Written by Spring 2025 AFA Intern Franny Daleo-Clark
February 12, 2025
Tuesday, February 12, was my first day at PS15, and I started in the morning shadowing teaching artist Rathi Varma. The first class I joined her for was a very sweet and welcoming kindergarten group. Rathi opened with a circle on the rug first by going over the rules (safe bodies, be kind, and “one mic,” which means one person gets to speak at a time). She started to explain how we as humans show emotions with our bodies. Each kid (and adult) got to share how they were feeling with a facial expression or body movement, and the other students practiced understanding them by guessing. Then we did a physical warm up with movement and music to prepare our bodies for art, and the kids seemed so excited. Rathi shared a bit about artist Jackson Pollock, naming him “Action Jackson” and demonstrating how he used his whole body to paint and “break the rules” of art, which the kids loved. After a demonstration, the kids then got to paint how they were feeling abstractly using string instead of paintbrushes. They loved it! Finally, we cleaned up and did a cool down on the rug again. My favorite part was how they ended the class by pretending to put a crown on their head while saying “I did it! I am proud of myself,” which was an action they knew and seemed part of a familiar routine. The next two classes went similarly, another kindergarten classroom and then 1st grade, which followed a slightly different structure, as the kids were a little older, in a different classroom space, and had a few unexpected schedule changes to adapt to.
In the afternoon, I had the privilege of shadowing Briget Villanueva’s class with the second graders. It was their last class of the day, and the shortest, but everyone made the most of art time! They were working on a project they started previously, using Kehinde Wiley as inspiration. In past weeks, the kids had made floral backgrounds inspired by his portraits, and today they used cut-outs for the figural aspect, either creating self-portraits or a portrait of a friend or someone they knew. They were so creative with it, some making up people like “Bacon Man” and some being so insightful creating images of themselves. Many had a hard time with perfectionism, but we practiced problem-solving, and acceptance and the kids will keep working on this project in later artmaking sessions. I had so much fun and a fabulous first day at PS15!
February 26, 2025
On Wednesday, February 26, I went into PS15 and assisted teaching artist Rathi for one class at the kindergarten level, and then Briget for three classes at the first and second grade levels. Rathi’s kindergarten art was first, and I was excited to be joining this group again! Rathi started class in a circle on the rug and brought us all into the space by asking us a question: If you were a flower, what would you be? We would come back to those flowers later. Then we were ready for a warm-up, so Rathi played music and got everyone standing to prepare our bodies for art with some light stretching and movement. The activity for this day was based on the artist Alma Thomas, so Rathi shared a brief presentation on her and her work, especially focused on those inspired by flowers. Then she demonstrated the activity, in which students got to tear colored strips of paper to glue on the rings of a flower template, practicing “zooming in and zooming out” the way Alma Thomas did. They had a great time with this activity and were sad to stop when it was time to come back to the rug for a cool down, but relieved to hear they could keep working on their projects later.
After this class I joined teaching artist Briget again. She also began her class on the rug, leading an engaging discussion on the artist that was the inspiration for that day’s activity: Diedrick Brackens. She had them look at images of his art and think critically about the material, process, patterns, and shapes. This gave the students the opportunity to show off vocabulary and art knowledge they had learned in Briget’s classes previously! Next, she demonstrated the activity, which was paper weaving inspired by Bracken’s tapestries. Then students sat down at their tables and we passed out paper and strips of paper. They got to pick the colors, and we helped them tape the strips to the top of the paper so they could weave with them. At the end of that process, we helped tape down the edges and the students got to draw over the patterns however they chose. We saw so much creativity coming out here! Finally, Bridget invited the students back to the rug and they got to share their artwork with their classmates. The next two classes with Briget went similarly, and I was glad to be part of another artistic and educational day at PS15!
March 5, 2025
On Wednesday, March 5, I rejoined three of Rathi’s classes at PS15. This was the first week of Women’s History Month, so Rathi had chosen to focus on artist Yayoi Kasama. Before the lesson, though, we began in a circle on the rug and Rathi invited each student to share something unique about themselves. Then, she led students in a warm up, dancing and stretching and getting excited for art making. She shared a presentation to teach the kids about Yayoi Kusama, a Japanese-born contemporary artist known especially for her large scale installation and sculpture and her consistent use of polka dots. The kids had previously expressed interest in making art they could wear, so this week Rathi led an activity in which they created masks in the style of Yayoi Kusama. First, she demonstrated the process, and then invited students back to their tables to make the polka dot masks step by step. The kids were excited to try the masks on afterwards, and thrilled with the knowledge that they would be able to take them home.
After the activity, Rathi called the group back to the rug for a cool down. We did some light, relaxing stretching and deep, calming breaths before their chorus of “I did it! I am proud of myself!”
This Wednesday I also returned to Briget’s second grade class for another session. Coincidentally, she had also planned a lesson around Yayoi Kusama! In this group, she first showed them the artist and her work and asked the students what they noticed. Then, she showed them the activity, in which students would first create a drawing inspired by Kusama’s pumpkins and then use the wonderful invention of dot markers to fill the piece with colorful polka dots! The kids had a lot of fun with this step, and I loved to see how all the pumpkins turned out so differently.
March 19, 2025
Today, I joined teaching artist Kalyani Singh subbing for Rathi’s workshops at PS243. Today’s lesson was inspired by the artist Bridget Riley, known for her optical illusion paintings or “op art.” Kalyani welcomed the students and then led the group in a warmup, following her movements and vocal sounds in a story about thunderstorms and rainbows, which also encouraged them to take deep breaths. Then, she asked the kids to share one thing they love about themselves to build trust, connection, and positivity in the group. Next, we showed them a PowerPoint of Bridget Riley’s artwork and invited them to share their observations. After a brief demonstration, we passed out templates for the students to create their own optical illusions using just one color. Despite only using one color, there was so much variety in everyone’s artwork! At the end of each class, the students came back to the rug and were able to share their artwork with each other and us, and then their peers gave a compliment to each.
After Kalyani’s classes, I joined one of Briget’s second grade classes again. Today, she was leading a lesson based on Louise Bourgeois, a French artist famous for her large sculptural spiders. Bridget showed the students the artist and her work and invited them to make observations. Then, I helped her lead a step-by-step artmaking session in which we made spiders out of pipe cleaners and the students followed along as we went. Pipe cleaners were an unfamiliar medium for a lot of them, and challenging perfectionism here was quite difficult, but everyone went home with their own, unique spider. I had an exciting and invigorating day at PS243 today and look forward to returning next week!
March 26, 2025
On Wednesday March 26, I helped with one of Rathi’s and three of Briget’s art classes at PS15. In Rathi’s class, she first invited students to the rug to sit and share about one important woman in their lives or character they love to celebrate International Women’s Day and get them thinking about characters for the art project. Rathi led a brief physical warm-up with some music and simple movements, and then shared a presentation about the artist Mary Blair, who made animations for Disney. Then, we helped show the project, in which we used construction paper shape cut-outs to create a collage of a character they made up themselves. They also came up with names and settings for their characters. At the end of class, we had a show and tell. Each student came up to the front to share their character and tell the class about it. Everyone came up with something special and unique and it was lovely to see the kids so proud of themselves.
In Briget’s classes, she told the students about Helen Frankenthaler and invited them to look and make observations about her artwork. The art activity for the day was creating abstract expressive paintings using tempera paint and water inspired by Frakenthaler. It got a little messy, as painting tends to do, but the final pieces were absolutely stunning and so expressive! It was awesome to see such young kids master the use of color so well after learning through some of Briget’s workshops this season.
April 2, 2025
This week on Wednesday, April 2, I was grateful to return to Briget’s classes at PS15. I supported her in her two first and one second grade classes. It was the first art class of April, so Briget designed an activity to celebrate Spring, moving into a new season, and the warmer weather: we were making paper ladybugs! First, she invited students to the rug for a little introductory discussion on Spring and what it looks like, asking prompting questions and letting students recall what they know and use their imaginations to come up with answers, and this led us into the activity. Briget showed them a finished version of the ladybug and then broke it apart to show how it was made. Then, students went back to their seats, and we led the craft step-by-step, handing out materials as we went. Though everyone was making the same thing, I loved to see how each ladybug turned out a little differently. My favorite part was how the activity was such a mood-booster and seemed to get everyone excited for Spring! I’m excited, too, because I think this activity was one that will be part of a larger series of cheerful Spring bug crafts.
April 9, 2025
I went back to PS15 on Wednesday, April 4 to help with Rathi and Briget’s art workshops. First, I joined Rathi for two of her kindergarten classes. Today’s class was a little different than usual; Rathi had planned an Art Quiz Challenge! First, she led a warm-up, though, playing music and having students lightly stretch and isolate different body parts in a follow-the-leader exercise. Then, we transitioned into the quiz challenge. The point was to remind the students what they have learned so far about the elements of art before going into a related activity. For those that don’t know, the elements of art refer to line, shape, color, form, value, space, and texture, but the kindergarteners at PS15 would be happy to tell you that! Rathi’s quiz focused mainly on color, shape, line, and texture, asking questions like “What are the primary colors?,” “What secondary colors do you see in this picture?,” or “What kind of lines are these?” For each question answered correctly, the group got a point, Rathi played a buzzer noise, and we all applauded. After Spring Break, Rathi promised them a prize. It was a good way to review and test their knowledge collaboratively while building a sense of community.
Next, Rathi offered the students three choices for the activity, to focus on line, shape, or texture. She demonstrated what we would be doing: decorating paper cups with whatever choice they made, making shapes, different lines, or using paint to create textured dots on the surface. Once the students were finished with their cups, we collected them all and stacked them into a tower, which we called a community tower. The community tower celebrates the students’ learning and accomplishments in art class thus far and highlights their artistic, collaborative community. It was so fun to highlight and celebrate the culmination of their learning through this project!
After these classes with Rathi, I joined Briget for her two second grade classes. On this day, Briget resumed her spring bug activity series. We were making caterpillars! First, Briget made sure everyone understood the directions and that we would go step by step for clarity, and then we started passing out materials. We used construction paper cut in colorful strips to make accordion-like folds for the caterpillar’s body. If they wanted, they could glue on extra strips to add more colors and make it longer. We also added googly eyes and antennas once the bodies were made. It did involve some tricky folding, depending on how closely the students paid attention, but everyone came out the other side with a fun, colorful caterpillar! At the end of class, Briget invited the students back to the rug to share. They got to show off their creations and tell the class what their caterpillar’s name was. Though we all followed the same step-by-step instructions, everyone had a unique caterpillar in colors that they were excited about. I wonder what bug we’ll focus on when students come back from spring break!
April 23, 2025
On Wednesday, April 23, I went back to PS15. I assisted with four classes: two kindergarten and one first grade with Rathi again, and one second grade with Briget again. In Rathi’s classes, we started as usual with a warmup on the rug. Rathi plays music and leads some stretches, simple repetitive movements, and balances to get everyone’s brains and bodies ready for an exciting art class. The activity today was based on the artist Joan Miro, a Spanish painter who was known especially for a playful and childlike abstract art style. Rathi told the students about the artist and shared some of his work in a brief presentation before leading a demonstration of the project. We also taught them the word “overlap,” and explained what that meant in the context of Miro’s art and the project for today, practicing overlapping lines, shapes, and colors. Then we sent the kids back to their tables to create! Rathi had kids first use black markers to write their names largely in different kinds of lines, like zigzag or squiggly lines, on a piece of white paper. Next, they used the same markers to create shapes and lines overlapping their names and around the page. Then, I passed out crayons to add color, so they filled in the shapes and added colorful elements to their name art. At the end of each class, we brought the kids back to a circle for a physical cool down, taking deep breaths and engaging in light stretching follow-the-leader style. Rathi also asked a few questions about what they learned that day about the artist Joan Miro or art skills in general before prompting one last deep breath that led into the students’ usual chorus of “I did it! I am proud of myself!”
In her class, Briget was continuing the spring theme, but instead of focusing on a bug this week, she led an Earth Day inspired craft, as Earth Day was the day before. She introduced the activity by leading a discussion on what it means to take care of the Earth and the ways we have the power to do so. The kids came up with lots of good ideas, and started to think about “Earth Day promises they could make, promises to themselves and the planet of one thing they would do to be kind to our environment. Then, we handed out materials for the craft. We were making little heart-shaped Earths that folded open to reveal messages (the Earth Day promises). We used pre-drawn hearts, which the kids just had to follow the lines to cut out, rectangular strips of paper to attach it to for the messages, and blue and green colored pencils. Their messages read statements like, “I can recycle!,” and “I will throw away my garbage and not litter,” or “I will do my best to love Earth.” It was a lovely little activity that inspired the students to be thankful for the natural environment and think about ways they can support it, even as kids.
April 30, 2025
Today, April 30th, I returned to PS15 for my second-to-last day there as part of my internship. I am sad it’s almost over! On this day, I started in one of Rathi’s kindergarten classes again. The kindergarteners came in with a lot of emotion and energy, so instead of the typical high-energy warm up, Rathi started with a calmer breathing meditation that was similar to the cool down we normally do at the end of class. Then, she shared a bit about the artist Andy Warhol, showing pictures of some of his famous work like the soup cans, flowers, and Marilyn Monroe screen prints. She invited the kids one at a time to share what they noticed about the art, especially about bold colors. We noticed patterns and taught them the word “repetition,” and what that means in art, and then Rathi demonstrated the activity for the day. On a printout of four squares with circles inside, she filled in each square using markers in a different bold color, and then fingerpainted using contrasting colors to make flowers around the circle. Once everyone was clear on the directions, we sent students back to the tables to start their artworks. I was impressed with their knowledge of color and loved how bright the finished pieces were!
I also supported Briget in her classes today. She had planned a rainy-day umbrella craft. First, we talked to the students about the current spring season and what changes are happening in the weather, what they notice about flowers and pollinators (and pollen allergies), and the good and bad things about rain. Bridget taught them the phrase, “April showers bring May flowers,” which they chanted and got them excited for the rain-themed activity. The craft was an umbrella, made out of half a paper plate, cane-shaped paper cutouts for the handle, teardrop-shaped cutouts for the rain, and string to hang the raindrops from the umbrella. Briget held her example up to ask the students what materials they noticed (paper plate, paper, tape, glue, and markers or other coloring supplies) to explain to them the process of making it. Then, students went to their seats and we passed out the materials one at a time to create their umbrellas. We went step-by-step again, which is definitely helpful with this age group. They all decorated their umbrellas so creatively as well, one with cats for “it’s raining cats and dogs,” and many with cute little faces on the front. At the end of class, we went back to the rug to share everyone’s work. Briget had one student at a time hold up their finished product while the others “oohed” and “aahed,” and then they got to shake them to show off their rain dance while the raindrops bounced around. It was quite cute and another great April activity for the last class in April.
May 7, 2025
Wednesday, May 7 was sadly my last day at PS15 this semester. I joined both Rathi and Briget’s classes again. In Rathi’s kindergarten classes, she started with a calm body warm-up, leading everyone in gentle stretches to get ready for art. Then, she shared a brief lesson on the artist Salvador Dali, who she said had been an inspiration for her in art school. The students had the chance to make observations about the artist and his art, noticing his unusual style. Rathi explained how he was making art not based on reality but on dreams and imagination. We furthered this idea with the activity for today. After a demonstration, the kids each got a sheet of paper, which they folded in half and then opened up. Then, they splattered paint and got to be “scribble monsters” on one side of the fold before pressing it back together to create symmetrical abstract shapes. This was a starting point for them to use their imagination, like Dali, to turn this shape into anything they saw or imagined. They came up with such good ideas- a KFC tree, butterflies and bugs, magic portals, and more! It was amazing to see. At the end, each student got the chance to bring their art to the front of the room to show everyone what they made and tell their classmates about it. Finally, Rathi led a cool down on the rug to center our bodies back in the space and finished with a chorus of “I did it! I am proud of myself!”
In Briget’s classes, she led a craft themed around the upcoming Mother’s Day. First, we talked with the students about what Mother’s Day celebrates, reasons and ways to be thankful for our moms, and how we can also celebrate anyone who takes care of us like aunts and grandmothers, since some kids don’t have a mom, or have two, or can celebrate their dads as well. Bridget introduced the activity and shared her version, a hanging paper picture frame with a drawing of her and her mom plus a message. We talked through the creation process step by step and then handed out the materials so the kids could make their own. It was lovely to see their sweet messages and drawings thanking their mothers and showing their appreciation. The students took it very seriously and worked quite hard on these! I was sad to go at the end of the day; I’m going to miss working with these wonderful teaching artists and students now that my internship is over!
