For all of my favorite Catholic School teachers, here is my Best Lent Art!
After 25 years of teaching almost exclusively in Catholic schools, I was amazed about how sparse the resources were for integrating good art lessons. I wanted my Lenten focus to center around deepening students’ faith life and character development. It was important to me to connect biblical teaching without covering the hallways with images of a crucified Jesus. Lent is not just about fish and thorns and crosses. I believe Lent is a time of centering, discernment, and deepening our humanity. Self-care, becoming more “others-centered” and embracing all aspects of Catholic Social Teaching are cornerstones of Lent. Lent is about life-centering, and life-giving and I wanted the artwork to reflect that.
In this Best Lent Art unit, I not only share biblical teaching and church history, I also invite students to reflect on the Paschal Mystery – the Life, Death, and Resurrection. Where can we find this cycle at work in our everyday lives? When can we incorporate the Lenten practices during ALL seasons of the year, not just at Easter? How can we live more as Jesus did? What can we do to become igniters of Grace for others? Asking these questions is vital to learning more about the world around us, fundamental to healing, and is essential in discovering how we are all God’s best masterpieces.
My Catholic School
As you enter the campus, you will see an Art Rock Garden with painted rocks that look like fish. This project was inspired by the story, ‘Only One You’ by Linda Kranz. Above the sea of painted rocks is Psalm 139:14: ‘I will praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.’ I love giving my students the confidence and tools to share their vision through art, so they can fulfill the gifts God gave to them. The joy I see in their eyes, when they see what they can do, shows me that they know in that moment that they are truly wonderfully made.
As part of my art curriculum, I integrate the elements of art and the principles of design. These elements fabulous for making artwork look stylized, and sometimes more realistic. They are also a resource for mindfulness and prayer. The repetition of the lines, like prayers on rosary beads, has applications in stress reduction and self-soothe therapy. This keeps God, our Creator, in the moment and the creative process. It is vital to learning more about the world around you, fundamental to healing, and is essential in discovering how we are all God’s best masterpieces.
In making art, students discover grace all around them. Grace is about showing kindness, finding gratitude, letting go, and discovering God working through us. Using God-given creativity, students learn to find grace, and thus become igniters of grace for others.
Transitional Kindergarten
Butterfly Cutie
Kindergarten
Rainbow Cross
1st Grade
Butterfly Life Cycle
2nd Grade
Blessed Sacrament
3rd Grade
Holy Week
4th Grade
Holy Week Cross
Fast Pray Give Watercolor
Fast Pray Give Coloring
5th Grade
Works of Mercy
6th Grade
Mysteries of the Rosary
7th Grade
Spirit Dove
8th Grade
Illuminated Manuscript
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