The Fine Arts Studio is a creative space where I share ideas, and inspiration on art education. I teach students to be out-of-the-box thinkers because through art, anything is possible!
"Nurture your mind with great thoughts for you will never go any higher than you think."
-Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881)
We all learn from one another. We are inspired, fueled, and pushed by our observations of others' work, their aesthetic, and their techniques. At CEDFA's Summit XII, I was learning from the participants while I was sharing my approach to the work I do in and out of the art classroom. I will be sharing more of what Nancy and I presented, but I want to take a side-step and share a blog that always catches my eye: New City Arts is an incredible K-6 art program in St. Louis. I wish I could go to school there! Take a look at her architectural projects with various grades. Check out the wonderful birds her students created from working pinch pots of clay. And the snails... The creative connections that New City Arts makes inspires her students to explore ideas and approaches. She gathers inspiration from her community, from Art21 and the multiple intelligences. Each work is celebrated. Each work is special. Thanks New City Arts for sharing your great work!
As I logged in this morning to post a "I'm back!" blog-post, I caught a glimpse of others' blogs and saw that I am not the only one who felt that time was elusive this spring. To think that my last post was in February! I really only realized that yesterday as I was sharing my blog with attendees at CEDFA's Summit XII in Austin, TX. Nancy Walkup and I were co-presenting the focus on Assessment and the standards that relate to the Response/Evaluation strand of the TEKS (TX Essential Knowledge and Skills) Bloom's Taxonomy was a first focus, where attendees created a flip-book with measurable verbs that take the students through the levels of the taxonomy. We then explored 21st Century Skills from the Partnership of 21st Century Skills. Bloom's (revised) Taxonomy and the 21st Century Skills, along with TEKS and National Content Standards for Visual Arts would then be applied to lesson planning/writing and the development of an assessment rubric. Here are some resources that I have collected over the years that connect to what I shared. We were also creating! As part of our presentation, attendees participated in four different art activities that explored different media and techniques, engaging them as we would our students in thinking in new ways about their approaches to art making. During the first session, participants created marbled paper for a silhouette project that Nancy shared:
In 2009, I was invited to present to elementary level art educators at the Center for Educator Development in Fine Arts Summit X. The focus of the two-day session was on Assessment and the first strand of the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) which focuses on Perception. Ronelle Howell, from Slaton ISD, who will be presenting this year at the Elementary Division Early Childhood Carousel at NAEA's convention in Seattle, and I, shared lessons and assessment strategies that would be seamlessly integrated into the teaching practice. Last year, Nancy Walkup and I furthered this discussion with our presentations for CEDFA's Summit XI that integrated digital portfolios as another assessment tool as we focused on the second strand, Culture and History. One example, Artsonia and its new "Artist Statement" component, added this year, allows teachers to implement reflection as part of the self-evaluation process, and publish the portfolio for family and friends to see. Digital tools like Voice Thread provide opportunities for students to engage others in dialogue over works of art, concepts and stories. This sample Voice Thread gave my students' Language Arts teacher an additional evaluation tool for a Haiku project, while I was also able to assess the learning in the Studio. The digital transformation of their work seemed to validate it for the students. I recommend this in any classroom!
Finally, I am so excited to share that Jessica Balsley from Iowa, and Erin Oldfield from Oklahoma, will be our other featured art educators for the Western Region Elementary Carousels, focusing on Best Practices and Creative Connections, respectively. Both are passionate educators, bringing a wonderful new voice to our Elementary Division! Jessica's blog, the Art of Education, shares another resource on assessment which is a treasure trove of links and material. Meanwhile, Erin teaches at the Oklahoma City Museum of Art and maintains a great blog called Laugh Paint Create Her creative approaches to connecting to art at the OKCMoA engage children of all ages. Great educators to follow!
Two or three years ago, as I embarked on a "technology infusion" for my teaching, I became a member of Art Ed 2.0 and became virtual friends with amazing educators. From that virtual connection, came real friendships with two amazing teachers, Theresa McGee and Tricia Fuglestad. I was fortunate to be able to schedule a visit to their classrooms (who gets to do that when we teach full-time?) It was a great visit. Since then we have collaborated with each other on many projects. We get to do so again as we prepare for our presentation at NAEA's Seattle convention. Dynamic Collaborations II is the name of our session. I do believe that any opportunity we have to showcase our teaching and lessons causes us to think about other perspectives. It also causes us to re-evaluate our systems in order to make them more efficient--which we should be doing for our students in the first place. Something I learned from Tricia which I just applied for an upcoming project is the use of Keynote and instant alpha--what magic! If you use a Mac--the Keynote program has a special button that allows you to apply "green screen" technology to an image with 1 color around the object --the alpha button allows one to erase that color (by dragging the cursor over the area) and make it transparent. That allows the image beneath to be revealed... just like this one inspired by R. Magritte.
One's mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions. ~Oliver Wendell Holmes
It is remarkable to watch the development of 4th graders as they conquer self-doubt and lack of experience with a medium to create magnificent works of art. My slogan is "Turn your mistake into a Masterpiece!" It is posted all over the studio. Students at the start of the year are so willing to give up. That is simply not allowed in the Fine Arts Studio! Instead, we have to look at what we have accomplished and keep going. Mistakes happen but they can be the springboard for turning our work into a masterpiece. We overcome our frustrations, transform our work and experience a new way of expressing ourselves.
I heard just a few weeks ago that I didn't get the funding from Target Field Trip Grants for our field trip to the Blanton Museum of Art for the lesson I published in School Arts in December. I can't complain as they had generously funded our art field trips for two years in a row. So, I am working hard to rally support so that this group of 5th graders can get there too! We are going to be hosting a Fine Arts and PE event in late February where KidsArt Fairs will be a part--Frames for the artwork are the fundraiser! Such a great idea, I can't wait to see if it helps us get where we want to go! At least I know we can get there... virtually.
As I prepared my classroom yesterday for the start of school and 2011, I set a group of prints around the easel for our Art of the Day discussion. The big question will be "what is Art?" As we explore the different approaches by individual artists, the cultural, spiritual, emotional, and intellectual implications of their works will hopefully shine through in the conversation. The constant evaluation of the students' personal connections to art and art-making, informed by a growing understanding of media and technique, will engage these 4th and 5th graders in what will be, no doubt, an interesting debate. I can't wait for 2011 to start in the Studio!
As I explored over the break, I found this awesome video that begs the question: What is Art? It is great for the laugh, and for the (edited) shortened clip to share with students in a discussion. The video is by Creature Comforts, and I found it on Art Matters. It is also a great example of claymation:
