Busy Little Bees Student Art Gallery - Spring 2026 "This City is My Home"

(Left to Right) 

Rachel, Sabrina, Bre, Maria, Jonathan, Emily, Paige, Dana and Avery

Special Thank you to Kayla and Tim who are not photographed but had a huge part in our program.

Avery and Rachel were the Art Teachers for this season's show are were deeply dedicated to the children's experience and learning. We hope you enjoy reading about each piece.

Listed here is the themed project description for each class:

 Students celebrated their community by creating personalized pennants. They began by making crayon prints to build colorful, textured backgrounds. From there, they layered collage materials to design bold patterns and compositions. To highlight important organizations in our city, students incorporated school logos and meaningful community symbols into their work, along with pom-poms and buttons for added dimension. Each pennant proudly represents both individual identity and the shared pride we have in calling this city our home

 Artists created expressive self-portraits to show who they are. We began by exploring the difference between warm and cool colors and how colors can express feelings. Students painted colorful backgrounds using their chosen color family to reflect mood and energy. Then, they drew themselves and carefully cut and placed their portraits on top. Each artwork reminds us that people—and their unique perspectives—are what truly make a city feel like home. Miss Emily actually took each self portrait design to make this year's keepsake t-shirt that all of the artists received.

  Students explored the natural spaces within a city by creating park landscapes. They used torn tissue paper, corrugated cardboard, and other materials like bottle caps and pom poms to build trees, grass, and sky. We learned how layering materials helped create depth and texture in their scenes. This project highlights the importance of nature within urban environments. 

 In this 3D project, students designed playground structures using colorful paper strips. They bent, twisted, and looped paper to create movement and height and used yarn to embellish their designs. This process encouraged creativity and problem-solving as they built upward. Each sculpture represents how children experience play in the city. The final pieces are full of energy, just like a real playground. 

 Students explored how they play and move within their city through printmaking. We introduced printmaking as a way of creating art by stamping and repeating shapes. Using classroom toys—like plastic bears, dinosaurs and animal feet, links, and cars—students dipped them in paint and pressed them onto paper to create patterned backgrounds. They then added a self-portrait of themselves doing their favorite activity. This project combines movement, creativity, and storytelling to show how play is an important part of life in our city.

  Artists became architects by constructing buildings using recycled and found materials. They explored how different shapes and objects could be combined to create unique structures. After building, students painted their creations to add personality and detail. This hands-on process encouraged creativity, experimentation, and environmental awareness. Each sculpture represents a special part of the city as imagined by its creator. 

 Students designed and built their own bridges inspired by real ones in our city. They began by creating textured water backgrounds using tissue paper and glue. Then, they carefully arranged and attached popsicle sticks to form strong bridge structures. This process encouraged planning, problem-solving, and creativity. Through this work, students learned how bridges connect places—and people—together. 

 Students began this project by thinking about where they see community helpers in their everyday lives. They drew these settings using markers and crayons to create a meaningful background. Then, they used felt, paper, and mixed materials to build their community helper, carefully assembling each part. Students added details like hair, clothing, and facial features to make their figures unique. This project highlights the important roles people play in helping our city feel safe, supported, and connected.  

 In this project, artists explored what makes a city feel alive at night. Using simple shapes like rectangles and squares, they built tall buildings and layered them to create unique skylines. Students experimented with arranging and stacking shapes to show height and design. They added windows and glowing stars to bring their cities to life. This project helped children see how small pieces can come together to create something big—just like a real city. 

   Each student contributed one piece to a larger collaborative artwork. We explored what texture is and how artists can use different tools and paint to create it. Students got to get messy as they experimented with materials like bubble wrap, crumpled paper, and forks to make unique marks. Once combined, all the pieces formed large city vehicles like fire trucks and ambulances. This project shows how individual creativity comes together to keep our city moving. 

 Mr. Jonathan created a piece titled “My City, My Way” using magnet tiles—materials so simple, yet so powerful in what they represent. For Mr. Jonathan, this piece was personal. It brought him back to what it felt like to be a child creating freely, while also honoring the city he grew up in and continues to hold close to his heart. It’s a reminder that no matter how big our world becomes, it’s often built from the smallest moments of creativity, curiosity, and belonging.

(Left to Right) 

Miss Dana, Art Teaching Assistant

Miss Avery, Art Teacher

Miss Emily, Art Program Director

Miss Maria, Art Teaching Assistant

Miss Danielle, Art Teacher

Special Thank you to Miss Paige who is not photographed but was a huge part of our planning and preparation. 

Listed here is the book and project description for each class.

   Students rolled marbles dipped in paint on cardstock paper inside tin foil trays to create colorful tracks. Next, they glued cupcake wrappers to form the caterpillar’s body and added construction paper face and body parts. Afterwards, they colored and glued fruit pieces to complete their scene.
Materials Used: tin foil trays, cardstock paper, paint bottles, marbles, glue, green cupcake wrappers, construction paper face cutouts, crayons. 

 Students used a mixture of glue and water to paste recycled newspaper pieces onto balloons. After covering the surface, they glued colorful tissue paper squares for decoration. Once dried, the balloons were popped, and baskets were attached to complete each paper-mâché hot air balloon.
Materials Used: balloons, tape, recycled newspaper, glue and water mixture in cups, paintbrushes, tissue paper squares, basket bases.

 Students colored the bottom of recycled tin foil trays with markers, then misted them with water. They pressed coffee filters into the colorful water to absorb the designs. Afterwards, students painted their watercolor paper, glued on the coffee filters to form flowers, and added their cartoon portraits to the page.
Materials Used: watercolor cardstock paper, watercolor paint palettes, water, paintbrushes, glue, coffee filters, markers, recycled tin foil trays, printed cartoon photos on cardstock, glue on paper plates 

 Students painted dark and light blue paint mixed with iridescent glitter onto a canvas to create a sky. Then, they mixed glue and shaving cream to make puffy paint, using foam brushes to form clouds.
Materials Used: canvas, dark and light blue paint, iridescent glitter, glue, shaving cream, foam brushes 

 Students explored oil pastels on a canvas, masking lines and using their hands to blend and manipulate the colors. Next, they glued shape pieces onto the canvas and added googly eyes and Sharpie details to complete their work.
Materials Used: oil pastels, shape and crayon pieces, Sharpie marker, googly eyes, flat canvas.

 Students painted six circles in three different ways using a toy car, a Q-tip, and a paintbrush. They then glued their circles onto white oak tag paper to form a colorful design.
Materials Used: nine paper circles, glue, paint, craft tape, white oak tag paper.

 Students painted bubble wrap with bright colors, then added clear glue and sprinkled paper shreds for texture. Another layer of glue was added before dipping and pressing recycled egg carton pieces and bottle caps onto their cardboard canvases. Finally, they drizzled paint and glue over the surface to finish their mixed-media art.
Materials Used: recycled cardboard boxes (cut into rectangles), recycled bubble wrap, glue on paper plates, clear glue bottles, paint, paintbrushes, recycled paper shreds, recycled egg carton pieces, recycled bottle caps. 

  Students glued a variety of yarn onto an oval plate, pressing the yarn with a plastic fork to create texture. They then glued face cutouts for the eyes and nose and drew the mouth with a marker. Next, they glued on the teeth, added brown paper tree trunks onto green cardstock, and ripped paper to form the trees. Their creature faces were glued into their paper forest scenes.
Materials Used: recycled paper plates, Sharpie marker, construction paper face cutouts, glue, plastic fork, green cardstock paper, construction paper. 

 Students used paint dot markers to design their canvas. Next, they glued brown tissue paper squares onto white paper towel rolls to form the base of the coconut tree. They glued their tree bases onto the canvas, ripped two shades of construction paper to form the leaves, and finished by adding ABC letters and numbers.
Materials Used: paint dot markers, brown tissue paper squares, white paper towel rolls, glue, construction paper, ABC letters, numbers, canvas. 

   Students wore rubber gloves and sprayed water onto a fish cutout. They added crepe paper squares, sprayed more water, and then peeled them off to reveal a watercolor-like texture. Next, they glued rainbow paper confetti for shiny scales and decorated their fish’s face.
Materials Used: card stock paper, rainbow crepe paper squares, spray bottle, googly eyes, glue on plates, Q-tips, rainbow paper confetti.

  Mr. Jonathan had so much fun making each piece in our first gallery. His love for Art was inspired by his Art Teacher at Horace Mann Community School, Mrs. Duffy. Our Staff was able to surprise Mr. Jonathan with a special visit from Mrs. Duffy who loved the gallery and the reunion with one of her favorite art students!