Students' Cell Watercolor Art on Display at Helix in Downtown Los Altos

BCS 5th graders recently completed an integrated STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math) unit on human body systems, which resulted in their unique art project being put on display at Helix in downtown Los Altos!

As part of the art integration, students created watercolor paintings based on photographs of different types of cells and on the work of artist and microbiologist Dr. David Goodsell from Scripps Research Institute - a molecular biologist who also specializes in distinct artistic renditions of living cells based on scientific data.

In looking at Dr. Goodsell’s paintings, students discussed elements of design used in the paintings’ compositions together with his use of color and tone to depict space and portray the cells in both an artistic and scientific manner simultaneously. 

Students use black and white reference photos to
 create their cell watercolor paintings

Students then used black and white reference photos, watercolors, and watercolor pencils to create their own paintings of cells and viruses.

Fifth grade teachers collaborated with one of our art specialists, Mr. Lipson, to get in touch with Dr. Goodsell and arrange for him to view the students' artwork and discuss it with them via Skype.  Dr. Goodsell also shared one of his latest paintings with students and described the process he used to create it.

The artwork will be on display at Helix in downtown Los Altos for the next several weeks.