Mary B. Austin Elementary School Art Students

Mary B. Austin Elementary School's PTA hosts an annual fundraiser called Art from the Heart, which pays for art instruction and supplies for the following school year. This fundraiser allows every student in the school to participate in the art program. Their second grade art students recently completed an assignment inspired by Andy's alligator art. For this project, second grade art teachers Crystal Couch and Mary Green shared a little about Andy as an artist, then showed the children examples of his assemblage work that incorporates found objects. They explained that how he uses different kinds of lines, shapes, and patterns makes his art interesting. After they looked at a broad view of his work, Mary pulled up a few alligators that Andy did and showed them how to break something like an alligator down into simple shapes to draw it. The second graders used tempera cakes to paint the alligators and the backgrounds, then added details and outlines with oil pastels. Some students used black paper for their background with oil pastel details. Here are a few of Andy's favorite pieces from each class:

We are so impressed with their work! We think it's awesome that Mary B. Austin Elementary School let their second graders use Andy's art as their inspiration. If you are aware of other art classes that have done a project inspired by Andy's art, please let us know!