Art & Activism

I went to an Art & Activism educator workshop at the Corcoran Gallery of Art this weekend.  It started off pretty shakey- only 4 educators came, computer glitches arose, and vague scheduled activities- but it turned out great.  I really appreciated the opportunity to appreciate art and react to it as a student rather than teacher.  I also enjoyed the varying perspectives shared by the other educators in attendance.  Lastly, the highlight (for me) was the printmaking workshop with one of the Corcoran professors.  She showed us easy printmaking techniques we could use with our students at very little expense. Techniques include:

*packing tape transfers of xerox images
*chartpak marker transfers
*methods of constructing altered books
*kitchen lithography using an oil crayon and Coke

It was a great way to spend a Saturday.  Here are some photos I took during printmaking (note the Coke!)

I walked home after the workshop and stumbled upon this message posted on Connecticut Ave near Lucky Bar.

Sandy can't stop our stamps

Although we lost a day because of hurricane Sandy, 5th grade still managed to make really great initial stamps.  Students were instructed to create a letter stamp based on an initial of someone that is important to them (or themselves).  The letter should be specially designed for that person by making a funky font.  We practiced "fancy" fonts, "old fashion" fonts, and "artistic" fonts, to develop something original.  The final day was an extravaganza of printmaking!  I only had two brayers so students were amazingly patient and kind while waiting their turn.  Even though it was a bit rushed, i think it was a great experience!

Our materials!

The impromtu gallery on the white board

 

Happy Fall!

Happy Halloween  Fall! We don't celebrating holidays at Capital City but there are no rules against celebrating seasons! C.A.T painted pumpkins for our activity this week. Here are the 4 that were left behind.

DC Walkabout Tours

Touching the hsunted window at the Decatur House

As indicated by the previous post, my parents came to visit this past weekend.  My parents have visited DC many times so I have to get creative when it comes to finding new fun things to do.  This trip we went on the Haunted DC Walkabout Tour.  It was AWESOME! I highly recommend this tour.  We met down at Layfayette Square and met our incredibly charming tour guide who lead us by lantern light around the square.  He told us historical ghost stories about the movers and shakers who once lived on the square.  They have other tours as well (we are already planning on doing the scandal tour next time) so I definitely recommend them if you are looking for something different to do.  The tours are free but you are encouraged to give a tip to your guide. 

You can find more info here DC Walkabout.

Happy 100th post

Happy 100th Post, Learntoseeart! For the 100th post, I thought I would share our most recent art club meeting where my dad came as a visiting artist!  He did a small talk about architecture then let the kids design a facade of a building.  The kids were divided into groups (of their choice) and given the same lego pieces and same set of instructions.  The groups planned their facade, built their facade, then had to justify their design in a group critique.  It was wonderful!  Check out the fun pictures below.

Hard At Work

5th graders are hard at work with their personality box assemblages.  I love this project because it is so creative and messy.  The students are really taking initiative to create a design that represents different aspects of themselves.  It's great to watch.

Alexander Calder??

 No, these are not Calder sculptures, these are just two of the many wire sculptures being created in my 6th grade class.  Have I mentioned 6th graders are amazing? We are finishing up these sculptures then creating one final collage before the quarter ends.  What do you think?  I think they are beautiful and full of energy.