Fourth graders read Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold, a famous African American quilter and artist who is still alive today. In Tar Beach the main character believes that she can fly. For their art project, students imagined themselves flying high over a beautiful landscape. Students learned more about foreground, middle ground and background in pictures. We also refined our skills using oil pastels to blend colors together. The final stage of the project involved using gel pens to decorate the “patterned quilt squares” that created the border.