Bringing Russian Art to Life.

Faberge eggs are a beautiful symbol of Russian history and culture. When the Birch Wathen Lenox School decided to study Russia, the entire K-12 student body created elaborately jeweled Faberge eggs--some as large as three-feet tall that depicted three-dimensional scenes of New York City.

The Faberge egg project was part of a school-wide focus on Russia called the Year of Russia program. Students spent the year exploring the politics, economics, history, art, music, literature and culture of this complex country. Each year, every classroom focuses on a school-wide theme, which brings the entire school together to explore a specific area of study. The approach enriches each child's learning experience and allows the school to immerse students more deeply in a particular topic.

Russia Past and Present

Russia today is nothing like the elaborate jeweled culture of its past. Faberge eggs symbolize the height of Russian culture when the Czars still reigned. This project allows students to learn about Russian history through its art. The Faberge eggs, of which only fifty-six exist, epitomize the apex of jewelry art and were crafted by court jeweler Peter Carl Faberge (1846-1920)for the wives of Czars Alexander II (1855-1881) and Nicholas II (1895-1917).

The Faberge egg project was designed not only to teach about Russia's past and culture, but to teach students how to combine mixed media in creative ways and work collaboratively to complete a long-term project. Students worked with wood, plaster, plastic, cellu-clay, papier-mache, Styrofoam, acrylic paint, glitter, gem stones and costume jewelry to create the eggs.

Introducing Russian Arts

Students began by researching Faberge eggs. They went to the library to read about Russian history and found pictures of the eggs. Since the school is located in New York City, students were required to visit The Forbes Magazine Gallery on 12th Street, which exhibits a large collection of Faberge eggs. They were awed by the sight of the real jeweled eggs, and it helped them visualize their own designs.

After the research, students discussed what life was like in Russia during the time the Faberge eggs were created. They also studied the culture and meticulous craftsmanship that went into each egg. Students then spent a week working in teams to capture the enchanting quality of the eggs.

Teams in each grade worked to construct different Faberge eggs. Projects including egg-sized tree ornaments, one-foot tall eggs that opened to display jewels, two-foot tall eggs in nests, and three-foot tall eggs with three-dimensional dioramas of New York City scenes.

Egg-sized Faberge's

Small Faberge eggs were made out of clear plastic, wood, ceramic, and other materials. Clear plastic eggs seemed to be the best material because they allowed images inside the egg to be seen. Painting the inside of the eggs rather than the outside proved to be the best approach. Students used acrylic paint to design scenes for the inside of the eggs or layered several colors to create interesting patterns. Jewels, gems and beads were glued on the outside of the egg in geometric patterns. Some students left one side of the egg unpainted so that the inside scenes or designs could be seen through the clear plastic side. Gold ribbon was added to the eggs to create ornaments.

One-foot Tall Surprise Eggs

Many of Russia's Faberge eggs opened to display surprises inside for the Czars' wives. The sixth grade spent a week designing the outside of their eggs, and what would be displayed when the eggs opened. They used wire to create two frames for the top and bottom halves of the egg and newspaper or tissue paper to papier-mache the outside of the two wire frames. They decorated the eggs with acrylic paint, colored tissue, gold foil, and jewels. We made stands for the eggs from wire bent into four curled legs.

The two halves of the egg were hinged together using leather, velvet, foil, and other material so that the top could be opened to display the surprise inside. The insides were lined with colored velvet. Students made small eggs, boats, animals, and other items in ceramic clay and wood and placed them on the velvet inside the eggs for the surprise.

Three-foot Tall Diorama Eggs Working in teams of six, students drew designs for their eggs that included legs to act as stands for the large egg sculptures. Plywood was cut using a jigsaw and the eggshaped pieces were glued together to create four wooden cross-sections for the egg sculptures. The front top half of the egg-shaped pieces were cut off to leave room for the dioramas.

Half-circular pieces of plywood were cut and glued to the wooden structure to act as the backdrop and floor of the diorama inside the egg. Mesh or chicken wire was placed around the entire egg, except in front of the diorama space. Plaster was spread over this to create a smooth, white, egg-like texture.

While the plaster was drying, students painted their diorama scenes to scale in acrylic paint on illustration board. They created three-dimensional models out of illustration board of the New York subways, Rockefeller Center, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Statue of Liberty, and Central Park. They even placed Matchbox cars on the Brooklyn Bridge and used branches from Central Park to serve as trees. The scenes were glued to the diorama spaces inside their eggs. An opening was left so that the diorama could be viewed. Students then decorated the outside of the eggs with acrylic paint, gem stones, and costume jewelry.

Egg Display

The Faberge egg project provided a great opportunity to mix Russian history and art, and allowed each grade to participate in an art project they could handle in a variety of ways. At the conclusion of the project, students displayed their Faberge eggs at the Annual Spring Art Exhibit for parents. This enabled parents to admire the artwork and learn more about Russian art. The Faberge egg project allowed students to learn more about Russia through an innovative and creative project.

NATIONAL STANDARD

Students demonstrate how history, culture, and the visual arts can influence each other in making and studying works of art.

Maryann Gelula is art department chair at Birch Lenox School in New York City. Kelly Williams is in public relations. The Birch Wathen Lenox School is an independent K-12 grade school in Manhattan.