This digital artwork has a figure with stars on their silhouette, their face has a brown complexion is a floating mask and their hands are crossed over their heart.

Denver’s Very Own Los Fridistas 

By Erica Richard

Erica Richard is the Coordinator of School Programs & Teaching Resources at the DAM.

Image depicts a young black student. The left half of the figure is a photograph of their face and shoulder. Figure is wearing a pink sweatshirt. Half the face is drawn using digital animation and the background has blue stripes and butterflies
Cartoon VS Real Live by Alfi, 5th Grade, Oakland Elementary. Dada Poem: For sweater and eyebrows, good light blue brown, with shading pom poms.
This digital artwork depicts a floating head and hand with peach and pink tones. The figure has blue and multicolored hair looking up pensively. There are lightbulbs hanging from the top of the image and a navy blue background and black rectangles that illuminated parts of the figures like x-rays with white outlines
Flow by Cage, McAuliffe International. For my surrealist self portrait, I chose to incorporate emotion. The emotion that I chose is loneliness. I incorporated this emotion by making the head and arm turn into a liquid and different parts become inverted. The realistic elements of my portrait are the face and light bulbs. The surreal elements of my portrait are colors of the face. When people look at my artwork, I hope they feel/understand/interpret the feeling of calmness and peaceful silence and even though it’s lonely, it’s comforting.
Objects arranged on a white plate and black background to look like a face. Objects include a lipstick container, a stapler for the nose, one eye created out of a mirrored hairbrush and another out of a tape dispenser. Two eyebrows are formed with hair barrettes, and on the edge of the plate are scissors and a comb
Untitled by Elise, 6th grade, Florida Pitt-Waller. Something you should know about my work is that even if I look different, that's what makes me unique.
This artwork depict a girl with long brown hair, peachy skin and a surgical mask over her face. The figure is wearing a blue shirt and the background has stars, lines and Saturn
Space Girl by Emily, 5th Grade, Slavens k–8. Poem: In Australia disappears with special days are near.
This digital artwork depicts a female student with peachy skin and black shoulder length hair. The figure is wearing a grey turtleneck sweater and their eyes have been crossed out. A set of eyes is floating in the multicolored background.
Beauty is Anything by Kamily, 12th Grade, NEC Early College. My self-portrait expresses beauty in life such as ourselves and the world around us. Something I want my audience to know is that beauty comes in many different shades and sizes. The dream in my art piece is to give others the mentality that there is more than one beauty standard out there.
This artwork depicts a girl with peachy skin, a headscarf and a red shirt. behind the figure is a bubble with clouds, a road words. In the cloud it reads, it looks totally empty out there, happiness, magic, the woods, carefee, a bright light, anytime and any place, fascinating, the wand, a book, mythical, optimistic, filled with emotion.
Untitled by Masara, South High School
Artwork is on a white background made with marker. There are a colorful shapes scattered around a drawing of a figure with black hair. There is a flower covering one of the eyes and a yellow dashed line that crosses the background diagonally.
Untitled by Nayanah, 2nd Grade, Barnum Elementary. What this portrait says about me is how I like to go in with my Dad on the road and sometimes I go outside.
Artwork depicts a light skinned girl with brown shoulder length hair from the chest up. The expression looks distressed while her open mouth appears on a strip that of paper that appears to be falling off the page. The background is made out of torn newspapers.
Blank in the Brain by Rayen, McAuliffe International. My Surrealist self portrait includes my face as the centerpiece and the realistic piece. My symbolic part in my art piece is the mouth that is ripping off my face. I decided that I wanted the mouth to peel off on a piece of paper so the words I want to say will not come out because there is no way they can come out. For the symbolic part that represents me, I chose my clothes because I always wear a simple t-shirt with a jacket or sweatshirt on and that is only what I wear, nothing else.
I chose to illustrate the idiom "I have no words" because it is something my parents would always say when because I was inspired by when my parents would always say they have no words when I would tell them something that was really surprising or something that would almost make no sense. That is why my artwork has my mouth ripping off of my face because there are no words. I also included newspaper in the back because it shows my mind rolling and just not being able to put out any of those words.
drawing with colored pencils of a green landscape with a body of water and a tree. There is a white goose and a young boy wearing a graduation hat with stripes representing the Mexican flag.
My Dream by Rubendinho, 4th grade, Marrama Elementary. One thing you should know about me as an artist is that I like drawing and I dream about people looking at my drawings.
This digital artwork has a figure with stars on their silhouette, their face has a brown complexion is a floating mask and their hands are crossed over their heart. The background has purple clouds.
Aurora by Sara, 12th Grade, NEC Early College.Oftentimes you get disconnected from reality. Earth even. You will find trouble refocusing back into existential life. Don't rush though. Your disconnection is allowing you to breathe far away from your worries and madness. Accept it and breathe. Life will begin again.
This painting depicts a smiling black teacher with a blue shirt and black glasses. The background has dark and light blue shapes.
Stuck in a World by Ms. Constance, Oakland Elementary. Dada Poem: Stop and think. Wait. Coming In. Higher. Faster. Longer. Fading out. Listless.
This artwork depicts a white male teacher from the chest up with short brown hair a button up blue shirt and blue jacket. The background shows a space helmet, a flying seagull, a world map and a bookshelf.
Teacher on a Voyage by Mr. Horeis, Montclair Elementary. I teach STEM and Art at Montclair Elementary. Teaching online over Google Meet, it was interesting to show the students step by step how to make a Surrealist self portrait with dream-like elements. This is my example drawn in pencil, then painted with acrylic on canvas. I added the heart because we all have a heart beating inside us all the time, pumping oxygenated blood into our brains and muscles so we can stay alive. And I added the navigational device (a sailor's sextant inspired by Persian astrolabes) because we all need to carefully plot our course and stay on track during these crazy times.
This artwork made with colored pencils depicts a teacher with white skin and green hair wearing a snorkel mask and giving a peace sign with their hands. The background has orange striped octopus legs radiating out from the figure.
Art Teacher by Ms. Nold, Marrama Elementary. Octopus teacher, in me, is joy, home, water, a map I care.
Image depicts a young black student. The left half of the figure is a photograph of their face and shoulder. Figure is wearing a pink sweatshirt. Half the face is drawn using digital animation and the background has blue stripes and butterflies
This digital artwork depicts a floating head and hand with peach and pink tones. The figure has blue and multicolored hair looking up pensively. There are lightbulbs hanging from the top of the image and a navy blue background and black rectangles that illuminated parts of the figures like x-rays with white outlines
Objects arranged on a white plate and black background to look like a face. Objects include a lipstick container, a stapler for the nose, one eye created out of a mirrored hairbrush and another out of a tape dispenser. Two eyebrows are formed with hair barrettes, and on the edge of the plate are scissors and a comb
This artwork depict a girl with long brown hair, peachy skin and a surgical mask over her face. The figure is wearing a blue shirt and the background has stars, lines and Saturn
This digital artwork depicts a female student with peachy skin and black shoulder length hair. The figure is wearing a grey turtleneck sweater and their eyes have been crossed out. A set of eyes is floating in the multicolored background.
This artwork depicts a girl with peachy skin, a headscarf and a red shirt. behind the figure is a bubble with clouds, a road words. In the cloud it reads, it looks totally empty out there, happiness, magic, the woods, carefee, a bright light, anytime and any place, fascinating, the wand, a book, mythical, optimistic, filled with emotion.
Artwork is on a white background made with marker. There are a colorful shapes scattered around a drawing of a figure with black hair. There is a flower covering one of the eyes and a yellow dashed line that crosses the background diagonally.
Artwork depicts a light skinned girl with brown shoulder length hair from the chest up. The expression looks distressed while her open mouth appears on a strip that of paper that appears to be falling off the page. The background is made out of torn newspapers.
drawing with colored pencils of a green landscape with a body of water and a tree. There is a white goose and a young boy wearing a graduation hat with stripes representing the Mexican flag.
This digital artwork has a figure with stars on their silhouette, their face has a brown complexion is a floating mask and their hands are crossed over their heart. The background has purple clouds.
This painting depicts a smiling black teacher with a blue shirt and black glasses. The background has dark and light blue shapes.
This artwork depicts a white male teacher from the chest up with short brown hair a button up blue shirt and blue jacket. The background shows a space helmet, a flying seagull, a world map and a bookshelf.
This artwork made with colored pencils depicts a teacher with white skin and green hair wearing a snorkel mask and giving a peace sign with their hands. The background has orange striped octopus legs radiating out from the figure.