Thursday, January 5, 2012

Research Paper & Artist Inspiration

My students are mostly finished with their research papers! This is the first time I have attempted to have my students research an artist using both bibliographic and internet resources. This paper seemed like an insurmountable goal when I first presented it to them but slowly we chipped away at this and I have about 75% of the papers turned in. While the papers in general are a bit shorter than the required 3 pages, include grammatical and syntactical issues, and the occassional incorrect fact, I think it was an important learning experience. The majority of the students had never written a research paper (or paper, period) and the experience of researching, writing, editing, revising, synthesizing, and typing the paper was invaluable.

This week, they are wrapping up their papier mache projects and beginning to create independant artworks inspired by the artist they chose to research. Today, some students began creating sketches inspired by their artists and next week they will make the artwork. This again, is a great chance for them to make many decisions independently and take initiative in their art making processes. I got a wonderful sketch inspired by Tim Conlon which I can't wait to share. Will update (with pictures) soon.

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