Peephole Dioramas

My students took their enthusiasm from reading The Sixty-Eight Rooms, by Marianne Malone, and created their own peephole dioramas. We referred to the Otherworldly exhibit held at the Museum of Art and Design in New York City, which I saw with my Art21 colleagues. We had created our own dioramas using a variety of materials, and showcased our finished work at the museum.  Each had a unique perspective and engaged the viewer in a narrative informed by the design. My students each determined the look they wanted by adapting cardboard, paper, paint, designer fabric remnants, and Model Magic for furniture and accessories. Each had to determine which aspects and details of an interior space would define the person who lived there. Which details would be omitted and why? 

“First we shape our buildings, then they shape us”  --Winston Churchill, 1943

Or do they? As my students explored interior spaces and the view from their space, they also had to consider what interests and needs this individual had. What was happening at that moment for this character when time stood still? 

Each student created the diorama and wrote a story about the character. They recorded these last week, perhaps a podcast of these stories will come next. What I thought fascinating was that these characters were not defined by the space in which they lived... That was just a part of the story. The rest was "out of the box."

The peephole dioramas are on display on our Artsonia Gallery.

More connections:

If your students have read The Sixty-Eight Rooms, I encourage you to give Escape from Thorne Mansion Interactive by the Art Institute of Chicago a try. You'll find a review by the Teaching Palette here: Escape from Thorne Mansion Interactive. I found it was good to allow students to partner with each other. Also, be sure your school filters don't block the pop-ups! You need those for the clues! 

Creative Good

Here is a photo of the collection of crutches that my students decorated and donated to an international medical outreach program to be shipped overseas to those in need. We had worked on them over the course of last year, collecting, cleaning, and decorating with colleagues and parents at open houses, the Texas Art Education Association conference, as well as locally. It was a great conversation starter, as students only understand the inconvenience of a sprained ankle or a hurt knee and not the long-term inability to move for those who are permanently physically-challenged. The reality that individuals deal with lost limbs or paralysis due to illness or natural disaster, like hundreds in Haiti for example, was a real eye-opener, and charged my students with a mission to create a gift of hope and at least, partial mobility.

This says it all...

Time for a TASK Party!

School starts tomorrow, and we are throwing a party--a TASK Party inspired by Oliver Herring. It was my introduction to the Art:21 Educators Institute in NYC. My cohort colleagues and I met on the sidewalk as we waited outside the Art:21 offices, and little did we know the adventure upon which we were set to embark! A TASK Party engages participants by prompting them to act on a "task" written on a piece of paper. Each then adds a "task" to the pool, so that the experience is shared and ongoing. I see this as a perfect way to launch the creative flow for the studio--engaging these young artists, actors, and musicians in using the materials they find in the studio and performing their tasks individually or together.
The room, I hope, will be transformed. Right now, the tables are set, the walls are clear of exhibits, chairs are stacked and posters/prints are on display near our discussion space. How will it look after the students experience TASK? How will they display their artifacts? What will they use to express their ideas? I can't wait for their reactions, and reflections. The beauty in all of this is that really, "Anything is Possible!" I hope they see the wonder in discovery, collaboration, sharing ideas, play, art, and exploration.
I wonder and wait.

Knitting together diverse strands of thought

I stumbled upon this video of Rachel John's Extreme Knitting project, (via Leslie Gates' blog) and realized it was a perfect springboard for a post on preparing for a new school year. August is the month when all those ideas culminate into a plan. The different yet connected threads form a unified and textured fabric--an analogy for our process of preparing for and launching our respective art classrooms and studios for the year ahead.
In these long, hot, dog-days of summer, it is pleasant to have time to participate in and reflect on a variety of experiences outside of the art classroom. I just came back from an intensive and immersive (I could add, incredible) week with Art:21, for the Art:21 Educator Institute launching my participation in the Contemporary Art for Contemporary Classrooms program. This year-long experience with a cohort of brilliant educators will be challenging and process-changing. I see how the depth of learning in the Fine Arts Studio will be further explored, how I and my students will be challenged to think in new ways about our individual approaches to art making and thinking about art. Our method thus far has touched on themes, exploring big ideas, essential questions and the like, but I realize we didn't travel far enough down these roads of "meaning-making" to fully grasp these ideas. We dabbled. We explored the elements and principles of design. We created, we reflected, and then we moved on. We have so much more to explore within each art experience, and with each one, contemporary artists via Art:21 and from the community will provide real-life context. I am looking forward to exploring how these experiences will impact our way of looking at and thinking about art. I will share the journey. In the meantime, check out these amazing resources via Art:21.
What are some ways you weave a richer art curriculum for your students?

PLN

Doing. Showing. Remembering. Making. Describing. Designing. Demonstrating. Engaging. Networking. Creating. Meeting. Chatting. Uploading. Downloading. Listing. Posting. Tagging. Explaining. Inspiring. Understanding. Analyzing. Applying. Persevering. Trying. Exploring. Extending. Evaluating. Synthesizing. Commenting. Programming. Experimenting. Editing. Journaling. Retrieving. Inventing. Connecting. Searching. Reviewing. Producing. Constructing. Sharing. Growing. Learning. PLN.

What is Art Ed?

As I gear up for my Art21 Educators Institute, I was asked to reflect on what the current trends are in art education and how I see this impacting how and what I teach. I used Wordle as a prompt for my analysis. What would you add?