Final Exhibitions

IBSL Visual Art II

Students have learned the skills and techniques necessary to produce their own independent artwork in a variety of media. Senior IB Art students selected final artworks that a demonstrate their highest achievement.

George Washington High School

Chicago, IL

Resolved Artworks

The selected pieces from students’ exhibitions show evidence of their technical accomplishment and an understanding of the use of materials, ideas and, practices appropriate to visual communication.

IBSL Visual Arts I & II

George Washington High School

Chicago, IL

Art I

Painted / cut paper collage

Inspired by Jacob Lawrence’s Migration series, students went on an ancestral investigation. Lawrence’s series, completed in 1940-1941, captured simple and elegant forms meaningful to experiences of African Americans during the Great Migration. By reflecting on significant encounters, personal family memories, and stories passed down from generations, students took Lawrence’s lead and focused on small, significant moments within a larger story. Students considered the varied compositional strategies that Lawrence used in his series- such as single bold figures, silhouettes, distance shots of rural and urban scenes, altered perspectives, and symbolic objects.

George Washington High School

John F. Kennedy High School

Intervening with Space

Honors Art II Students

Students expanded their understanding of ‘what makes a work of art’ to consider questions about the environment, site-specific work, ephemeral work and its documentation, and about working outside a museum or gallery context.

George Washington High School

Chicago, IL

Collaborative Paintings (50” x 60”)

Art I

Students explored themes of Chicago-based Africobra arts movement from the 1960’s. Students learned about the Great Migration, the Civil Rights Movement, the Black Power movement, how blacks were faced with unequal opportunities, and how Africobra artists faced these issues by creating a uniquely black aesthetic within the visual arts. Students worked collaboratively to identify issues specific to their own communities. They worked together to create one finished and cohesive painting, visually communicating a message about their issue to the audience, while also incorporating visual elements used by Africobra artists.

George Washington High School

John F. Kennedy High School

Chicago, IL

Surrealist Sculptures

Found Object Sculptures

Honors Art II Students

George Washington High School

Chicago, IL

Narrative Comics

Art I Students

Storytelling is a skill that has been valued all thought history. Students follow in that great human tradition by creating a personal narrative comic strip. These stories will range from humorous to disturbing, from light-hearted to heart breaking, and everywhere in-between.

George Washington High School

Chicago, IL

These George Washington High School projects, created by Katy Peterman, artist Ben Murray, and GW students, were funded by Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education (CAPE).

Read more about each mural at:

https://www.bulbapp.com/kathryninnocenti

Black & White Painted Portraits

Art I Students

George Washington High School

Collaborative Drawings

Art I Students

George Washington High School

Intervening with Audience

Honors Art II Students

George Washington High School

Chicago, IL