Monster Mouth!

Kindergarteners began this project by decorating a paper plate with patterns and textures.  In the following class we looked at the story Where the Wild Things Are.  Students were then challenged to transform their plates into their own Wild Things!

CROWNS

A recognition of honor or high status has always been displayed on the head.  Miss Universe gets a tiara, a crown for royalty, a distictive cap for triban chieftans, a halo for saints....Second graders studied crowns from around the world, paying particular to their use of lines, shapes and patterns.  Finally students set out to design their own crowns! 

Molas

Mola is the Kuna Indian word for blouse or clothing.  However, it is also the word used to describe the colorful panals made of cotton fabric created by the Kuna women of Panama that make up the front and back of a Kuna womans' shirt.  Molas have become a part of the cultural dress of Kuna women, but they also create molas to sell to people all over the world!  Third grade students discussed how molas are made and discussed the images typically found on them.  Students then used paper to attempt their own molas.  Each student chose an animal as inspiration and used symmetry to complete their design

Wayne Thiebaud Lollipops

Wayne Thiebaud is most remembered for his delicious looking paintings of food and desserts.  Kindergarteners learned all about how Thiebaud used the elements of art to created these scrumptious artworks.  We were particularly inspired by his images of lollipops.  Students created their own lollipops using model magic. 

Calder Wire Portraits

While at the Museum of Fine Arts my fifth graders focused primarily on portraits.  Upon our return to school I thought we could continue our portrait discussion by looking at an artist that approached them in a very differnt way--Alexander Calder.  Calder is most remembered for his mobiles and stabiles but his portraits are also quite facinating.  He used wire to create three dimensional drawings in space.  He created many portraits of his friends or fellow artists as well as some popular figures such as Calvin Coolidge, and Babe Ruth.  We discussed how he sometimes created almost a caricature of the person by exaggerating certain features.  Students then used wire to create their own self portraits!

Chihuly Macchia

Kindergarten and first grade got in on the Chihuly action as well by designing their own Macchia.  Macchia is Italian for spotted.  Students discussed how Chihuly created these spotted organic sculptures using glass.  We also discussed the differnce between shapes and forms.  In order to create their own, stuents decorated a coffee filter. Using watercolor markers, they created patterns shapes and finally spots.  The completed designs were attached to a plastic cup with a rubberband and sprayed with liquid starch.  When the starch dried the cup was removed to created the form.

Finished Chihuly tower!!

We finished this tower a while ago and I forgot to post these pictures of it finally finished!  This was definately my favorite project of the year.  It's great to see what we can do when we all work together!  It was extra exciting when I got to take the fifth grade class to the MFA to see a real Chihuly tower!