Arts Educators and Blogging Survey

Hello! I'm trying to find out more about how arts educators (including art teachers in schools, art instructors in community centers, and teaching artists) use blogs as either readers or writers. So if you span the arts and educator spectrum in any shape or form and you have ever read a blog, I'd appreciate your taking the time to complete this 10-question survey. Your answers will help me out as I work on writing my thesis for my Masters of Art Education from Tyler School of Art. My paper deadline is August 1st! So please click on the link below ASAP. Thanks!

Click here to take survey

Stellaaaaaaaaa!

For the past month my teenybopper screenprinters at Fleisher have been layering and layering prints in a round robin abstract exchange inspired by the prints of Frank Stella. Students learned about positive and negative space, geometric and organic shapes, lines, and color as well as representational and non-representational abstraction. Students worked in different pairs for each layer to learn how to work cooperatively. They also learned how to block screens, register, and clean up properly sharing responsibilities. 

 Their first layer was a full page rainbow print using only mylar strips and tape to block the frame. Not all the prints were clean and smooth rectangles, but the resulting textures were interesting and didn't interfere with any intentional imagery. It helped them get the hang of printing and working together.

 Their next layer used designs cut out of contact paper to block the screen. Most of these shapes were geometric, and they had to decide whether to make their image a positive or negative print by choosing what part of the contact paper to place on the screen. They also had to work together to plan their design and how their own shapes would complement their partner's. Before printing, students picked out 4 different backgrounds to print upon, making all of these original monoprints- no editions.

 The third layer was based off of organic shapes primarily. Students again planned designs with their partner, decided on positive or negative space, but this time cut designs out of freezer paper to use as a block. These were intended to be much simpler than the previous designs. Again before printing, students selected 4 different prints to layer over.

 The fourth and final layer was more individual. Prints were exchanged yet again. This time students drew on the screen with caran d'ache water soluble pastels and pulled transparent base over the drawing to monoprint over their images to introduce the element of line.

 So these images show a selection of final prints that resulted through this process. Students selected one print to keep as is. However, the other 3 prints they owned were carried over into one more process....

The prints were cut and glued into abstract collages, breaking the rectangular format. And for those images you'll have to wait, as they haven't been photographed yet. On Saturday the kids had a critique about the final works. They especially liked the opportunity to cut up their prints to turn into something else. We also had fun seeing images in abstraction.

Emerging

The semester is over and I'm slowly emerging. This past Thursday I had my final portfolio review with my graduate advisor, two art ed professors, and a fibers professor. I had an opportunity to share the art I've made in grad school over the past 2 years and discuss how the studios I took have impacted my work and process. After a half an hour review, they conferred privately, and then brought me back in to announce that I passed my portfolio with distinction!

There's still a thesis to write and one more studio intensive this summer. Slowly, slowly, and yet all too fast, graduate school is nearing completion.

I'm toying with the idea of considering blogging as a reflective practice and tool for art educators(especially teaching artists) as a topic for my thesis. The more I repeat that statement , the more sense it is making to me. Poor colored-thread has been neglected lately- I'm not reflecting enough perhaps! 

The viewers speak!

Yesterday was the Big Reveal of voting results for the Battle of the Sexes at the Delaware Art Museum. My Brick House piece was on display with only my last name on the label to obscure gender identification. According to the viewers my work is pretty feminine:

Votes in the 60% range were pretty ambiguous, though, so I'm kind of pleased to have tricked some viewers despite the work having some fiber included. Fiber was definitely considered "female" by voters, whereas tech-based and print-based work was deemed more "male". Here's a list of all the artists who participated. I'm in great company:



Finis!

As you may have noticed from my lack of blog posts, I've been rather busy this past week or two! That's because it was the final run to the finish line of my student teaching experience. We installed an had the "Art of Student Teaching" Exhibit at Tyler with a reception last Sunday of nearly 500 attendees! 2 of my students showed up, thankfully. Here's the layout of my wall:

 My kids' sculpture projects were a big hit. Sculpture doesn't get much play in schools because it takes up so much space, but the kids really love it and need it.

 Here I am with my wonderfully supportive co-op teacher:

After a last week filled with paper writing, binder completing, presentation giving, and very little sleep, I'm exhausted. Today was my very last day, and I'm so touched to hear how disappointed my students were to learn I was going. I'm really going to miss them, and it's nice to know they'll miss me too. As I drove away from school I said to myself, "I'm done!", but instead of relief  it was bittersweet. 

Next up: adventures in residency artistry and a printmaking studio class. Oh yeah, and my thesis. It never ends. And when it does I'll be sad.

Train of thought

I went looking for images of the African dance masks that may have inspired Lucero's sculptures from the previous post:




Then that one reminded me of the giant monster Sweetums from the muppet show...

so now I know it's time to go to bed.

Texture sampler from my weekend in NY

I'm currently enjoying a bit of a Spring Break, and managed to get up to NYC this past weekend! Mostly it was to do museum trips for my History of Modern Craft course. I went to the Museum of Art and Design to see their Global Africa Exhibit, SOFA at the armory, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Based on my photos it seems I was very drawn to textures!



closeup of rolled paper beads for Algernon Miller's "Change" hanging. The beads were made from Obama campaign literature and constructed by a women's co-op in Uganda. I think I'll write my final paper on this piece.



Detail of a collar piece of rolled paper beads by Sanaa Gateja who organized the KWETU co-op that worked on Miller's piece

 

Necklace of ceramic beads cut from a porcelain platter by Gesine Hackenburg. I like the heirloom made ornament idea.



SOFA was held at the armory at 67th and Park. Lots of ceramic and glass, but not much fiber =(



At SOFA Duane Reed Gallery from St Louis presented these ceramic and fiber sculptures by Michael Lucero which I'll use for my presentation in class



closeup of a wall piece by El Anatsui at the Metropolitan. The Miller piece above has a lot of similarities!



A resist-dyed tunic from Peru- I'm gathering resources for a shibori class this summer!



An incredible roof piece in the oceanic cultures section at the Met, with layered, patterned bark paintings. Incredible! 

Lots of inspirations to think about. It was really exciting to see many of the objects we've covered in class in person at SOFA and the Met. I was intrigued by all of the open storage at the MET. Philadelphia Art Museum should do that. I don't get up to NYC very often, and this was definitely  a great trip. I especially liked going up on my own instead of on the bus tour with the class, and taking things at my own pace.
Now, I'm looking forward to the end of this semester, the end of student teaching, and an upcoming printmaking studio class I'll be taking. I miss blogging on a regular basis! I miss time to focus on my studio. I miss going to see art more frequently. Thanks to any readers who've stuck around the last few months despite my slow post pace. It'll pick up again soon!

"one in the Crowd" project

One of my Art I classes just finished their "one in the crowd" projects. It started off with a week of gesture drawing to generate lots of different drawings of figures. Then we studied perspective and students drew and painted in tempera a perspective drawing of typically crowded space using color to express mood. Finally students collaged their figures into the space using overlap and scale shift to emphasize the sense of space and placement and interaction of the figures to also create mood.



a crowded school hallway

  

a wacky art museum



a subway scene



another hallway

This was a challenging project for my drawing-resistant students. But they were intrigued by the one-point perspective trick, and became quite invested in their spaces. Many of them redrew gesture figures specifically for their spaces.

Spring Break next week! Then only 2 more weeks of student teaching! I'm currently planning the layout for my "Art of Student Teaching" exhibit. Here's the layout so far with a few placeholders for pieces I don't have pictures for:

I need to come up with some kind of low shelf or table for all the sculpture projects. We did a surprising amount of sculpture!

Weight of the World figures

Only 3 weeks remain of my student teaching experience and we're wrapping up a lot of work. The district puts on a district-wide exhibition, the school wants an art fair at the end of April, and I have my own student teaching exhibit to mount. So we've been matting and finishing and weeding through piles of artwork. While this was going on I finally got to take pictures of two of the Kentridge-inspired collaborative works my students did near the beginning of my placement. Students helped collage the silhouetted figures and then drew objects of things they loved/hated/worried/hoped/feared to load on top of the figure.

 The one above has gone off to the school district building for display. It contains some of my favorite student drawings including a graduation cap on the figure's head, a devil whispering in his ear, and a clock to show the passage of time. Below is the one I'll put in my students exhibit at Tyler. She doesn't seem as loaded down by all these things. it's more like she's offering them to us. My favorite drawings in this one are a bowl of noodles, a giant cell phone, and a bouquet of flowers.

Fleisher classes are starting up again this week! I enjoyed the little break from the crazy schedule, but it was great having a new crop of kids in the silkscreen studio today, and both my adult classes are running! Just a few more weeks of crazy to get through....



Giveaway Winner!

It's Saturday, which means a winner has been selected in my little giveaway experiment. I'll have to try this again sometime and maybe get a few more takers. However 6 readers commented (thank you all!) and the random generator says the 4th commenter wins:

That would be Deborah from While I was Waiting who said:

Deborah said...



I'm a lurker and enjoy seeing both your work and your students' work. Blue is my favorite color but I would be thrilled if i won one of your pendants of any color!

So, if she'll send me her address I can mail off her new pendant. Congratulations!

In the meantime preparations are underway to do screenprinting, embroidery, and soft sculpture with my high school students next week. I'm a little nervous!!!