Sharing a Part

As I reflect on the lessons of the year, there is one that caused the students to ponder what it means to create, to share with other artists and to take their works and create something personal and original. The lesson started with the technical aspects of monotype printmaking using ink and plexiglass. We observed several different examples of Jim Dine's hearts, as well as Peter Max's hearts and other prints. With the constraints of time and materials we focused on hearts as the theme. However, we emphasized how as artists we could express our individuality and create original works by using different colors and patterns in our work. We explored color with loaded brushes as it mixed and created new colors as well as designs. The first session allowed each student to create at least one monotype print.
We began the second session by discussing what we thought would happen if we shared with other artists: exchanging parts of our own work with others. We had experienced collaboration via TASK (see Oliver Herring) and watched Janine Antoni's "Moor" where she integrated others' contributions to her work. They then were instructed to cut out the heart and divide it into quarters. Some were horrified that they were expected to take their work apart. Others were excited to share with specific individuals in the class. Other students decided the work was most important and judged which works were to be part of the final work. It had to fit artistically for them and they were ready to influence or beg to get the parts they wanted. It was fascinating. As the students worked through the problem of exchanging the quarters to form the heart, they also became aesthetically critical, deciding how to transform the collage into their own once more using color sticks on the background. Their artist statement, which they shared on the back of their work, focused on one of the following prompts:
What surprised you by using someone else's work in your own work of art?
How did you feel about sharing your work with another artist?
How did you integrate other artists' work into your original art?

I think the process caused my students to evaluate their connection to their own work. As they continue to develop a relationship to their art making and with other artists, I wonder how they will grow as artists.

What are some ways you push your students to re-evaluate their process?

Inspired...

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!

Sharing=Learning

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.

Connecting through Art Ed!

I learn so much from my PLN! I finished compiling the resources for the TAEA Elementary Division wiki and am amazed at what we can glean from fellow art educators from all over the country. I am so impressed by educators at every level, who pool ideas, links, and their own creativity to immerse their students in new endeavors. One of the art educators whose websites and blogs inspire us to do more is Craig Roland (@craigr on Twitter) whose Art Junction site lead me to find this link to an article about sketchbooks. TAEA has created a new sketchbook initiative to engage the artist within each teacher, and this post provides some food for thought. As a way of inspiring elementary art educators to participate, we launched a theme for elementary: Connecting! So let's start connecting our thoughts, media and creativity, and immerse ourselves in creating art!