Artist Posters: Art Appreciation Students are prepping for Shelter Night Pieces

Prior to beginning their Shelter Night projects, students were placed into groups to read about and discuss the life and art of selected artists.

Using what they learned, each group had to create an informational poster to educate their classmates about  the artist they were given.

The poster needed to reflect the style of each artist.

Here are some great examples:

After the posters were created and presented to the class, each student selected which artist they will be modeling their Shelter Night artwork after.

Handmade books from the 6th grade wheel

Keeping with our Japanese theme, wheel 4 learned about symbols in Japanese art and culture.

 They created handmade books containing pieces of artwork representing each symbol discussed in class. They did a wonderful job.

 Everything, even the binding/cover, was made by students.

Each page has a hand-drawn picture of the symbol done in a different medium, and a written portion pertaining to the symbol.

The Tiger:

The tiger page was done using watercolor paints.

The tiger symbolizes power.

Writing prompt: "If I could have a super-power, it would be..."

The Crane:

This page was done with colored pencils.

The crane symbolizes good fortune, longevity, and is fabled to live 1000 years.

Writing prompt: "What would you try to accomplish if you lived 1000 years?"

The Koi Fish:

This page was done with pastels.

The koi fish symbolizes strength.

Writing prompt: "Describe a moment when you had to be strong."

The Dragon:

The dragons were shaded in values of gray using pencil.

The dragon symbolizes magic, courage, and strength.

Writing prompt: "Write a magical spell or create a magic potion to help you in some way."

A visit from Hillsborough County Children's Board

This month, my fourth period Art Appreciation students had the honor to create artwork and poems for an exhibit that will be held at the Kidz Create Gallery located in the Hillsborough County Children's Board building. Photographer, Diana Lucas Leavengood, and poet Ricky Roberts III, spent three days with my class. During this time, Mr. Roberts taught  about water conservation, and had students create poems on the topic. Each student then hand-colored a photograph done by Ms. Leavengood. Each photograph and poem will be documented in a book and displayed in the Kidz Create Gallery.

Students taking a look ancient artifacts....35mm film negatives.

For more information about Ricky Roberts III, you can visit his website.

http://rickyrobertsiii.com/

SPCA field trip

Walker's annual Shelter Night is coming up in December. My students are participating in Shelter Night by creating pieces of art. The art will be auctioned off during shelter night to raise funds for the SPCA. Earlier this month, I took a group of students the SPCA Tampa Bay to take reference photographs for our shelter night art projects. I wanted to give students an opportunity to bond with the animals, in hopes that it would give them a stronger sense of purpose when creating their benefit pieces. We had a wonderful time! I think my students made a few new furry friends during our time at the shelter. Here are some photos from our trip:

Tigger made a new best friend!

Jasper was my favorite. So cute!

I'm pretty sure these animals hit carrot overload after our visit.