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!

3rd Grade Aquariums & Fish Prints

3rd grade ventured into the world of a fish in a fish tank.  We started with blue paper and oil pastels "decorating" their fish tank with things like rocks, plants, and even castles.  Everything except the fish was done with oil pastels.  We then used styrofoam to create a fish stamp.  My 3rd graders had previously done styrofoam prints with printing ink so they were familiar with the process.  We flattened the edges of the styrofoam with the side of a pencil, so that when printed all that would show up would be the fish.  Instead of using printing ink, I had them use acrylic paints so they could have more variety in color.  Some students also made the fins different colors.  We added on the paint using small paint brushes and just painting it on.  It worked pretty well and the results are all different and very interesting.  I love the bright colors and the cheery feel of an underwater fish world.

Kindergarten Sculptures!

Last semester I had some extra "fun" money that I needed to spend by October.  I was looking at some fun supplies that weren't really necessity items.  In the magazine I purchased from, these fun styrofoam-like things are called Stick-Its.  I wasn't quite sure what to make with them or which grade I would use them with.  I bought 2 boxes and each box had like 450 pieces.  I came across a blog post just a few weeks ago where these Stick-Its were used in Kindergarten.  I loved the idea and decided to use it.  I apologize because I can't for the life of me remember where I saw the blog post, but I do have it listed somewhere at school in a pile somewhere. 
I brought the Stick-Its out yesterday for my Kindergarten class and it went well!  The kids had SO much fun!  I used 1 box and had a class of 16.  I will be using the other box tomorrow with my other Kindergarten class but was excited with the results so I wanted to share.

The Stick-Its magically stick together with water and there is no mess! 

The lesson I saw used the idea of playground for the sculpture.  My students and I discussed different things we would play on during recess or at the park.
Using sponges as a "trampoline", students jump the pieces on the sponge 3 times and hold them together for 3 seconds.  Easy!  I had a container of random foam stickers that were animals and little people, so each student got to pick one from the container to play on their playground.

The results for Kindergarten were surprisingly awesome!  I had my camera out and we had a few minutes to spare, so I took a picture with each student holding their sculpture.  They enjoyed this and I got to capture the results for this project that I deemed a make and take.  They were so proud of their work and were excited to take them home right away.  What fun!

Here are some of my Kindergarten Cuties :)