Touching Terra Firma

Two girls stood together in front of the tile mural in the main hall after school today. They were much too old to be middle school students, but they looked vaguely familiar. As I walked by, one of the girls reached out and gently traced the line of the horse's mane, "Here's mine!"
"Mine's down here," answered her friend.
"Do you remember your class symbol?"
"Hmmm, this, what is it? Ying Yang, or something like that?"
"Yeah, we did this one." The second girl reached out and traced the circle of a peace sign tile.
The mural, entitled "Terra Firma" was completed and installed four or five years ago. It was a collaborative project integrating social studies and art. Every 7th grade student designed a tile representing an animal from one of the continents. Tiles representing world symbols were added, as well.
Geography lessons covered the ways in which the physical environment effects culture. Art lessons covered tile designs from around the world as well as ways to show animal textures in clay.
I don't know if these two former students remember the lessons, but they certainly remembered the experience and were clearly proud of the mark they'd left behind in their middle school.

Any Ideas?

A student arrived at my classroom door this morning with the box of dense foam goodies pictured here- leftovers from a factory where his mother works which usually end up in the dumpster. Some have paper backing on a sticky side. Printmaking possibilies? The 'flower' shapes are about 6 inches across. She called to ask if I'd like more. Absolutely! Now, I just need to figure out what to do with these cool objects!
Ideas anyone?

Pizza Box Biographies

This Lesson is available at FunArtLessons.com
Late Thursday afternoon, last week, I sat at my desk, stumped, as always, by how to make the last day of class meaningful and fun. Friday was the end of the term and I would have to say goodbye to a fabulous group of 7th and 8th graders. Our pizza box biographies were finished, students had completed their presentations, and other than hand back work there wasn't much else to do.
As with many of my better ideas, it wasn't until I was almost out the school door Thursday, that it came to me: Famous Artist BINGO! I rushed back to the classroom, added BINGO to my white board schedule and quickly ran off some bingo cards.
The first question students asked on Friday as they filled their bingo cards with the names of artists we had studied was "what do we win?" A stick of gum- my standard student motivator - was all they needed for the competitive spirit to spread!
To earn the coveted sticky stuff winners had to read back names with correct pronunciation, that in itself led to some good laughs! Then they had to select one artist from the winning row and share with the class a fact or two about art style, life or art work. When students weren't sure, they could "consult a pizza box," a last minute innovation that made the game.
Students were amazingly proud when their box about Wayne Thiebaud or Helen Frankenthaler became the expert source of information that led to another stick of gum flying through the air to a happy winner!
I'm always trying to think of ways that student's art work can have a meaningful purpose once it's finished. This activity turned out to be a really fun way to spend our last class together, revisit the content of the art history unit and take one last look at the incredible art projects students created before they go on display.
I've almost finished adding student photos to the Power Point lessonplan that will be available in May on my website, FunArtLessons.com, so check back and I'll let you know when you can get all the details for the Pizza Box Biography project that resulted in such a fun culminating lesson!
To see more pictures of the pizza boxes go to my Fun Art Gallery.

More Green Art: This Time Recycled Pizza Boxes

I don't know about your teaching situation but in my middle school we consume a lot of pizza. There are pizza party rewards for fund raisers, team pizza parties, staff pizza lunches and occasionally the lunch room serves pizza - ordered from a local pizza joint.
I started thinking about the possibilities of using recycled pizza boxes in art projects last year when I walked past a mountain of boxes waiting to be hauled out to the dumpster.
It took me a year, but my 7th and 8th grade students are just finishing up one of the most successful projects I've ever done! They loved it and learned so much about painting and art history! Check back soon for pics and a project description!

Collisions

I began to notice a pattern of tardies and absences a few weeks ago. Finally, a quiet moment to ask my student about it. Turns out his family moved in with friends on their street months ago after dad lost his job, the savings ran out, and the house was "taken." Once their welcome had worn out with friends, they moved on to an uncle's house which is a considerable distance from school.
Recession? Depression? With unemployment at 11% and climbing in Michigan the definition is pretty clear: it's depressing. The Titanic that is Michigan has hit the ice, yet the band plays on, for the moment.
At a party last night, shouting over the strains of Caribbean music, I answered the "what do you do" question with "I teach middle school art." The reply was unsettling: "Really, I thought with all the cuts...."
What good is art in this time? Could the pleasure of spreading paint with a brush help my student reconcile the pain of his family in crisis? Maybe, for a brief moment, school can be a respite.
Back to the party. My aquaintance is no longer making large commissions in her sales position and her husband lost his successful business last year. They are now looking for opportunities outside Michigan. I wonder, are the waters any warmer elsewhere?

Going Green in the Art Room

This year I've been trying to use as many recycled materials as possible in the projects I plan. There is an amazing amount of useable trash produced by a typical school in one day. While some projects benefit from nice quality watercolor or drawing paper, other projects can be just as good or better when done on recycled paper surfaces.

For the project pictured here I had students bring in empty cereal boxes. The lightweight cardboard and smooth surface were ideal for using as book covers. We cut the boxes open and used the inside of the box as a surface for botanical illustrations in watercolor and sharpie marker. The assignment was to invent a plant that could help solve a global issue. The light brown of the cardboard added to the 'green' theme of these paintings.
Look in your school cafeteria and you will find all kinds of treasures for art making. The lunch ladies now check with me first before they chuck out the trash. These small cardboard boxes came with some of the prepared foods they reheat that sadly count as 'nutrition' in a typical school kid's life. However, these boxes, along with fabric scraps and other items from the recycle bin made for a fun "food" sculpture project that didn't cost a dime and kept these materials out of the landfill!

Simply Complex

It's all too easy to cause students to shut down in the face of processes or projects that are too difficult and complex. Likewise, projects and processes that are too easy or predictable will quickly bore your students. Tissue and white glue thinned with water: simple materials, complex possibilities, simply beautiful!
Present your students with a Big Idea or Guiding Question. Here we explored a very open ended theme of Outside/Inside and talked about foreground and background. The process of brushing white glue over colorful tissue, allowing wrinkles and folds to occur can be mastered by very young artists. Older students can build up surprisingly complex compositions. Artists of any age enjoy the simplicity of the process and the beautiful results.

Another year, another semester, we explored the underground railroad and chose a wonderful picture book and song, Follow the Drinking Gourd. Students worked in small groups to produce illustrations for different sections of the song.
Students, especially middle school aged, will often find greater pleasure in working with others on a project. This relieves the pressure of perceived talent or lack there of inherent in the art making process. It frees the artist to simply enjoy the materials and the process. For those students who feel strongly about creating their own works of art, independent work is always an option!

Reality and Fantasy with Digital Photos and Drawing

Photo retouch self-portraits are a great way to introduce middle school students to digital photography and mixed-media. I am also able fit a little art history into my curriculum by bringing in an old turn-of-the century hand colored photograph. Finally, it is a stress-free introduction to self portraiture. Rather than worrying about not having the drawing skills to render an exact likeness of themselves, the use of photographs frees the students to be imaginative in creating their backgrounds.
Students work with a partner to pose with a fantastic environment in mind. Then they print their photographs on the lightest setting so that the image is barely there. This gives the realistic feeling of photography but provides a clean 'canvas' for working back into the image to create a fantasy environment.
This lesson provides an excellent opportunity to teach some drawing basics. We talk about how to hold the pencil at an oblique angle to create smooth surfaces. We talk about shadows and how to build them up with layers of colored pencil, and how to build the color up by using a variety of hues.
In case you're worried about equipment, I am able to do this lesson with classes of almost 30 students, using just one digital camera, one computer and a very basic black ink printer.

Ceramic Lighthouse Fundraiser

During my first year of teaching art I was dismayed to see many students pitch their artwork into the trash can at the end of the term. No matter how much praise I laid on, students still didn't see the value in their artwork. I would beg them to take it home and let their parents decide, knowing that as a mother I would have treasured it. The answer often was, "my mom'll just throw it out." I didn't believe them, but I decided they needed a purpose for creating their art.
That year I began an annual art auction in December. Students made ceramic lighthouse candle lanterns and researched the plight of the homeless. Some students wanted to keep their lighthouses (mission accomplished!) and, of course, I didn't force anyone to donate their item. I also allowed students to make two, one to keep and one to donate. We put the lighthouses on exhibit in our media center and called it "Light the Way."
The students were proud of raising funds for a local food pantry and not a single ceramic piece ended up in the trashcan.

Fingerpaint in Middle School? Or, How to Get Beyond "I Hate Art!"

By middle school, it's sad to say, a lot of students hate art. They also hate math, but that's another story. Or, maybe it isn't. I hated math. It was hard for me. I didn't get it. It made me feel lonely. Alienated. I loved art. I got it. I wasn't necessarily great at it, but it was a language I understood. It made me feel part of something.
Middle school kids just want to belong. (Don't we all, really?) They want to be in a place where they speak the language. Math does it for some kids. Art does it for others. But any teacher can create a place where kids feel like they belong and the first step is to remove FEAR.
At the beginning of each term a kid or two announces, "I hate art." They speak for a silent group who enter the art room with the kind of dread I felt walking into math class. Art, they've learned, is all about those who can draw and those who can't.
But how did they come to this misunderstanding? Visit a preschool during art time and you will find the children happily up to their elbows in glue or paint or messy mounds of clay, confidently pursuing their vision. But as they progress through school students learn not only what they can do, but what they can not do, easily or as well as they'd like, and fear soon replaces self-assurance.
So I spend the first week of the term helping students unlearn fear. I help them learn to go back to the confidence of preschool. I assign my students a color theory activity that involves tempera paint and four pairs of hands. The only rule: no face painting.
Working together removes the pressure to perform 'artistically' and painting without brushes? Well, finger painting is just plain fun at any age. Occasionally, I'll have a student who really can't stand to have messy hands. Rubber gloves usually solves that problem.
Soon students learn what they can do, and learn, in an environment of trust, to tackle what they think they can not do. When those same students who entered my class proclaiming, "I hate art." leave saying, "I'll be back" then I know I've done a good job sharing the language I love and creating a place where students feel like they belong.

Posing to Learn and Laugh

I was amazed to see that all 28 eighth graders, even rough and tumble Alex, a star lacrosse player, were holding the ballerina pose. Edgar Degas' lovely sculpture, "Little Ballerina," was projected on the wall. I'd challenged students to see if they could hold the pose, third position in ballet, I think, for three minutes. Most of the boys did not immediately leap at the chance, but after some gentle goading they rose to the challenge.

The day before, I'd had the class pose as Rodin's " The Thinker" prior to making a copy sketch to help them study the lines in this sculpture. When I showed them the original in an exhibition photo they were shocked at its tiny size. They found the contrast between the power of the figure and its small stature really interesting. Steven, one of the smaller students in class gave us all a good belly laugh when he said, "He's fun-sized, like me."

The simple act of inviting students to 'strike a pose' engaged everyone but gave the kinesthetic learners in class a chance to receive the art history content with their whole body rather than just their eyes and ears. As athletes know, this also taps into a different kind of memory, muscle memory.
Will having posed as great sculptures help them remember or more deeply understand "The Discobolus," Michelangelo's "David," or as pictured here, "The Winged Nike of Samothrace?" Who knows, but this sculpture unit sure led to lots of laughs!

Words and Pictures

When I was in college I had a large, black, clothbound sketchbook. Since photography was my main medium, I really didn't do much sketching in it. Mostly I wrote down thoughts about artists and art making. I also wrote bad poetry about my future husband, a fellow art student, but that's another story! I never thought of it as a diary or journal, but really that's what it was.

As in many art classrooms, the first project I give students each term is to assemble a sketchbook. Students use these sketchbooks for completing a variety of art exercises including drawing, but I also (gasp!) ask them to do some writing. Occassionally, a student will ask (and not always in a pleasant voice) why they have to write in an art class. Since writing is a district-wide goal I could always pass the blame on to 'the administration,' but I'd rather have my students know that I value using words to understand art and the art making process and that I care what they think.
I explain to my students that writing helps them think and thinking is part of creating. So, a few days a week, I display an open-ended question related to our current unit and ask the students to respond in writing. And, yes, I do insist on complete sentences and proper punctuation!
At our recent student-led conference night I was thrilled to observe students proudly opening their sketchbook/ journals and sharing their thoughtful writings on a variety of topics from personal symbols to the important role artists play in society.
While circulating during a recent journal response session I noticed some unrelated personal writing accompanied by hearts and a boy's name (I teach middle school.) The student quickly covered the page giving me a worried look. I just smiled and said, "I'm so glad you're filling your sketchbook with what's important to you," and I meant it. Writing does have a place in the art classroom, whether or not it's mandated from the central office.

Plaster Masks

Garrison wasn't comfortable with the idea of wet plaster cloth on his face, and who can blame him? I gave students the option of building their masks on a ball of newspaper. While most students chose to make the life mask, one or two students in each class opted for the newspaper mask. Garret's mask with it's rectangular eye openings and dried palm fronds (from a sadly neglected house plant in my classroom) shows a strong influence from the many African masks we studied prior to the project.

Most students chose to cast just the upper half of their face in plaster. Kenna was brave and trusting. She allowed her partner to cast her entire face. This required her to lie patiently for about half an hour as the wet cloth was applied to her face. Her partner saved the mouth area for last.
When it came time to paint and add details, Kenna chose to emphasize just two features, the long eye lashes and bright red lips. The simple use of pure yellow and red highlight these features. Kenna's bright and beautiful mask matches her personality.