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Shadows in the Arts

Shadows in the Arts (SITA) is a cooperative endeavor between teachers, artists and the Gifted and Talented Education Office.  It is designed for community artists to work with a small group of students for a day to introduce the student to the artist and his/her particular medium. 

Student Nominations

Every year, district art teachers are asked for student nominees. The students are nominated on the basis of their genuine interest in the arts, artistic talents, maturity, and eagerness to be a part of this program. 

  • At the high school and middle school level, the program accepts 5 nominees per school.
  • At the elementary level, the program accepts 2 fifth-grade nominees per school.
    • Elementary workshops are half-day; students are assigned to a morning or afternoon session.

Questions?

Contact your child's art teacher or Michelle Stout, SITA Coordinator, michelle.stout@tsd.org.

Past Workshops

Mixed Media Memory Landscapes          Instructor: Trish Murtha    

The TSD Shadows in the Arts program is partnered with Hillcrest of Loveland – Senior Living. Students pair with a resident of Hillcrest to create a collaborative triptych (a set of three panels side by side, bearing pictures, carvings and the like). The artists will use simple art and varied materials to create memory landscapes that capture the life stories of both the young and old. Students and residents will each leave with one piece of the triptych, with the remaining piece collectively displayed at Hillcrest.  

From Abstraction to Architecture        Instructor: Rohini Kapil

This workshop introduces students to the work of artist Joan Miro and encourages them to work intuitively to create collages and drawings using abstract pattern-making and compositional elements inspired by the work of Miro. Working 2-dimensionally, students will experiment with different forms, colors, shapes, and compositions to learn about creative risk-taking and unexpected outcomes. Experimenting with a variety of materials, students will transition into a 3-dimensional experience and construct sculptures inspired by the experience of making collages. Here, students can reflect on the relationships found working between 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional forms, from collage to sculpture.

Exploring an Eco-System under the Sea     Instructor: Karen Dobroth

After a discussion about the ecosystem of life under the sea, including coral reefs and exotic fish, with visual examples, students created to the sounds of the ocean. They sketched a 12” X 18” line drawing of a seascape of ocean life, including coral and sea creatures. Drawings were taped onto the same size foil and transferred onto the foil using a wooden stylus, creating a low relief image. Once the image was complete, quick-drying acrylic paint was applied over the surface and then rubbed off, leaving a rainbow of colors in the engraved part of the image. 

Simple Silhouette’s Say So Much       Instructor: Jennifer Ghormley

“In this fun-filled, hands-on crash course workshop, participants learned to apply the advantages of screenprinting with hand-cut silhouette stencils.  Source imagery can come from drawings, photographs, nature, or other sources of inspiration. The emphasis was on technique, color, range of experimentation, and variety of creative expression possible with the media. In this non-toxic approach, we used a thin frosted mylar stencil material and water-based acrylic inks, with no chemicals or laborious equipment involved. Students gained the experience to become independent screen printers, further exploring how to utilize this process for various applications.” 

Down to the Pixel          Instructor: Robert Muller

The students learned about the importance of detail, through exercises that show scale and relativity to a pixel. Their learning outcomes were a greater understanding of Color Theory - Knowledge of complementary color, and how color is built with pigment or with light. They also learned about Dimension: How a line of squares can look like a smooth diagonal line even though it’s constrained to a grid; Time: How time is cut into cells, scenes, and keyframes when dealing with video and gaming production; Space: What is space and what is negative space? They will learn all of this through the Introduction to Animation techniques and the activity of “Creating their own pixel video game hero and Flip Book”, where they created a Hero, using materials provided, start a hero animation flipbook on grid paper.