Elementary Art Show

A few nights ago, I had an elementary/junior high art show open to the public.  Overall it went smoothly, especially for it being my first one.  I have a few things I will tweak for next year in terms of the date, time, etc. especially with other calendar items going on this time of year.

I decided to do a themed show and I think this is a great idea!  It made everything cohesive, but my theme was quite broad so I could fit a lot of things into it.  My theme this year was WILD! about ART.  This theme was fun for me to put together ideas for.

I have about 250 students that fall into K through JH and I wanted at least 2 pieces per student.  With 3-D items too, I know I had 600+ pieces although I didn't count for accuracy.  The show was held in our school gym and it was full of projects!  I have a bunch of pictures to share.  Many lesson plans I will blog about soon when the end of the year things slow down a bit.

Cow Jumped Over the Moon

I saw this idea on another blog, but when I went to my handout on it I couldn't find who i got it from.  I am trying to do better with this, so I can give credit where credit is due.

This project was set for 1st grade, but I used it with 3rd grade and had equally great results.  My art show theme is WILD about ART, so we are doing all kinds of animals.  I loved this project because it referenced the Nursery Rhyme "The Cow Jumped Over the Moon" and it was just cute :)

We did a black and white weaving on 9X12 paper.  On another white paper we drew the cow's head and legs.  I used 12 X 18 purple paper for the background and we created a moon night sky with oil pastels.
I believe it took us 3 40 minute class periods, possibly 4.

Tips for Putting on a Show?!

Any takers on tips/tricks to smoothly put together an art show for school?!?!

My Elementary Art Show is a little under 2 weeks away and I am starting to stress.  Projects currently being worked on may not be done in time, time is slipping away, and I have no free time!

I am trying to go with the flow, but I am pretty particular about how things need/should be done, so I am starting to worry.
I need help!  Any ideas for a smooth show would be much appreciated!

JH Awards

I haven't posted much about my JH students so far, so I thought I'd give it a whirl!

To be honest, JH has been my tougher class during my 1st year.  I think this is mostly because students have a choice of choir or art so I get kids that have no other place to go.  Half of my kids want to be there and do a good job and learn, the other half just don't give a darn.  This makes it so hard!

I have a fun project that was either way awesome or a big flop, depending on the student.  I need to take pics but will post about that later. In the meantime...

I took 5 of my 10 students to our JH league art show today and they had fun!
The awards are given as 1st, 2nd, and 3rd in each category.  Categories are such things as sculpture, functional ceramics, watercolor, printmaking, ink/scratchboard, colored pencil, pencil, etc.  Just to name a few!

Each school can bring 20 pieces with 2 entries per student.
One of my students received 3rd place in scratchboard and another placed 3rd in sculpture.

Here are some of our captured "candid" moments :)

1st Grade Bird Nests

I got this idea last year during student teaching from my friend Katie http://artteacheradventures.blogspot.com/.

 This project is a fun springtime idea and the results turn out so well!

This year, I had my 1st graders use oil pastels to create a close-up tree.  We talked about the texture and color of tree bark as well as "zooming in".  I did an example for my sub because I was gone for my HS league show and I wish I didn't, because all of the trees looked very similar to mine.  I always find making an example a risk, because many times the example becomes a pattern rather than an idea to start out with.  It's such a tricky decision to make...example or no example?!
Anyway, after the trees were finished I gave my students 2 white rectangle pieces of paper.  Mine were scrapes from something else, but I'm guessing they were about 3X4 inches or so.  We discussed examples of patterns with shapes and color and used crayons to fill the scrap papers.  I had my students flip their patterned paper over and draw two oval shapes on each paper, creating 4 egg shapes.

We cut and glued the eggs on slightly above the branch, leaving some blue paper showing.  Then my students glued on newspaper that I had pre-cut into small, thin strips.  This created a nest for their bird eggs. 

I love this project because it focuses on many basic motor skills such as cutting and gluing.  It also allows for teaching many elements/principles of design. 

League Art Show

This past Wednesday, I took 6 of my students and work from many other students to our league art show.  As my first league art show, it was a good learning experience.  There were 8 schools there with each school bringing a maximum of 25 pieces which makes about 400 pieces of work!
There were 50 medals awarded and 5 honorable mentions given.  One of my students received an honorable mention.
I was a little disappointed in our results, but we were up against some awesome stuff.  This being my first year, and this being my schools first year in a new league I feel like we were already up against a few challenges.  The results from the show, although disappointing, just left me proud of my own students and how far they have come since August. 

Here are a few things my kids and I were inspired by.

 

And here are my students with some of their work.

  Here are 4 pieces from my students.

   Tonya won honorable mention with her painting titled "Love Birds"

High School Paintings

My high school students did a color matching project with acrylic.  I had students print a color and black and white copy of a photo of their choice.  All of the photos were found on the internet, but some had discussed using photos of their friends, etc.  I left it open-ended for them in terms of subject matter.  I am glad I left it open-ended because the photos they chose all fit into their personalities and interests.  This made the project as a whole more meaningful for them.

The objective of the project was to accurately re-draw their photo on 18X24 canvas board using a 1 inch grid and to match the colors in the photo with paint.  The results blew me away!  I have seen my students change and grow artistically and creatively right before my eyes and it is AMAZING!

I am so proud of my students!  What a good good feeling that is :)

                                                                                                  Nicki Minaj - singer

                                                                    Lil' Wayne - rapper

    Some country singer...I can't for the life of me remember his name.  Obviously I don't know country well.


This was a huge challenge for my students and they stepped up to the plate...I am so PROUD!