For this year’s Artist in Residence Program, the Junior School had the pleasure of working with artist Yared Nigussu. Yared is an Ethiopian artist who now lives and works in Vancouver. He’s best known for his colourful large-scale paintings and abstract portraits. Learn more about Yared here, and view is paintings here.
Yared worked with each class on a class project. Each class was tasked with reproducing one painting, with each student contributing one small piece of the painting (or “puzzle”). At the end, the small canvases were put together to create one large painting. The Gr. 1-3s had their own project to complete – a rock painting installation in the style of Mondrian.
The Artist in Residence program concluded with a friendly “Art Battle“. One student selected from each grade was invited to compete on stage. They had 20 minutes to create their masterpiece – art under pressure! Classical piano from Annika and Charlene set the mood. Afterwards, the works were judged by the audience via “clap-o-meter”. The chosen “winner” was Ming from Grade 7, for her abstract portrait.
Prior to the official Art Battle, each student also got to try their hand at “speed painting”. The girls had 20 minutes to create their own piece of art of their choosing, all while listening to a playlist of upbeat songs.
The Art Battle was followed by an exhibit in the foyer of all the class projects. View all the paintings below.
Thank you to the YHS Parents’ Association for making the Artist in Residence program possible.
Watch the girls working with Yared in the video below:
Watch the slideshow of the girls hard at work on their art projects:
Class Projects:
Art Battle Paintings:
Art Battle Finale (Click here to see all the photos from the Finale):
More photos here.
