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Bridget Houghton » Staff Profile

Staff Profile

My name is Bridget Houghton and I am thrilled to be your student’s visual arts teacher this year at
Westgate Community School. I am so excited to have the opportunity to be a part of your students’ creative experiences and Artistic Growth. This year will be my fourth year as part of the Westgate Community. I received my BA in Art Education from the University of Wyoming and am pursuing an MA in Art Therapy and Social Emotional Learning. 


Throughout the year, I aim to expose students to a wide range of different artists, art styles, and art mediums such as charcoal drawing, printmaking, and kiln fire clay among others. Through instruction and encouragement, students will talk intellectually about art and discover the beauty in the world around them. They will learn how to use the elements of art and design principles within their work and recognize them in others' work, including their peers. They will also learn about how art has evolved throughout history and explore multicultural art from around the world.

 

Classes

Posts

Q4, Week 6

Good Morning, 

I hope you all had a good weekend!

 

This week in art students will be focusing on:  

K-8 – BMoCA visit – This week we will have Ms. Emily joining us from the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art Monday and Tuesday. On Monday, Ms. Emily is going to do a lecture and discussion about the current exhibit at the museum. On Tuesday she will be working with each grade to create a 1-day project inspired by the artists we studied on Monday.

7/8 – Destination Graphic Logos - Students will use Graphic Design Principles to design a Logo for different cities from around the world utilizing the important landmarks from within the city to create their work.

5/6 – Coat of Arms – this week students will be working on finishing their own Coat of Arms based on the Middle Ages times of Knights. Students will utilize new colored pencil techniques to fill their artwork with color, value, texture and depth.  

3/4 – Keith Haring Gesture Painting - Students will be focusing on the work of Keith Haring, a leader in the pop art movement of the 1950s-70s. We will learn and review the ideas of gesture drawing, movement, and utilizing specific color schemes.

1/2 – Mary Blair Castles - This week students will be focusing on Shape and Form when creating their own Castles. Students will study and learn about Mary Blair, an influential artist that worked for Walt Disney for many years. Her artwork that we are going to pay special attention to is the “it’s a small world” ride at the Disney Parks. This ride showcases her unique color play and emphasis on utilizing basic shapes to create visual interest and appeal.  

Kinder – Roller Coaster - This week students will be experimenting with creating three-dimensional lines using strips of paper to create our own rollercoaster/playground.

Q4, Week 5

Good Morning, 

I hope you all had a good weekend! My apologies for the late post, I was out sick Monday and Tuesday.

This week in art students will be focusing on:  

7/8 – Symmetrical Light Mandalas - Students will use Graphic Design Principles to design a Mandala using weavesilk.com interactive art creation website. Students will use this website to create a mandala using a color scheme to illustrate symmetry with multiple axes.  

5/6 – Coat of Arms – this week students will be working on creating their own Coat of Arms based on the Middle Ages times of Knights. Students will utilize new colored pencil techniques to fill their artwork with color, value, texture and depth.  

3/4 – Keith Haring Gesture Painting - Students will be focusing on the work of Keith Haring, a leader in the pop art movement of the 1950s-70s. We will learn and review the ideas of gesture drawing, movement, and utilizing specific color schemes.

1/2 – Mary Blair Castles - This week students will be focusing on Shape and Form when creating their own Castles. Students will study and learn about Mary Blair, an influential artist that worked for Walt Disney for many years. Her artwork that we are going to pay special attention to is the “it’s a small world” ride at the Disney Parks. This ride showcases her unique color play and emphasis on utilizing basic shapes to create visual interest and appeal.  

Kinder – Abstract Hearts - This week students will be finishing our discussion of abstract art through the creation of their crayon resist abstract paintings.

Q4, Week 4

Good Morning, 

 

I hope you all had a good weekend! CMAS is in the final stretch! Testing will again be on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, so schedules will not be the same as they usually are. We are almost done, good luck to the 5th and 8th-grade students on their science test!

 

This week in art students will be focusing on:  

 

7/8 – Atmospheric Perspective Landscape - Students will use Graphic Design Principles to design an example of an Atmospheric Perspective landscape using the Sketch.io online drawing program. They will create a monochromatic landscape within a defined shape to illustrate the concept of atmospheric perspective.

 

5/6 - Students have a shortened week with me due to CMAS schedules, but we are finalizing our Elements and Principles of Art Explosion books. This project will be a chance for students to illustrate their understanding of the elements and principles of design that we have been learning about/reviewing for the last few weeks. This project will be due Tuesday, April 18th. 

 

3/4 - Still Life - Students will be focusing on the work of Paul Cezanne to understand and create their own Still Life drawings. A still life is an artwork made from inanimate objects arranged in an interesting composition that the artist creates. This week, students will create their final still-life drawings focusing on value, shape, and proportion. 

 

1/2 – Self Portrait - This week students will focus on identity through art. We will be reading and looking into the artistic design of the “Little People, Big Dreams” children’s books written and illustrated by Eng Gee Fan. Students will create a self-portrait inspired by Eng Gee Fan. A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, which usually focuses on the person’s face or head.

 

Kinder – Abstract Hearts - This week students will be focusing on shape. Our project will be based on the work of Reginald Laurent. Students will create many shapes that come together to form a bright and colorful abstract painting. They will also learn a new painting technique called crayon resist painting where they will explore how oil and water mix, or don’t, as students use watercolor paint over crayon drawings.

Q4, Week 3

Good Morning, 
 
I hope you all had a good weekend and start to your week. My apologies for the late update for this week, CMAS is still going strong in the building. Testing will again be on Tues, Wed, and Thurs of this week, so schedules will not be the same as they usually are.
 
This week in art students will be focusing on:  
 
7/8 - Recycling School Poster - Students will use Graphic Design Principles to design a possible Poster to illustrate and explain the importance of recycling as well as how to know if something can be recycled! We are working closely with Ms. Charlie, our school's environmental education specialist, to create a new poster for the school. 
 
5/6 - Students have a shortened week with me due to CMAS schedules, but we are starting our Elements and Principles of Art Explosion books. This project will be a chance for students to illustrate their understanding of the elements and principles of design that we have been learning about/reviewing for the last few weeks. This project will be due next Tuesday, April 18th. 
 
3/4 - Still Life - Students will be focusing on the work of Paul Cezanne to understand and create their own Still Life drawings. A still life is an artwork made from inanimate objects arranged in an interesting composition that the artist creates. Students will create 2 still-life practice drawings this week before moving on to their final still-life creation next week. 
 
1/2 - Complimentary Trees - This week students will be focusing on color and color families (also known as color schemes). We will begin by reviewing the color schemes we learned last year, before moving on to learn about the Complimentary color schemes which we will be utilized in this project.  
 
Kinder - Color Wheel Umbrellas - This week students will be focusing on color and the creation of our color wheel. Students will use paint in the primary colors (red, yellow, and blue) to create mix their secondary colors to create a color wheel covering the umbrella in their painting. 

Quarter 4, Week 2

Hello, 
 
I hope you all had a good weekend. This week is the start of CMAS testing weeks. Testing will be on Tues, Wed, and Thurs of this week, so schedules will not be the same as they usually are.
 
This week in art students will be focusing on:  
 
7/8 - Yearbook Cover Design Contest - Students will use Graphic Design Principles to design a possible cover for our Yearbook for the 2022-2023 school year! if you haven't ordered your yearbook yet, check online, the order window is closing soon. 
 
5/6 - Principles of Design - Students are learning about the Principles of art in preparation for their first project
 
3/4 - Op Art - Students are learning about Optical Illusion Art and how to create it. This project focuses on Line and Shape in terms of the Elements of Art. We will begin the week by practicing different methods for creating optical illusion art before starting our final project. 
 
1/2 - Landscape Art - Students will use lines and patterns to create a landscape. Based on the art of Grant Wood, we will discuss and review landscapes and how to create them. From there we will begin to create our own farm landscapes using lines and patterns within the artwork. 
 
Kinder - Self Portrait - This week students are beginning their self-portrait work. We are focusing on line and color as our elements of art for this project. Students are going to create a background using quick stix paint sticks and pen and ink to create the image of themselves on a separate paper before combining them to create their final work. 

Welcome Back, Q4

 
Welcome back! I hope you all had a fantastic break! 
 
This quarter is going to be a blast with an introduction and exploration of each element of art. This week we will be focusing on establishing classroom expectations and routines before diving into Line and Pattern next week. 
 
If you have any questions, please reach out. 

Good Morning, 
 
Welcome back! I hope you all had a wonderful Spring Break!! 
 
Quarter 4 is upon us, can you believe it? We are almost done with this school year! As we head into this final quarter, I have a few reminders coming from my class. 
            1) Please try to go see the District Art Show at some point. The Secondary Show (6-12 grade) is up now but will be taken down tomorrow afternoon. The Elementary Show will be going up Wednesday afternoon and will be up until April 25th. So go enjoy the art from all of the talented students in our district!
           2) Friendly reminder that I keep all student artwork until the end of the school year because of the art show. If you are curious about what your student has been creating in class, please take a look at my edlio, and Instagram, or feel free to reach out to me.
 
If you have any questions please contact me, I hope you all have a great first week back! 

Art Show

The 2022-2023 District Art Show is coming up fast. Please make sure you have submitted the Student Participation Permission form so I can curate the accepted works (https://acrobat.adobe.com/link/review?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:b5b7b813-bcae-3b7c-9300-d1472575a423). The Anonymous Jurry made up of Westgate Teachers and Staff compiled our accepted artworks from this year on Friday and I am so excited by the outcome! We truly do have some exemplary student artists and I am so thankful we have the Adams 12 District Art Show to show off their talent. 
 
I will be sending out emails this week if your student's artwork was accepted into the show. Please keep an eye out for an email from me. If your student's artwork was not accepted, know that there were only 30 works accepted for each show (K-5 and 6-8) and it was a tough call for our jurors this year, but you can still go support Westgate and our accepted artists at Front Range Community College this spring. Details of the show dates will be in an upcoming newsletter. 

Quarter 1 Conferences

Good Morning Everyone!
 
It is that time of year again! As quarter 1 comes to a close, please do not forget to sign up for Conferences for your students' elective classes. Mrs. Peterson will be sending out an email including the sign-up links for Mr. Hopson, Mr. Wise, Ms. Denise, and myself! Please come stop by and chat with us!! We will be holding conferences in the Westgate Gym on Monday and Online through Teams on Tuesday! 
 
Here is the link to my conference sign-up for your convenience. https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0F4EA4AD2FA6FAC70-quarter2
 
Hope to see you there! 

Curriculum Night

Good Morning Everyone, 
 
I hope you are having a great week so far. I wanted to send out an update reminding you that tomorrow is Curriculum Night here at Westgate! We will be hosting in person and online this year, so make sure to stop by the Art Room to see all of your specials teachers and hear about what we have in store for your students this year! 

Quarter 2 Conferences

Good Morning! 
 
Happy Tuesday to all! Last night an email went out with my conference sign-up as well as the other specials teachers. If you wish to meet about your student, please sign up for a spot for either Thursday, December 16th between 8am and 8pm or Friday, December 17th between 8am and 12pm. 
 
Here is the link to my sign up as well: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C0F4EA4AD2FA6FAC70-quarter
 
If you have any questions, please feel free to email me. Conference sign up will be closed on Monday, December 13th. 

conference sign up

Good Morning, 
 
The conference sign-up has closed. If you wish to sign up or would like to change your time please email me so that I can schedule you in. 
 
Thank you

International Dot Day

Hello and Happy Wednesday!

Today is international dot day. A book called The Dot by Peter. H. Reynolds inspired International Dot Day. The book is about a caring teacher who encourages a student named Vashti to “make her mark.” Vashti couldn’t draw, so she simply made a single dot on a piece of paper. This little dot was just the beginning of Vashti’s journey of self-discovery.

On September 15, 2009, a teacher named Terry Shay introduced his classroom to The Dot. The rest, as they say, is history. Since its first observance in 2009, the day has become a global sensation. It is currently celebrated by nearly 16 million people in 181 countries. This day was established to celebrate creativity, courage, and collaboration, the celebration is easily one of the most fun days of the year! Celebrated by both children and adults, International Dot Day is a day to connect, collaborate, and create. It's also a great day to foster self-expression.

For this day, your students and I are going to make our own marks and create a school mural in celebration. Each student will create their own “dot” which will be hung in the school.

Make sure to follow Westgate and the art room on Instagram to see the result!

Curriculum Night

Hello Families, 

We are excited to invite you to Westgate's 2021-2022 Virtual Curriculum Night. Join the Specials team for an online presentation about your child's school day and curriculum. We will discuss important details regarding what the students will be doing and learning from each of the 4 specials classes (Music, Art, PE, and iLab). There will be a brief Q&A following the presentation. This is a great time to look a little closer at what you can expect from your student's 2021-2022 school year here at Westgate. 

 

Date: Thursday, September 2nd

Time: 5:20pm - 5:50pm

Location: Teams Meeting (you will recieve a link from Mrs. Peterson via email)

 

If you are unable to make the live virtual meeting, there will be a recording made available following the presentation. If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out via email. We look forward to seeing you on Thursday!

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Name
Bridget Houghton
Position
Art Teacher
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