ATLAS students learn about cityscapes through pop art

Students in the Academy of Talent, Leadership, and Scholars program (ATLAS) in grades four through six participated in a 3D cityscapes course after school once a week from January 24, 2023, to March 21, 2023. Students created their own cities in the style of Charles Fazzino, an artist who is known for pop art.  

The Mount Vernon ATLAS Program provides a variety of research-based services that give students an opportunity to address their unique needs. This includes a curriculum that promotes higher-order thinking such as inquiry skills, problem solving, and creative thinking. 

“They learn about what you find in a city, such as how many cars and how many people,” said Ana Saura, art teacher at Pelham Arts Center, who is teaching the class. “So, they learn perspective, and then they can create their own environment where they would love to live.” 

Saura allowed students to be creative with their cities. One created an underwater city; one created a dinosaur city called Dinoland. There was also a snowy city and many more creative city designs.  

“It’s really fun,” said Laiyla Morrison, third grade student at Pennington School. “I learned that art can be in many different forms. It can be anything you want it to be. We’re making cities that can be imaginary or a real place. You could even make it your own city.” 

Students were introduced to various architectural styles to determine what type of city they wanted to make. They then learned how to design, plan, and produce a cityscape.  

They designed the cityscapes by drawing them on poster boards. They then cut out the residents and buildings of their cities in cardboard. Once they had the cutouts ready, they added them to the cities with tacks to make the buildings and people of their city pop out. The combination of city-planning and art made for a fun and educational experience for the students.  

“It’s a lot of fun, and I made a lot of new friends here,” said Hadley Durousseau, fourth grade student at Traphagen School. “I just really like art, so when my ATLAS teacher gave me the paper, my parents signed me up. We’re learning about 3D cityscapes, so basically, we draw it and pop it, and then you can hang it up like a picture.”