Transformation is nothing new for artists. From taking a piece of mud and molding it into a sculpture, to drawing a moustache on the "Mona Lisa," artists have the power and the inclination to reinvent things time and again. In this article, the author describes how her middle school students explored the aesthetics of the past by applying contemporary ideas and changing the media. In addition to finding connections between the past and the present, students learned about shape, positive and negative space, line, pattern, and contrast. The end of the project resulted in students gaining a better understanding of how these elements and principles can be combined to create a contemporary composition that transforms an ancient aesthetic into a piece of art that is relevant to their interests. (Contains 1 online resource.)