End of the Year Projects

What a great year we've had! Can you believe that school will be over in just over two weeks? Our final art projects for the year include designing snakes (1-3) based on a lesson idea found HERE and this book:

Decorating Hermit Crab's new house (K-1) based on this book:

Making paper (5) in a Jessica Stockholder-esque fashion.

Designing masks (2-6)

Making silhouettes with analogous colors (colors that sit next to each other on the color wheel) (4-6) based on a lesson idea found HERE.

Hope of America!

Hope of America

(click on the picture above to read the Daily Herald article about the production)

Flags as Art

Several artists have used flags in their artworks. The first artist that immediately comes to mind is Jasper Johns. The students will explore a few artists who have used flags in their artwork. We will also discover the symbolic reasons to create flags and a basic history of flags from around the world. Lastly, the students will create their own personal flags using symbolic meaning.

Mexican Celebration Week!

Due to Cinco de Mayo coming up this next week, I thought it would be fun and appropriate to have a week of Mexican art!. Throughout the week, we will concentrate on a few different Mexican artists and artworks. I plan to add pictures and details of our Mexican art journey by week's end. I'm excited to share Mexican art with the students!

Monday - Market Day (PDF p. 40), types of Mexican foods, make fancy painted paper for fruits

Tuesday - Cinco de Mayo review - Masks by Juan Horta Castillo

Wednesday - Market Day (PDF p. 40), types of Mexican foods, create our market day collages

Thursday - Cinco de Mayo review - Masks by Juan Horta Castillo

Friday - Kindergarten - Mexican flowers - Dahlias

UPDATE:

The first through third graders made images of Market Day using colored papers and simple shapes to make complex shapes. I got the idea from HERE. Then I added in my own flair by showing the students the Visit Mexico poster and an image of a Mexican market (pg. 40).

Finally, in honor of Mexican Celebration week AND Mother's Day, the Kindergartners made flower bouquets using Dahlias, the official flower of Mexico. I drew the flowers and stems and had them copied for the Kindergartners. They then cut everything out and colored the flowers (the stems were copied onto green paper).

Art Show Pictures

 

(overview)

 (Clockwise from top: Korean masks, Jamaican paintings, 6th grade quilt tops, paper circles)

 (Clockwise from top: Jataka Tales printing, adinkra stamps, The Dot, Dale Chihily sculptures)

(Clockwise from top: Claes Oldenburg (pencils, etc), Alexander Calder mobiles, the aftermath in the classroom1 & 2 - what a mess!)

The Suncrest Art Show!

We are excited to be having an art show at the end of the year; check for more details in the coming weeks! We look forward to showing off all of the students' hard work this past year.

Each student will make a tag stating their name, the title of their artwork, and a little bit about the art that will be included in the art displays. Art will be displayed according to class. Here's the breakdown according to grade level and class of the basic ideas for each grade level's involvement in the art show:

Kindergarten - The Dot by Peter H. Reynolds

First Grade - Cultural Masks

The first graders were privileged to participate in a special presentation by Mrs. Dowler who taught them all about Korean masks. We are now using our new knowledge to make our own Korean masks. Koreans use masks as part of plays. Masks are mainly red (young man), black (old person), white (young woman), or animal-like (i.e. lions and monkeys).

Second Grade - Cultures

Class 1 - Jataka Tales (India) - printing
Class 2 - Jamaica - paintings (bright colors, people, fish, water, plants, trees, fruit, houses, etc.)
Class 3 - Africa - weaving (Kente cloth)


Third Grade - Sculptures

Class 1 - Claes Oldenburg
Class 2 - Dale Chihuly
Class 3 - Andrew Calder


Fourth Grade - Papermaking/basketry

Option 1 - Jessica Stockholder
Option 2 - Egyptian (classic meets modern)
Option 3 - basketry (Native American)
They will also help set up the art show


Fifth Grade - Ish by Peter H. Reynolds

A play complete with backdrops of student art work

Sixth Grade - Fabric Arts

Creating Unity

(Starry Night by Vincent van Gogh was the first art/picture quilt Miss Siglin made)

For awhile now, I've been wanting to have my art students to participate in some sort of service project. After looking around, I found one art project for children to exchange their artwork with children in Iraq. I loved this idea, but was apparently too late in getting involved. Then, while looking through the school district paper, I found the perfect project! One of the schools in the district had teamed up with Operation After Action in SLC, UT. They collected quilts/blankets and stuffed animals and sent them to hospitalized children in Iraq.

I want my students to realize that children are children no matter where they live. When I was in school (somewhere between 4-12 grade), I realized the truth of that. In one of my classes, a girl had recently moved to the US from Russia. There were several times prior to this when we had bomb drills during school. I was terrified that the Russians were going to bomb our school/community at any time! The new student stated that she had felt the same way about the US and how she had had nightmares that a US ship would bomb her apartment as it drifted down the river next to her apartment. I was shocked! She set me straight by saying of course I was scared too!

It was after this that I realized that there are two sides to everything and just because some people choose to do terrible things, it doesn't mean that the whole place they're from does terrible things! I'd like my students to understand this on some level by serving fellow children in Iraq. Now with the support of the principal  the sixth graders are going to make nine child-size quilts (35"x45") based on famous art work of their choice. This will be the culminating activity for the Elements and Principles unit.

If you can help us out with donations of sewing supplies (fabric scraps, batting, etc.), we will be very grateful!

Texture

This coming week, the students will be exploring texture in 2D (simulated) and 3D (actual). The texture project will use a mixed media approach. Students will use fabric, paper, basket reed, yarn, items found outside and inside the classroom, needle and thread, etc. The directions consist of using at least (can be more) three (3) simulated (2D) and three actual (3D) elements within the design chosen. The finished project will be approximately 8.5" x 11".

Links:
Mimi Love Forever
Hannah Bertram
Studio Spool
The Art Room Plant
Abigail Doan 1
Abigail Doan 2
Sandrine Estrade Boulet
Dan-ah Kim Art
Trees: Apple Head
Pencil sculptures 
Matthew Daren Shlian
Jeff Nishinaka