What Art Teaches Us丨艺术，让成长更生动

When we stand before a painting, through its colour, line and texture, we can sense the artist's emotions or mood, or we may feel joy, be moved, experience sorrow or become stirred. This is the power of art, which can transcend time and space to communicate ideas and energy.

At Dulwich College Shanghai Puxi, art education is woven through students' growth. It helps develop creativity, imagination and curiosity. Gradually students learn to reflect, build understanding and gain confidence through engaging with history, stories and cultural context. We believe meaningful art education is not only about mastering technique, but about learning to observe the world, ask questions and express your ideas.

Our Primary School art curriculum is designed to be rich and engaging. It aims to help students in every year group experience the joy of creative inspiration and apply art skills to communicate personal thinking and perspective. This term, students produced a wide range of imaginative and thoughtful artworks, clearly showing their commitment and progress in art learning.

Art Classroom

Year 1 and Year 2

Drawing inspiration from the work of the famous artist Romare Bearden, students learned about collage art. By emulating the artist's bold colour and clear thematic style, our students created expressive pieces and experimented with distinctive visual elements to tell stories and express themselves.

Year 3

Year 3's art study demonstrated the strength of interdisciplinary art creativity. Based on the picture book The Barnabus Project, students created a series of 'imperfect pet' sculptures and used sewing skills to design Stone Age clothing, cleverly combining art, history and design.

Year 4

Art classes in Year 4 focused on learning fundamental drawing techniques. Students mastered one-point perspective principles and created striking, realistic pencil sketches of eyes through contrasts of light and shadow and detailed rendering, showing increasingly mature observation and patience.

Year 5

The theme of 'space' sparked students' imagination, leading to dynamic paintings that use colour blending and inventive composition to portray the vastness and energy of the universe on canvas.

Year 6

Year 6 art classes guide students to connect historical understanding with artistic creation. Students took part in a printmaking project themed on 'degenerate artists' during World War II, exploring the relationship between historical context, personal expression and social significance through art.

Extracurricular Practice

This term also saw two successful Primary Art Assemblies. Students in Years 1 to 3 explored the formation of snowflakes, using observation and drawing skills to create their own unique designs, while Year 4 to 6 students developed their drawing skills through a shared focus on perspective.

A further highlight was a collaboration between selected artists from Years 4, 5, and 6, who created illustrations for the College, calendar. This work was highly commended by our Head of College recognising the quality and creativity of the students' outcomes.

Art as A Language of Thinking and Understanding

As students repeatedly observe, experiment and create, art transforms from a school subject into a way of knowing—an essential method for understanding the world and the self. Our art education may be gentle in approach, but its impact is profound.

“Why are we transforming our art provision at Dulwich College Shanghai Puxi? It's simple. Play is woven into the fabric of our primary school. Art education epitomises everything that play represents. It is about creating, exploring, taking risks, making mistakes and learning how to recover from them. Through art, children engage in open-ended experiences that nurture curiosity, resilience and imagination. At its essence, art is play.”——Jen Bethel，Art and Design Project Leader，Year 3 Teacher

At Dulwich College Shanghai Puxi, students learn to create with their hands and observe with their hearts; they learn to express themselves and understand others. Art nourishes their imagination and creativity, accompanying them on their journey of growth. This term reflected our continued commitment to a process-led, ambitious art curriculum, and it has been a pleasure to see our young artists grow in confidence and skill.

You are warmly invited to attend our Open Days and experience the educational philosophy of Dulwich College Shanghai Puxi in person.