Artwork of Station 9, Jesus falls for the third time, is done in the principle of design of movement at Regina Elementary in Iowa City.
By Anne Marie Amacher
The Catholic Messenger
IOWA CITY — Using a variety of art media, students in kindergarten through fifth grade at Regina Elementary demonstrated their talents in the creation of Stations of the Cross.
Kelly Starr, Regina’s vice principal, said classes worked in large groups with students having different roles to complete the project.
The idea came from a religion committee and made its way to art class. “We were looking for a way to have the older students ‘teach’ the Stations of the Cross to the younger students. We have stations in the chapel, but needed additional space. The art teacher offered to take up the project,” Starr said.
Kyle Holderness, K-8 art teacher, assigned an element of art or a principle of design to each class. Sixth-grade students led the K-5 student through the stations that were displayed in the multipurpose room. They will remain on display into next school year, Starr said.
Students also composed a brief write-up about the type of art they created over the six-week cycle of their twice-weekly art classes.
Kindergartner Hux Hinkel helped with Station 11 —Jesus being nailed to the cross. His group’s art element was splatter paint. “We flicked the colors of Jesus getting nailed to the cross … I had blue.” Hux said he was wondering what they were doing, but when “it was done it looked cool because it had so many colors.”
Fourth-grader Alix Lama helped with Station 7 —Jesus falling for the second time. This group’s design principle was tessellation (forming a mosaic pattern). They used tempera glitter paint. “It was exciting to see how each one (panel) was different and how they looked great all together.”
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