ART EDUCATION

Urban Canvas challenged students to explore identity, community and place through miniature environments inspired by graffiti and public art. Students designed and built original dioramas using painting, sculpture and mixed-media fabrication while developing visual narratives around personal, cultural and social themes.

The project moved beyond the classroom when the completed works were selected for public exhibition. Students presented their work as “Urban Canvas: Mini Murals and Dioramas Exhibit,” giving them the experience of creating a cohesive body of work for a real gallery audience.

Students designed and constructed miniature environments inspired by the communities and places around them. The project combined architectural design, sculpture, painting, 3D printing and mixed-media fabrication. Students developed their environments from concept to final construction while thinking about how color, architecture, signage, graffiti and everyday objects can communicate the identity of a place. Finished works were later exhibited publicly at 1Culture Art Collective in San José.

This Art 2 project challenged students to create large-scale portraits that combined painting, collage and personal or cultural storytelling. Students began by digitally simplifying a reference image into value shifts then transferred the image to a 16 × 20 canvas. They mixed skin tones from primary colors and created tints and shades to develop depth before painting the portrait. 

The background became part of the narrative. Students incorporated at least ten photographs connected to their subject’s life along with typography and gold leaf. The final compositions required students to think about value, color theory, composition, craftsmanship and how imagery can communicate identity and culture. 

Featured student work: Deana Tran

Students designed and produced a fully customized collectible figure from concept to finished packaging. They 3D printed their figures, sculpted custom features with clay, mixed individualized skin tones using primary colors, sanded and prepared surfaces for painting, and completed detailed finishes. Students then moved into Photoshop to design custom packaging, printed their box designs and constructed the final package by hand.

The project combined 3D fabrication, sculpture, painting, color theory, digital design, branding and product construction into one complete design experience.

Students designed and built their own handmade character dolls from the inside out. They began by learning how to construct a stable wire armature and build out the body form with aluminum foil and masking tape.

Students then used polymer clay to sculpt the head, hands and feet while learning how to shape facial features and small details by hand.

They also practiced color theory by mixing individualized skin tones from primary colors before painting their sculpted pieces.

To finish the dolls, students designed and hand-crafted clothing and learned a simple hand stitch to assemble their garments.

The project combined armature building, sculpture, color mixing, painting, textile design and introductory sewinginto one complete character design experience.

Students explored paper quilling by learning how to roll, pinch and shape narrow paper strips into coils and forms. They practiced building simple shapes first, then combined those techniques to create more complex images and compositions.

Students learned how to control shape, repetition, pattern, spacing and color while planning how individual paper elements would work together as one finished piece.

The project combined paper sculpture, design, composition and fine motor skill development while giving students a lot of room to make their work personal and detailed.