The Art Education program at Canonsburg Middle School is designed to provide a rich set of learning experiences in a variety of artistic media, as well as background in the areas of art appreciation, art history, and art criticism. Students will discover that art is the creative exploration of an idea and the communication of that idea through a visual medium.






SIXTH GRADE PUEBLO POTTERY
 Sixth grade students were introduced to Pueblo pottery and artist, Maria Martinez. After a thorough discussion and careful planning, students used the traditional coil method to create their own pottery pieces. These examples may include underglazes and/or glazes.





SEVENTH GRADE CHARACTER DOLLS
 Seventh grade students learned various information about Kachina Dolls including their history, value, and purpose. The character dolls pictured below feature various characteristics as a result of a dice game that decided such things as gender, expression, decoration, etc. Student designs were inspired from original Kachina Dolls as well as student creativity and imagination. We are careful to call our dolls "Character Dolls" as opposed to "Kachina Dolls" because of the beliefs of the Hopi Indians and what a real Kachina Doll represents. Our goal was to learn information of another culture and create a piece of artwork that was inspired of this culture but not copied.





EIGHTH GRADE RELIEF AND FREESTANDING SELF-PORTRAITS
Eighth grade students had the choice of constructing a freestanding or relief sculpture. The students were required to list people, places, and things which interested them and then think of objects that might represent these interests. The objects you see within these sculptures represent the artist who created it. This is a sculptural self-portrait of the student.