Latin School of Chicago

Inspiring YOUNG ARTISTS L ower school art teacher Brenda Friedman believes that there is art in everything. Her philosophy is that the study of art and art history can enhance any other academic discipline and that by inspiring a passion for art in her students, she can enrich their entire educational experience. From the moment students enter her room in first grade to their departure from the lower school at the end of fourth grade, Friedman introduces them to the elements of art and the artists who have been enriching the world since the beginning of time. Along the way, she incorporates history, mathematics, world cultures, current events, literature, science and much of the work they are doing in their classrooms. "I feel like art is often misunderstood," says Friedman. "It is actually a substantial body of knowledge that is so important in anybody's education. One of the things that I love most about teaching art is that it connects in different ways to so many other disciplines." So in early spring, when her third grade students learn about working with clay to make tiles, Friedman also is teaching them about famed architect Louis Sullivan and his terracotta design work. She talks to them about Chicago history and Sullivan's place in American architecture. Many Layers During the same time, Friedman and her first graders are working on designing and making their own Persian carpets. They learn about texture, shapes and symmetrical patterns in the carpets. But Friedman also gives them a lesson in Asian art history. "I say to them 'I bet that you have a carpet like this at home. Well, there's a story behind it.'" Friedman goes on to tell the students about the weary travelers across the desert in ancient Persia who would end their day of travel at an oasis by rolling out their carpets to rest on. The design on every Persian carpet incorporates certain themes that would ensure sweet dreams and a safe night's sleep, such as the fountain of life, a garden of flowers and singing birds, with the border around every carpet signifying a garden wall that protects the traveler while he is sleeping. It is a history lesson but also fits in with the first grade's unit on legends and fairytales. 16 Latin Magazine

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