Students in Kristin Raucci’s Spanish II class at Pine Bush High School didn’t just get a lesson in the Spanish language recently. No, they also acquired some art appreciation and had some fun drawing in completing their Postcard Project.

“I’ve been doing this for several years now,” said Ms. Raucci, noting there is an art unit in the curriculum. “But this year, it went really well.”

The students received a list of seven artists: Salvador Dali, Diego Velazquez, El Greco, Frida Khalo, Fernando Botero, Diego Rivera, Francisco Goya and Joan Miro. They researched all of them, chose the one they liked the best and began gathering information that had to be included in their essay, including the artist’s birthplace and year, their style of painting, their influences and interesting facts about them.

They also chose their favorite painting by the artist and printed it out. They researched where the original painting currently is and included that information in their essay.

The students then wrote their essay in English. Raucci put together a PowerPoint presentation that helped the students translate their essay into Spanish. This would serve as the body of their postcard.

Then, the students created their own unique stamp for their postcard.

“It needed to be done in the spirit of the artist,” said Ms. Raucci, “using colors, themes or specific items in the painting.”

For example, artist Diego Rivera’s paintings often included flowers so one student created a stamp with the word “flores” on it as well as flowers in the corners. Rivera also had four wives and one stamp reflected that fun fact.

The Art Project is done before or while the class reads the novel, “Los Agentes Secretos y el mural de Picasso” by Mira Canion.

The results were creative interpretations of these artists’ lives and work, blossoming Spanish skills and some research and art skills for good measure.