Hello Archway Arete families, my name is Matthew Marshall and I am looking forward to this upcoming year teaching art with your scholars. This may be your first year here or with me as your child’s art teacher, I would like to give you a little information about myself.  I was born and raised in Chandler, Arizona into a family that encouraged me to pursue the act of creation. In 2014, I graduated from Arizona State University earning a BFA with a focus in oil painting. Since graduation, I have continued my practice as an artist, participating in art shows throughout the valley and have work in a gallery in Scottsdale. In November of 2016 I was invited to New Delhi, India to participate in a residency program with artists from the U.S., Australia and India. We spent a month working together in a studio focusing on the merging of Western and Eastern approaches to art making.

I started teaching elementary art through Great Hearts in 2015 as a way of sharing both the knowledge and joy I have accumulated over the years for this subject. Every student has the capability of making artwork that is truthful and beautiful by building on the fundamentals of observation and technique. Your child will enter the world with a profound vocabulary and skill set to make sense of work made by masters, as well as makes their own works of art.

It is my promise as your child’s teacher that I will do everything in my power to give them individual observation and guidance. Each student shall be encouraged to try their very best on each project and to handle struggles with grace.  Thank you for putting your trust in me to share the joy and truth of visual art with your child. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns and I look forward to the 2017-18 school year!

Best,

                                                                                                Mr. Marshall

Kindergarten Curriculum Overview

Line:

Line is the first element of art being addressed in Kindergarten. The use of line in art is important in understanding how artists structure their work. This subject will take up the majority of the first quarter and will include projects based off of works done by master artists. The students understanding of line will allow them to be more comfortable when attempting to create more complex artworks later in their education.

            Projects:

Resist Painting of a flower using crayon and watercolor paint.

Drawing of Hokusai’s Tuning the Samisen

Recreation of Joan Miro’s People and Dog in the Sun

Color:

Color is a necessary tool in art making because it allows the artist to affect the mood of the viewer. Much like language, color can provide a sensory reaction to those seeing the work and can help establish the message of the work. Students will learn the basics of primary and secondary colors and how to effectively use them. This section of the curriculum will start to saturate the line portion until students are practicing more complex works that combine both line and color

            Projects:

Gauguin’s Tahitian Landscape with Mountain done with pastels

Helen Frankenthaler’s Blue Atmosphere done with watercolor paint

Sculpture:

Students will also be asked to look at various forms of sculpture towards the end of the school year, which is an important tool for bringing the ideas of line and color into the physical world. We will explore Native American totem poles, the statue of liberty as well as more contemporary abstract work that will prepare them to learn about form. By this time in the school year, students will be able to apply the skills and ideas learned in drawing and color and create more complex pieces of art.