After-School Art Program Needs Your Help!

Help me launch an after-school art program for students in Sandwich!

I am asked DAILY by students for extra art opportunities and would love the chance to run an after school art program that would let them try out different mediums. I am working to put together a program of workshops that students can sign up for, but I need help with the initial materials cost.

We need $1,186 worth of supplies to get started with a series of eight 2-hour art workshops. This works out to less than $5 per student! Once my project is fully funded, DonorsChoose will send the supplies we need directly to the school via Amazon Prime.

Use promo code SPARK at checkout for the next 7 days and DonorsChoose will match your donation dollar for dollar (up to $100)! This means that $593 would fully fund this art program for my students! 

Click on the link below to read more about this project. Thank you for your support!

Click HERE to learn more and donate!

Scenery in Shades and Tints

Last week we continued our color study by looking at how we can change a color simply by adding small amounts of black or white. Adding black to an original color gives us shades of that color; while adding white gives us tints.
The concept is best illustrated in a color gradient like this one:

I think every student recognized the gradient and was able to note other places they have seen similar gradients. One of the most common responses- paint chips! 

We used paint chips to create small, monochromatic scenes. Using only shades and tints of the color the students were able to show distances and a variety of landscapes from mountains, to deserts, to oceans. Adding their own unique human/object/animal silhouettes made each piece unique. 

I was amazed at the creativity and craftsmanship that the students displayed through this project. 

 Donations Graciously Accepted!

To keep our room healthy and operating smoothly we are in need of the following items:

- Tissues

- Baby Wipes/ Hand Wipes

- Paper Plates

- Hand Sanitizer

We could also use the following items for upcoming projects:

- Lightweight Cardboard

- Leftover scrapbook paper or wrapping paper (used is just fine!)

Thank you in advance!

Celebrating Creativity!

International Dot Day is a world-wide celebration of creativity and inspiring others. It takes place during the week of September 15th (ish). The beginning of the school year was just too hectic for a collaborative art project, so we celebrated Dot Day in our own way, as an introduction to color!

The Dot, by Peter Reynolds, is a story about a young art student named Vashti who is frustrated because she "just can't draw!". Vashti's teacher encourages her to just make a mark on her blank sheet of paper and "see where it takes you". Vashti's dots become the talk of the town and she, in turn, encourages other artists to be creative and make their own mark. 

In class, we "kicked it up a notch" and used The Dot as a vehicle for looking at how color choice evokes emotions. We began by looking at some very famous artwork;

   

(Pablo Picasso, The Old Guitarist; Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Luncheon of the Boating Party; Georges Seurat, A Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte; Edvard Munch, The Scream)

We discussed the color choices made by the artists and how the artwork made us feel very specific emotions based on these choices. The students were given packets of color-coded words. The words were feelings or emotions commonly represented by the color. They were asked to use the lists to create a dot which represents them. We got some very interesting and personal designs! As the week went on our collaborative Dot Day Tree began to grow....

And bloom into a beautiful collaborative-art piece for an empty wall in our school!

I'm so proud of the thought that the students put into making "just one dot" that in some way represents them and their unique creativity. Not all artists are skilled and creative in the same way, but we can all make our mark on the world in a beautiful, positive way.

Minion Mania!

In my absence last week, the students created Minion Self Portraits. I provided some visual aids to help them with the form and movements of the Minions, but it was up to them to personalize them with attributes unique to them. Students were really creative and included unique hairstyles, clothing, and accessories. It was also great for me to get a glimpse into my student's interests and how they see themselves.

The results were just too fun not to display, so now an entire corner/ cabinet area is full of our "Army of Minions"!

MYSTERY ARTIST OF THE MONTH

Last month's mystery artist was "The Scream" By Edvard Munch.

Here is the mystery artist for October. Good Luck!