Pine Bush Elementary School partnered with Bethel Woods Center for the Arts for an eight-week program bringing mindful art into three of its classes, including Sue Johnson and Leanna Ponsolle’s kindergarten class.

 

 

Each 30-minute session had Candace Rovela, lead teaching artist and senior program manager of Museum Education and Creative Programs at Bethel Woods, talk to the students about their art and expressing themselves through their art. On this particular day, Ms. Candace explained to the kindergarteners about the color wheel, which pairs physical gestures and expressions with feelings and colors.

For example, blue represents sadness. The students can move their feelings to green by thinking happy thoughts or doing something that makes them happy. Red represents anger or being out of control while yellow is a caution area, reminding us to slow day if we are worried or overly excited or frustrated. The colors give students a way to express how they are feeling.

 

Ms. Candace had the students fold their paper into four equal segments. She then played four different pieces of music for them and they drew whatever they wanted based on how the music made them feel. Artwork, she told them, is an expression of how you feel.

 

 

Ms. Candace also shared special affirmation cards that had positive messages. The cards help the students feel confident and happy. There would be one affirmation each week. This week’s affirmation was: I learn more every day!

 

 

At the end of the lesson, most of the students said they felt happy and excited. At the end of the program, they were planning to create a gallery of artwork to share with their classmates.