Plans for tomorrow

Gateway from art studio - (quote from 5th grade girl)

My new crop of 5^th graders is starting to get the hang of things. I get a new group every quarter, and while the first group arrived all ready to go -go -go, this group has been more tentative in some ways. We still have one more center to open, and only about 2 weeks left until art is over for them until next year. But late last week I heard a student say, as she left the room: “I know exactly what I'm going to do tomorrow,” and I did a little silent cheer. Hooray for a place where  children's plans set the course for learning.

Grade 5 getting to it

One of the BEST things about Choice-Based Art is the predictable studio setting. Students know what materials, tools and resources are available for them each day. Much of an artist's planning takes place outside of the studio setting, while walking the dog or riding in the backseat. Ideas hatched with friends on the bus or dreamed up before bedtime can be brought to fruition during art class. Students know their ideas are supported and that they can work at their own pace in their own way. 

A new way to paint (Click to Play)

It used to be that students would arrive for art class and ask me “what are we doing today?” Now they tumble through the door and beg “can we just get right to work?”

juxtaposition

 

JUXTAPOSITION: the act or an instance of placing two or more things side by side; also : the state of being so placed

"Going Deep"

What does "going deep" look like in a choice-based art program?

6th-Grader "M" at the wheel

Since students choose which "center" they will work in and what tools, materials and techniques to employ, they sometimes find they have an affinity for a certain medium or process and stay with it a while. When this happens, students have the opportunity to "go deep."

Family Portrait by"H" Grade 7

Sometimes specialization results in new innovations and other times in true mastery. I have seen this happen in the Clay center, when a student falls in love with clay, or in the Sculpture center, working with found objects. Printmakers who tough it out are rewarded with a unique experience only this technique offers. Students who stay with a line of artistic inquiry often become classroom experts and can offer advise or provide inspiration for others. 

Sometimes this happens in an "ah ha" moment, when a student realizes that they can accomplish something new. Other times, serendipity steps in, as when one material pushes up against another and passively suggests a new idea. 

 I am watching this happening with a new crop of 5th graders. One student has moved beyond the mere mechanics of the paper-making technique I demonstrated to all and is nudging this process toward the expression of ideas.

Paper scraps are sorted into color families, to facilitate color-mixing practice

Handmade paper, by "A" grade 5

Papermaking is a fairly mechanical artmaking process. It always surprises and delights me when a student jumps from being merely an alchemist, mixing magic pulp-potions, to being and artist who communicates an idea. That is what happened last week when a student moved paper from a 2D process to a 3D experience (photo above - featuring a 3rd-year papermaker), and again when the pages from a discarded children's book came in close contact with colors of the night sky.

Text and color used by this 8th grade artist to convey meaning

Conertible Art

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The idea for interchangeable heads and bodies started with a classmate. Here, wood scraps are fashioned into figure-tops that slip into a base.

 

 The base holds one,

         or the other, 

                                          or both! 

November is for the Birds

By L" grade 7

As we head off for Thanksgiving break, and in honor of Tom Turkey, I thought I would take a moment to highlight some of the feathered friends that have populating the art studio recently.

Newspaper, feathers and tape - by "G" grade 6

Tempera painting by "J" Grade 6 "I dream to do daring things in art."

"The Puzzler" by "D" grade 7

Mini Center: One Sock Doll

"Gift for my cousin" By "R" Grade 8

The art studio at CBMS is set up with several “centers” to facilitate autonomy and organize materials. There is the painting center over by the sink, the clay center at the back of the room, one for sculpture collage, digital art, drawing, printmaking and fiber arts. Students choose which center to work in after my brief demonstration or discussion at the start of class. These centers are always there – permanent fixtures for students to rely upon and plan for.

Then there are the ephemeral centers, ones that come and go, like the papermaking center featured in the previous blog post, or the bookmaking center which will come next. Later this trimester I will set up a mosaic center and then an encaustic painting center. Maybe a lantern-making center for the Waterbury Lantern parade?

And then there are the mini-centers, which I think are my favorite.

Mini centers are usually portable and contained in one box – like our little “One-Sock Doll” mini-center. We use a donated divided wooden box to hold everything artists need to create a tiny soft-sculpture creature. The materials are simple, as are the instructions. Given a few parameters, valued skills are learned, practiced and improved. Students need to know how to thread a needle and tie a knot, stitch a seam and sew “right sides together.” Embroidery stitches are used to add a face and other details. It takes some patience, practice and a measure of imagination to transform a little sock into an original sculpture. There is a lot of learning packed into this mini-center!

Thanks to Ellyn Gaspardi for introducing me to this project at the National Art Education Association Convention some years ago.

Paper Casting

Papermaking is a popular choice in the art studio this month. Unlike most of the centers available in the art studio, the papermaking center is a temporary one and will close soon. Students know that if they want a chance at it, they have to act now.

 Some students are new to the process and are learning how to mix recycled papers into their own custom formula, move down the line from blender to iron, arriving at the end with a new, handmade sheet of paper. Some students remember the process from last year and are ready to stretch and explore, discover new possibilities, and initiate daring innovations. 

One new technique students are testing is using a template to contain paper pulp against the background sheet of paper. Students have found that metal cookie cutters work well for this purpose.

One student wondered if he could put the fresh, pliable sheet of paper over his face, using his face as a mold to make a paper casting. It was quickly determined that unless he wanted to sit motionless in the art studio overnight, he needed to find something else to use as a mold. I remembered that I have a quantity of styrofoam faces in the art closet, so we tried these.

The idea of paper casting is new for us and is producing some interesting possibilities.