Basic Art Final Surrealism Project

This final Surrealism project led to amazingly strong personal work from my freshman and sophomore students. I began the project by teaching students about the 1920's art movement and the philosophies and the influence of Freudian psychology within the symbolism of the artwork. Students then began keeping track of their dreams in the morning, and writing about their subconscious fears and internal struggles. The writing influenced students imagery and gave them direction in their piece. My students had already studied still life drawing, color theory, and color mixing. With these skills students could focus on content and design, releasing themselves from their fears of expression. Students worked with tempera and acrylic paint as well as mixed media. I am incredibly proud of their work and the deep meaning that it had. Each student wrote an artist statement explaining the meaning of their work. Many parents and teachers came up to me and expressed how this project was therapeutic for their students, and provided them with an outlet to express their feelings of anxiety, pain, and the process of growing up as a teen.