Prior experience as a chair for classroom auction projects at various schools has taught me that the easiest way to get started is to send out a simple survey to the teachers, using the survey input to create a timeline for each class to bring the projects from idea to procurement.
This is a sample of a survey I used at a k-8 grade school.
RE: Classroom Auction Projects/Art Projects
Dear Teachers:
This initial survey is the first step to getting the Classroom Auction Projects off the ground. Please return this survey to the office by __________. Thank you very much for your participation.
My classroom auction project is already in process and it is:
I would like my project to be:
Parents to contact as possible project volunteers are:
These are some prospective exciting projects for which we have artist/parent volunteers. Is your class interested in doing one of them?
(List any art projects talented adults have already volunteered to facilitate- IE., mosaic objects, painted furniture, class quilts,) etc.,
Do you have any ideas that would make a good classroom auction/art project, even if they are not suitable for your class?
If you have any questions, please call me at:___________
Thank you,
Parent Auction Chair
Monday, August 11, 2008
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Making Holiday Gifts With A Diverse Group Of Students
Sometimes the most simple solution to a challenge is a good one. I have been in diversely populated school settings in which teachers approached gift making by avoiding it. One example is a teacher I know who abandoned the idea of making father's day gifts because she didn't want to cause any pain to children with absent fathers. Winter is a festive time of year with calendars filled with religious, cultural and ethnic celebrations and holidays. The city in which I live places a high value on social inclusion, which has contributed to my creating art projects and activities for diverse groups of children. I have found that children have a need to make presents for important people in their lives. When a class works on gift making projects together, the children feel as if they are personally engaged in the holiday season. In order to create an open spirit of warmth in a classroom, I have started projects by asking each child to identify, in his or her mind, the recipient of the gift. I have found that in extreme situations, classmates like to brainstorm with members who are unsure for whom to give a gift. The benefit has been that the children who had trouble identifying for whom to make a gift felt bonded to the classmates who had families, and not psychologically separated from them during the act of making presents. I remember one class in which a boy who was in foster care did not want to make a present for anyone. This led to a brainstorming session in which the boy remembered that he really liked his school coach and he thought he could make a present for his coach to give to his wife: he started the gift making activity with the other children on a happy note.
So, what to make? One universal symbol and value is love. A simple heart can be stylishly produced using many artistic methods and materials. This is an inexpensive, easy way to make an heart which has a nice fragrance and looks like a sophisticated piece of thick handmade paper.
Potpourri Flour Dough Heart Threaded with Raffia Ribbon:
Proportions of 1 cup flour, 1 cup potpourri (use botanical potpourri because the pieces of wood chips in other mixtures are hard to manipulate) to 1/2 cup salt & 1/2 cups water in amounts large enough for the group. Add blue food coloring and fragrant oil to the mixture. Refrigerate.
Give each child a ball of chilled dough. Either trace heart patterns on dough, cutting out the shapes with plastic knives, or use heart shaped cookie cutters. Create a thick slab of dough. Pierce holes in which to thread the ribbon in the wet dough. These heart wall hangings should not be too thin for danger of cracking or breaking when threaded. Put an initial on the back of the heart, let dry. String thoroughly dried hearts with Raffia ribbon and wrap in hand made gift wrap.
So, what to make? One universal symbol and value is love. A simple heart can be stylishly produced using many artistic methods and materials. This is an inexpensive, easy way to make an heart which has a nice fragrance and looks like a sophisticated piece of thick handmade paper.
Potpourri Flour Dough Heart Threaded with Raffia Ribbon:
Proportions of 1 cup flour, 1 cup potpourri (use botanical potpourri because the pieces of wood chips in other mixtures are hard to manipulate) to 1/2 cup salt & 1/2 cups water in amounts large enough for the group. Add blue food coloring and fragrant oil to the mixture. Refrigerate.
Give each child a ball of chilled dough. Either trace heart patterns on dough, cutting out the shapes with plastic knives, or use heart shaped cookie cutters. Create a thick slab of dough. Pierce holes in which to thread the ribbon in the wet dough. These heart wall hangings should not be too thin for danger of cracking or breaking when threaded. Put an initial on the back of the heart, let dry. String thoroughly dried hearts with Raffia ribbon and wrap in hand made gift wrap.
Friday, October 19, 2007
Art Museum Field Trip To Study Art Fundamentals
If at all feasible, a trip to a museum provides a great benefit to young students. Much of art appreciation happens by physically being in the presence of the art object. The meanings the viewer experiences through his or her relationship to the the scale of the work are not communicated in reproductions, not to mention accuracy of color and detail is lost in photographs. Many times classes make trips to museums to see specific exhibits, as the content of the exhibits and the related museum provided activities/lectures support the already topical classroom curriculum. Another reason to bring a class to a museum is to give the students an opportunity for an exercise to identify the formal elements and principles of art used in the works. Any permanent museum collection would work for this exercise.
Exercise:
Ask the students to select at least three works in the museum collection and spend a minimum of 5 minutes studying each work for a total of 15 minutes of observation.
Ask them to guess how much time it took the artist to create the work. Tell them that some works take months or years to make and can't be appreciated in the time it takes to watch a TV commercial. It takes a "slower" type of observation to begin to "see" what an artist is "saying" in his or her art.
Ask them to record: the name of the artist, title of the work, medium and year created.
Answer the questions: What is the artist communicating/expressing in this work?
How does the artist use the elements of art (line, shape, form, color, texture space) and the principles of artistic design( balance, unity, contrast, emphasis, pattern, movement and rhythm)
as the vocabulary of visual language to express and communicate -(what the student identified)- in the work?
Ask them to share their observations with each other as the beginning point for a discussion about the art they observed that day.
Exercise:
Ask the students to select at least three works in the museum collection and spend a minimum of 5 minutes studying each work for a total of 15 minutes of observation.
Ask them to guess how much time it took the artist to create the work. Tell them that some works take months or years to make and can't be appreciated in the time it takes to watch a TV commercial. It takes a "slower" type of observation to begin to "see" what an artist is "saying" in his or her art.
Ask them to record: the name of the artist, title of the work, medium and year created.
Answer the questions: What is the artist communicating/expressing in this work?
How does the artist use the elements of art (line, shape, form, color, texture space) and the principles of artistic design( balance, unity, contrast, emphasis, pattern, movement and rhythm)
as the vocabulary of visual language to express and communicate -(what the student identified)- in the work?
Ask them to share their observations with each other as the beginning point for a discussion about the art they observed that day.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Teaching Patterns and Design In The Classroom
One starting point for teaching the ideas behind creating patterns and visual design is to have four cups each filled with many units of the same object. (For younger students possibly one cup of elbow macaroni, one cup of kidney beans etc., for older ones, possibly boxes instead of cups filled with items of unusual visual interest which have no logical relation to each other such as...who knows.... large nails, hair rollers, empty pop cans, paper clips etc., ) Place four students at a table giving each a cup. First time around, have the first student put one or more pieces on the table, followed by the next student etc until there is a line consisting of a combination of the four items. Then, underneath, REPEAT the same arrangement thereby MAKING a pattern.
For younger children, have them draw contour shapes of the pattern on paper, IE., three kidney beans one macaroni etc., repeating at least three lines of it. At this point everyone should have three lines of the same contour shapes. Introduce the concept of weight and emphasis and some of the ways to visually achieve it by using color, texture, values, scale etc., Have each student choose where he or she wants the visual emphasis to be in the drawing and how to achieve it. Some solutions are based upon color theory- A high contrast design would use complimentary colors, a harmonious one would use colors adjacent to each other on the color wheel, a monochromatic one would use values of the same color. (Two blue beans, an orange macaroni, a blue bean, or a checkerboard of light blue, dark blue, then dark blue light blue ignoring the shapes and only using color, or two plain tonal objects, one with crosshatching, another tonal one etc., ) Try to get as many visual solutions to the design problem as there are students. When the drawings are finished the concept of visual design can be reinforced by asking the students to experience the drawings using another one of their other senses. For example, they could "read the designs and clap them". This would connect visual rhythms to auditory ones. (Three blue could be soft claps and an orange could be loud etc., ) They could "jump and walk the designs" kinesthetically experiencing the visual patterns and designs etc., For older students, the emphasis could be created as a means to convey something artistic through the visual design. They could be asked to communicate "states of being", or virtually anything else through the visual design. They could take the patterns and visually manipulate them any way they wanted (scale, positive/negative space etc., ) in order to express something artistic. For example, "make an agitated pattern, make a lethargic pattern, make an excited pattern, make an exhausted pattern... make a pattern that just learned that its missing brother had been found-IE, how does one visually express joy and elation using a repeating pattern?) Stretch their minds conceptually and they will be forced to use the elements of art to express the invisible. A critique could begin with the discussion of how and what was done in the work to express the intangible. "What was done to this pattern to visually express speed? etc., "
For younger children, have them draw contour shapes of the pattern on paper, IE., three kidney beans one macaroni etc., repeating at least three lines of it. At this point everyone should have three lines of the same contour shapes. Introduce the concept of weight and emphasis and some of the ways to visually achieve it by using color, texture, values, scale etc., Have each student choose where he or she wants the visual emphasis to be in the drawing and how to achieve it. Some solutions are based upon color theory- A high contrast design would use complimentary colors, a harmonious one would use colors adjacent to each other on the color wheel, a monochromatic one would use values of the same color. (Two blue beans, an orange macaroni, a blue bean, or a checkerboard of light blue, dark blue, then dark blue light blue ignoring the shapes and only using color, or two plain tonal objects, one with crosshatching, another tonal one etc., ) Try to get as many visual solutions to the design problem as there are students. When the drawings are finished the concept of visual design can be reinforced by asking the students to experience the drawings using another one of their other senses. For example, they could "read the designs and clap them". This would connect visual rhythms to auditory ones. (Three blue could be soft claps and an orange could be loud etc., ) They could "jump and walk the designs" kinesthetically experiencing the visual patterns and designs etc., For older students, the emphasis could be created as a means to convey something artistic through the visual design. They could be asked to communicate "states of being", or virtually anything else through the visual design. They could take the patterns and visually manipulate them any way they wanted (scale, positive/negative space etc., ) in order to express something artistic. For example, "make an agitated pattern, make a lethargic pattern, make an excited pattern, make an exhausted pattern... make a pattern that just learned that its missing brother had been found-IE, how does one visually express joy and elation using a repeating pattern?) Stretch their minds conceptually and they will be forced to use the elements of art to express the invisible. A critique could begin with the discussion of how and what was done in the work to express the intangible. "What was done to this pattern to visually express speed? etc., "
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Was Jackson Pollock Random?: A Debate Which Can Initiate High School Art Students Into Thinking About Patterning On A Conceptual Level
Is it possible for humans to be random? Or, after the first action, is every subsequent action part of a pattern? Debating about Jackson Pollock's paintings is a lively way to initiate teens into thinking about patterns on a conceptual level. These quotes represent two sides of the debate:
Jackson Pollock's paintings are not random:
Richard Taylor is a professor of Physics and an artist who is using computer analysis to reveal Jackson Pollock’s paintings are not just random and messy mistakes of paint being splattered on a canvas. Rather, the data he is gathering is proving that within a Pollock painting one can see complex and intricate systems of designs embedded within each other. Taylor’s research has discovered that Pollock’s paintings contain fractals that not only show they are not random splatters, but populated with structures that are tied to specific technique which can be used to identify Pollock’s paintings. http://www.the-means.com/communiques/?p=176
Jackson Pollock's paintings are random:
Re: fractal geometry in Jackson Pollock's painting
hmm im going to have to think longer about what this means. "Can Science Be Used To Further Our Understanding Of Art?" i mean how much more random/meaningless can you get than a drunk guy throwing paint on a canvas? If this displays fractal geometry, then what doesnt?
http://complexitytheory.tribe.net/thread/64f94a25-d2b8-4adf-b22c-e11757b4a72a
Jackson Pollock's paintings are not random:
Richard Taylor is a professor of Physics and an artist who is using computer analysis to reveal Jackson Pollock’s paintings are not just random and messy mistakes of paint being splattered on a canvas. Rather, the data he is gathering is proving that within a Pollock painting one can see complex and intricate systems of designs embedded within each other. Taylor’s research has discovered that Pollock’s paintings contain fractals that not only show they are not random splatters, but populated with structures that are tied to specific technique which can be used to identify Pollock’s paintings. http://www.the-means.com/communiques/?p=176
Jackson Pollock's paintings are random:
Re: fractal geometry in Jackson Pollock's painting
hmm im going to have to think longer about what this means. "Can Science Be Used To Further Our Understanding Of Art?" i mean how much more random/meaningless can you get than a drunk guy throwing paint on a canvas? If this displays fractal geometry, then what doesnt?
http://complexitytheory.tribe.net/thread/64f94a25-d2b8-4adf-b22c-e11757b4a72a
Teaching Art As Core Subject
Last night I attended a school board candidates forum on the arts hosted by a local arts commission. My general impression is that some candidates had more personal experience in the arts than others, all were willing to listen to reasons to support the arts, and given the reality of the system resources, if elected, even defining and implementing short term arts goals would be a challenge none of them seemed confident that they could meet without exerting a lot of sweat equity. Some expressed caution about not wanting to focus on the arts at the expense of core subjects. My question is: why aren't the arts considered to be core subject matter? One reason, I assume, is that when discussing the arts, people focus on the affective, experiential, expressive, social and humanistic aspects of art. I believe that a more effective case for arguing the arts as a core subject in an academic setting would be to discuss the cognitive modalities learned and exercised when students begin to "think like artists" and how these thinking models aren't used in the learning of other subject matter, and yet vital to learn if we want to preserve the brain trust of our country into the next generation. This is one small illustration of students being forced to "think like artists". The cliche, "necessity is the mother of invention" is a basic principle in art making on an individual level, and in the development of the history of art. There is plenty of literature on inventing tools and how it relates to intelligence even to the point that using something in a way it isn't designed to be used is used as a measurement of intelligence on some IQ tests. Problems present themselves during in the execution of art and using what is at hand to create solutions to the problems force young art students to be inventive: learn solutions for problems by inventing the solutions at the moment the solutions are needed. Inventive thinking is a treasure in itself and can have unlimited applications in many subject areas. An example: When building a large cement/mosaic sculpture with a group of grade school students, gravity presented a problem for them. Heavy pieces of glass started sliding down the side of the form before the mortar had a chance to become firm enough to allow them to grip. I intentionally allowed that situation to occur in order to give the students an opportunity to think of ways to solve the problems presented by material weight and gravity. The first warning that there was a problem came from the students who had placed lighter pieces below the heavy ones and were upset that the avalanche of heavy ones was washing away their work. They said, "hey watch it, you're wrecking my pieces". I intervened at that point to ask them to step back and look at what was happening. We then talked about what we could do to "fix the problem". Three solutions were suggested and we used all three of them successfully and simultaneously on different parts of the sculpture. The suggestions to solve the problem were 1) mix a thicker mortar to paste behind the heavier pieces because a thicker mortar might bind better than a thinner one, 2) Eliminate the problem of heavy pieces sliding by only using light ones in areas affected by gravity 3) "inventing a tool to solve the problem!" Some students suggested placing the sculpture in the corner of the room. Use the walls for resistance. Turn chairs upside down against the corner walls and place the sculpture between them. Put sheets of stiff cardboard over the sliding areas to create pressure, holding them in place using the upside down chair legs until the mortar set. The students used chair legs as "flying buttresses" to support the sculpture "wall"!!! That "inventing a tool" solution to the problem was a product of their own thinking. This article "Creativity and the design of tools, and more tools and more tools" http://interactionculture.wordpress.com/2007/09/24/creativity-and-the-design-of-tools-and-more-tools-and-more-tools/ is from the official blog of the Indiana University School of Informatics 1590: Interaction Culture. The article itself provides a great argument for why children and teens should "sketch and sketch and sketch, and draw and draw and draw". If nothing else, arts as a core subject in grade school and high school will ultimately give students a foundation which will enhance their opportunity for acceptance to an intellectually challenging graduate program in computer or any other type of design.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Teaching Art, Science, and History Using One Project
Egg tempera is a medium which both teaches a traditional painting technique and offers a conduit into history and science. I think students enjoy preparing the materials more than the actual painting! During the preparation itself, I introduce some "kitchen science" facts and the importance of "lab etiquette": keeping the area clean and keeping track of measurement is essential for tempera painting and instills habits which can be used in any controlled setting.
I simplify the process by approximating a gessoed surface: the students use plaster poured into plastic plates to create the base. The egg yolk is collected to be used for the binder by rolling the egg yolk on a paper towel in order to dry it enough to control the handling of it, piercing the membrane with a pin, and squeezing the contents into a cup. (Plenty of accidents and laughter. Limiting the number of eggs available reduces error.) The proportions of egg, dry artist pigment and distilled water for the different painting layers and the painting technique itself are available in art instructional books. For teens, I simplify the process by giving them either the choice of two colors, or two distinct values of the same color. I limit the painting to two layers: the floating layer of a "puddle" of paint, and then when that layer dries, a line drawing using a soft liner brush over that layer. After that dries, use a natural egg solution as the final glaze coat. In some cases, depending upon the group and my intention of the exercise (if it is leaning towards a history lesson) , I have them do an "underpainting" on the plaster using a yellow ochre, brown, white, black ink drawing (hatching and cross hatching), then applying the transparent layers of egg tempera over the "underpainting". Globally, people have used egg as a binder throughout history. It is possible to connect the use of egg to almost any culture. The possibilities for using the exercise as an introduction to significant moments in European art history are enormous. The only painting issue I have with teens is that they are impatient "watching paint dry"and want to "scrub" the floating layer of egg tempera in hopes that it will dry faster. Once the puddle is on the surface, it has to dry naturally in order for the technique to be successful. Drying can't be rushed. "Don't touch it!!!" "Go read a book while you wait for the paint to dry". The ingredients of the egg vehicle are egg, water, and vinegar. Combining these ingredients provides a conduit into talking about why they are being mixed together and what happens when an acid and base are mixed. Usually a little rubbing alcohol is used when dissolving the dry artist pigment into a paste. It's very difficult to mix dry pigment in water to make a paste without adding alcohol to dissolve it. Why dry powder doesn't mix well and turns into a batter with dry lumps in it is another avenue for discussion. I've found that simplifying egg tempera painting for classroom use is a way to introduce an important fine art painting technique while discussing a little science and history in the process.
I simplify the process by approximating a gessoed surface: the students use plaster poured into plastic plates to create the base. The egg yolk is collected to be used for the binder by rolling the egg yolk on a paper towel in order to dry it enough to control the handling of it, piercing the membrane with a pin, and squeezing the contents into a cup. (Plenty of accidents and laughter. Limiting the number of eggs available reduces error.) The proportions of egg, dry artist pigment and distilled water for the different painting layers and the painting technique itself are available in art instructional books. For teens, I simplify the process by giving them either the choice of two colors, or two distinct values of the same color. I limit the painting to two layers: the floating layer of a "puddle" of paint, and then when that layer dries, a line drawing using a soft liner brush over that layer. After that dries, use a natural egg solution as the final glaze coat. In some cases, depending upon the group and my intention of the exercise (if it is leaning towards a history lesson) , I have them do an "underpainting" on the plaster using a yellow ochre, brown, white, black ink drawing (hatching and cross hatching), then applying the transparent layers of egg tempera over the "underpainting". Globally, people have used egg as a binder throughout history. It is possible to connect the use of egg to almost any culture. The possibilities for using the exercise as an introduction to significant moments in European art history are enormous. The only painting issue I have with teens is that they are impatient "watching paint dry"and want to "scrub" the floating layer of egg tempera in hopes that it will dry faster. Once the puddle is on the surface, it has to dry naturally in order for the technique to be successful. Drying can't be rushed. "Don't touch it!!!" "Go read a book while you wait for the paint to dry". The ingredients of the egg vehicle are egg, water, and vinegar. Combining these ingredients provides a conduit into talking about why they are being mixed together and what happens when an acid and base are mixed. Usually a little rubbing alcohol is used when dissolving the dry artist pigment into a paste. It's very difficult to mix dry pigment in water to make a paste without adding alcohol to dissolve it. Why dry powder doesn't mix well and turns into a batter with dry lumps in it is another avenue for discussion. I've found that simplifying egg tempera painting for classroom use is a way to introduce an important fine art painting technique while discussing a little science and history in the process.
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