Magazine Mash-Up

The latest and greatest art binder assignments are here!  This Smilebox presentation showcases the clever imaginations of my Middle School artists as they find ways to complete a drawing inspired by a portion of a magazine image.  Once glued in place, students could finish the drawing around the magazine using materials of their choice.   In some of these drawings, it's even hard to find the magazine!
Enjoy!

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It's Almost Here!

I can barely contain my excitement!  Tomorrow after school, I will head over to the Latino Arts Inc. along with my 3 other colleagues to join in the culminating experience of The Ofrenda Project! 
The display at the Latino Arts, Inc. Gallery is the culminating result of a collaborative project about el Dia de los Muertos and Mexican culture, involving fifth grade art, music, Spanish, World Cultural Geography and Upper School Stage Craft.  The grand opening of the Ofrendas Exhibition is from 5-7:30 p.m. with the show closing on November 21st.  I hope that you have an opportunity to stop in either on Friday evening, or at some point during the exhibition to see all the amazing ofrendas created by the many talented participants.  I've included a link you might want to check out to see, and hear, about the exhibition first hand, in Spanish!  http://youtu.be/mGtfBkcuZ4A
You can also view a few pics from the day we installed our piece.
Hope to see you at the opening tomorrow night!

Quarter 2 Binder Assignments Posted!

Attention all Middle School artists: Don't forget to click on the BINDER ASSIGNMENTS link to the right, under IMPORTANT ART LINKS, in order to see your new binder assignments for the second quarter.  I think they are fun and I hope you do too! Remember to get an early start on these assignments and try to work a little bit each night over the course of 3 to 5 nights, instead of trying to do it all in one night. This will improve the quality of your work and the creativity of it too! 

Bug- Off

Thankfully, the buggy season is coming to an end as cooler air moves in, but just in case you are missing those little creatures, you might want to check out some newly discovered bugs designed by our 5th, 6th and 7th grade artists.  
Enjoy art binder # 2, "Bug Off!"

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Milwaukee Empty Bowls

I started my sixth grade curriculum this year talking to my students about the importance of making art for others. As a visual artist, I love to make art for myself, however, I most often use my talents to create art as thank you gifts, as well as birthday and Christmas gifts for family and friends.  While this is a great way to share my talents, I wanted my students to see how creating art could be more than just a present. I wanted them to see how they could use their talents to really impact a larger group of people, and in a small, yet meaningful way, make a difference.  

The perfect way to make this happen was to have my students create bowls for   Milwaukee Empty Bowls.  MEB is an all-volunteer, non-profit organization that uses art to heighten hunger awareness and raise funds that help food pantries and meal programs in Milwaukee. Each year, hand-made bowls are created and donated for their main fundraising event. To accomplish this task, we worked with visiting artist, Ms. Vicki Samolyk and used clay bowl molds borrowed from Murray Hill Pottery. Students worked individually or with a partner to create bowls, adding texture and stamped patterns to the walls for decoration. They learned how to roll a coil and add a foot through scoring and slipping the clay. The final step was to glaze the bowls with bright and bold colors. 

This past Sunday, I attended the fundraising event with my daughter.  We were so excited to see a table displaying our student bowls labeled University School of Milwaukee!   This project was a great way to share our talents and support a worthy cause in our community!