Artist of the Month

The artist for the month of December is Grandma Moses (1860-1961).

Anna Mary Robertson Moses, better known as "Grandma Moses", was born in Greenwich, New York, on September 7, 1860. Moses is a renowned American folk artist who is best remembered as an individual who successfully began a career in the arts at an advanced age. She had ten children but five died at birth. Although her family and friends called her either "Mother Moses" or "Grandma Moses," she first exhibited as "Mrs. Moses," yet the press eagerly named her "Grandma Moses," which stuck." LIFE magazine celebrated her 100th birthday by featuring her on its September 19, 1960 cover.

Many of Grandma Moses' paintings were used to publicize special American holidays, including Thanksgiving, Christmas and Mother's Day. She regularly portrayed happy scenes of rural home life, sometimes picturing herself as a child. She also painted a number of historical pictures, usually about her ancestors. In some works, the figures are dressed in eighteenth-century costumes, as people might have dressed in the country. Many of her color schemes are fitting to the various seasons: white for winter, light green for spring, deep green for summer, and brown for autumn.

Here are some of her most famous pantings.

"The Old Oaken Bucket"

"Bringing in the Maple Sugar"

"Over the River to Grandma's House"

"Sugaring Off"

Artist of the Month

The Artist of the Month for October is Paul Klee (1879-1940) and George Seurat (1859-1891) for November.


Paul Klee was a Swiss-German artist. His mother was Swiss and his father was German, and Klee was raised in Switzerland but spent most of his adult life in Germany. He taught at the Bauhaus School of Art and was part of Der Blaue Reiter, the avant-garde circle co-founded by Russian artist Kandinsky. He was Influenced by Cubism and drawn to the expressiveness of primitive art and children's paintings. Klee produced nearly 10,000 works in a variety of media, but is mostly known for his watercolor paintings. Some of his best-known works include; Southern (Tunisian) Gardens (1919), The Twittering Machine (1922) and Fish Magic(1925).




Southern (Tunisian) Gardens

The Twittering Machine

Fish Magic

Check out these photos of our after-school kids making Paul Klee Sugar Cookies:

After-school kids create Paul Klee animals with chalk

Georges Seurat was a neo-impressionist. His technique for portraying the play of light using tiny brushstrokes of contrasting colours became known as Pointillism. He created huge compositions with tiny, detached strokes of pure colour too small to be distinguished when looking at the entire work but making his paintings shimmer with brilliance. Seurat began to" draw at an early age. In 1875, he took a course with sculptor Justin Lequien. Several years later, Seurat enrolled at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts and studied with Henri Lehmann. Seurat remained at the school for two years, during which time he discovered a book entitled Essai sur les signes inconditionnels de l'art (Essay on the Unmistakable Signs of Art) by Humbert de Superville. This discovery of the relationship between lines and images became the inspiration for Seurat's entire career. When his painting "Une Baignade, Asnieres" was refused by the Salon jury he began exhibiting with the foundation of the Groupe des Artistes Independants, who promoted the development of modern art. One of his most famous works is "Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte (1884-1886):

A Couple other examples of his paintings:

Afterschool practices pointillism. Check out the new artwork!