Course 1: Introduction to Modern and Contempo-

Over the course of this 8 week course we will learn an introduction to key vocabulary and concepts
used by artists in the contemporary and modern art world.

What is Art?
This is a question in which the answer is
always changing and being redefined.

Class 1 Pattern and Decorative Orna-

Vocabulary
Pattern: A repeated decorative design; anything
repeated in a predictable combination.

Ornamentation: Added decoration which does not

serve a specific function.

Repetition: The recurrence of an action or event.

Pattern, decoration & ornamentation have been a major part of

ancient civilizations. There are many examples of this. They can be
seen in the art & architecture of Islamic, Byzantine, Celtic &
Egyptian cultures. The Art Deco movement in the 1920’s featured
art & architecture that was heavy with decorative pattern &
repetition. In America, there is a rich craft tradition of hand stitched
quilts & Navajo blankets. Although in modern art the use of pattern
& decoration has often been frowned upon, in the 1970’s a group of
Southern California artists including Robert Zakanitch, Joyce
Kozlofff and Miriam Shapiro started the Pattern and Decoration
movement. Joyce Koloff’s Pasadena City of Roses is a ceramic tile
mural that references many different cultures through the use of
pattern. Los Angeles is full of beautiful murals that act as
ornamentation to the urban city scape. Many of these murals use
pattern and repetition.
LA Kids Class Pack Pro-
vides:
PROJECT: Create your own pattern based mural
Colored craft paper cut outs
1. Arrange cut out paper shapes to make a repeating pattern.
Glue Sticks
2. . On a piece of card stock glue cut paper shapes to create a repetitive
Card Stock mural mock up.

3. Once shapes are cut out use markers to add additional pattern and
Markers decoration to the shapes using markers.

Other materials found in teacher

pack:
AFTER PROJECT DISCUSSION: Ask students, where do they see their
Scissors mural existing if it was large scale ?