Quartz Hill Combines Art, Science, and Community at Evening of the Arts

Art education at Quartz Hill Elementary builds a strong bridge to core academic subjects like science and math. In art class, students regularly connect creative projects with concepts like geometry, symmetry, and the study of minerals. This consistent creative time gives students a safe space to solve problems, take risks, and build personal confidence.

"Art is self-revelatory. When students make art, they get to share a piece of themselves with me, and they have to feel safe and loved and secure and valued to be able to do that," shared Darlene Hibbs, the Art teacher at Quartz Hill Elementary. "By fostering that environment, we are creating not just future artists, but innovators, creatives, and just good human beings."

Quartz Hill’s Evening of the Arts event highlighted the artwork students have worked on throughout the school year. One major part of the event was a massive, school-wide project inspired by contemporary artist Jason Naylor. Naylor is known for a bright, high-contrast style that emphasizes messages of kindness and inclusion.

To complete the school-wide art piece, students from all grade levels used fluorescent materials that glowed under black light. While each student's individual artwork stands strong on its own, the hundreds of individual pieces combined on the walls reflect the community spirit and energetic culture found at Quartz Hill.

In addition to the school-wide art piece, each grade level showcased multiple unique artwork designs throughout the campus. Here are just some of the art pieces displayed at the Evening of the Arts:

Pre-Kindergarten: Ettavee Inspired Heart

• Inspiration: American artist Jessie Raulet, whose artwork has turned into an international brand - EttaVee - and is known for its bold patterns, playfulness, and vibrant color palettes.
• Elements of Art: Experimenting with a variety of colors to create a beautiful, beaming heart.
• Media Focus: Tempera paint sticks.

Kindergarten: Butterfly Garden

• Inspiration: Students experimented with printmaking techniques using forks, Q-tips, and paint to create their gardens. We introduced symmetry to create their colorful butterflies.
• Elements of Art: Experimenting with a variety of colors to create a beautiful, vibrant butterfly. Symmetrical balance, which is when each half is identical to the other - also known as “mirror image.”
• Media Focus: Tempera paint and found objects for printmaking.

First Grade: Painted Rose Garden

• Inspiration: Students watch as the paint blooms right before their eyes with this introduction to tempera painting and color mixing techniques. 
• Elements of Art: Using lines and shapes to paint. Tines, or a mixture of colors with white, which increases its lightness.
• Media Focus: Tempera paint.

Second Grade: Wish Tree Fox

• Inspiration: The Wish Tree book features a boy who wants to find a wish tree. Along the way, he and his trusty sled discover that wishes can come true in the most unexpected ways. 
• Elements of Art: Reinforce a variety of lines - both horizontal and vertical. Reinforce a variety of shapes. Foreground (front), middleground (middle), and background (back).
• Media Focus: Permanent ink pens, watercolor crayons, and tempera paint.

Third Grade: Texture Butterflies

• Inspiration: The ethereal quality of a butterfly with their beautiful, unique, delicate, and intricate patterned wings.
• Elements of Art: Slab of clay, using score and slip to attach two pieces. Imprinting texture into the wings. Repetition of specific visual elements, such as a single unit or a multitude of forms. 
• Media Focus: Clay and experiment with Mayco glaze.

Fourth Grade: Ceramic Leaf Bowls

• Inspiration: Nature and the varying colors and variety of leaves throughout the seasons.
• Elements of Art: Creating a vessel shape with an unconventional material. Using a slab and clay tools to create a leaf bowl. Experimenting with a variety of Mayco glazes.
• Media Focus: Clay and the magic of glaze!

Fifth Grade: Analogous Disco Ball

• Inspiration: Creating beautiful disco balls, combining previous knowledge of 3D solid shapes and color theory.
• Elements of Art: Cross-Contour Lines are lines that travel across a form’s surface to describe its three-dimensional shape and volume. Analogous Colors are colors that sit next to each other on the color wheel. They create a harmonious and pleasing look when used together, offering a sense of visual unity.
• Media Focus: Tempera Paint and Posca Paint Markers.

Sixth Grade: Jen Aranyi Inspired Landscape

• Inspiration: American artist Jen Aranyi creates work with vibrant pops of color, which contrasts her simplified black and white line art. Her work predominantly features landscapes and nature scenery. 
• Elements of Art: Reinforce a variety of lines. Foreground (front), middleground (middle), and background (back). Reinforce warm and cool color schemes.
• Media Focus: Liquid watercolor paint, permanent ink pen, and white paint pen.

Quartz Hill Elementary is committed to providing students with a high-quality and exciting S.T.E.A.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Mathematics) education. To learn more about Quartz Hill, schedule a tour at QuartzHill.GilbertSchools.net/Tour.