In seventh period Studio Art 1, students arrange their stools in a circle, facing a human skeleton perched beside teacher Ms. Cioffoletti. “Throughout the history of art, skeletons have been used to study the idea of form, value, and shape,” she explains. Since the Renaissance, anatomy has been a core component of classical artistic education. A skeleton provides artists with a system of proportions and clear anatomical landmarks—like the collarbone, spine, and kneecaps—that help ensure accurate positioning and realistic scale.
This project marks the class’s first venture into sculpture as part of the Elements of Art: Form unit. Previously, students focused on still life drawing—the two-dimensional foundation for three-dimensional work. Now, working in small groups, they are constructing life-size skeletons using newspaper and masking tape. Each of the body’s 22 skeletal parts is created separately, then assembled into a complete form.
Students selected specific skeletal parts to construct, from skulls and thoracic cages to the phalanges in the hands and feet. For the next phase of the project, students will experiment with adding details such as eye sockets, the shape of the thoracic cage and how it connects to the structure of the spine. As students molded newspaper to form skeletal skulls, one student shared her approach: “I want to try doing indentations for the eyes or use something to carve out the holes.”
“On the surface it might seem like a technical assignment, but there is a lot of room for ingenuity and critical thinking within the project parameters,” Ms. Cioffoletti said. “It’s always interesting, and fun, to see how creative students can be with this project.”
Over the next few weeks, as the skeletons take shape, the classroom will be both a studio and a laboratory, where art and science merge—and where students bring anatomy to life through their own creativity.
We offer our appreciation to The Gazette and Westchester Hispano for their generous donation of materials.