiatus! Stay tuned for updates on all of the awesome art happenings at Drexel Hill this year as we prepare to jump into some fun new projects this week!

In the meantime, enjoy some photos of the fantastic work featured in last year’s District Arts Festival!

Finishing up a week of self portraits. Starting new projects on Monday!

Missing my middle schoolers already

Congratulations to 8th Graders, Alana Fralin and Zayne Foster for receiving this year’s Art Achievement Awards!

Polishing our Mosaics

So this is happening!!