UNIQUE initiatives

Inspired by the title “Making Waves”, volunteer junior students from St. Gregory transformed old, used tires into beautiful garden planters for the school’s main walkway. With Lisa Di Battista’s guidance, students created an amazing focal piece from items destined for a landfill. 

Featured at sold-out shows at the AGO, Yayoi Kusama’s the Obliteration Room provided the inspiration for this interactive and compelling colourful display. Lisa organized a mini-version of The Obliteration Room, encouraging attendees to add their artistic input. They stepped inside ‘the room’ to embrace their creative spirit and come together as a community to add colour and vibrancy to the blank canvas. It was met with much enthusiasm.

As a kick off to St. Gregory’s annual ARTucate show, this massive mural was created by over 720 students from JK through to grade 8 in just one morning. Lisa Di Battista provided students with inspiration and examples by the well-known graffiti artist James Goldcrown, whose heart murals are some of the most photographed murals in the world. Students added their own hearts to the canvas using only markers and created this colourful and inspirational art piece. 

As a way to bring some creative exploration and and artistic play both casual and musical. Lisa designed and executed some installed pieces for a FDK outdoor yard.

The pieces were installed on the fence as way to connect students in different groups through music and exploration.

A number of loose parts were also included as creative open ended play.

Lisa has made valuable contributions as a committee member of St. Gregory Catholic School’s annual art exhibit and auction, entitled ARTucate.  Along with teachers and staff, she is committed to ensuring the show’s success each year.

Lisa created and led a series of lunchtime abstract art workshops for primary, junior and intermediate students. The main focus was colour schemes, analogous colours, and OP Art — a style of visual art that encompasses optical illusions. Using concentric, wooden circles or rectangles, students created illusions of depth to form colourful and collaborative pieces. 

Main Learning points

– Abstract Art
– Colour schemes, and analogous colours
– OP Art, short for optical art, is a style of visual art that uses optical illusions. – Objects are analyzed, broken up and reassembled in an abstracted collaborative piece

Project scope

– Use concentric square or rectangles to create illusion of depth
– Create an abstract art piece
– Use line to create shape (both Elements of Design)
– Apply with cool colours, acrylic paint using brushes and non conventional tools – All pieces would combine to create one group 3D piece of art

Students, were inspired to create, supported their peers in mini studio setting. Experimented with colour, colour mixing, line, value to create form