S P R I N G 2015
A MAGAZINE FOR COLORADO’S ART EDUCATORS
experience SYNESTHESIA CREATIVE MULTISENSORY JOURNEYS Click below to submit your workshop proposal and learn more! http://goo.gl/forms/qx5GzvI5BV
Workshop propopsals due by May 31st 2015 CAEA Fall Conference * Save the Date *
November 12-15, 2015 - Breckenridge Colorado
In This Issue
6. From the Editor by Vanessa Hayes-Quintana
4. NAEA Press Release, Justine Sawyer - 2015 Pacific Region Secondary Art Educator of the Year
108. CAEA Executive Board and Regional Division Representatives Council Directory
9. I Love Art Teachers! by Mike Carroll
108. CAEA Task Force Chairs and Publications Directory 109. Regional Representatives
Page 41. Pattern Tree Abstractions
12. Jump on the Train! Hayes-Quintana
The CAEA Exhibition by Vanessa
17. Interview with Victoria Eastburn, Director of Education and Programs at the Clyfford Still Museum by Vanessa HayesQuintana
Table of Contents
In Every Issue
20. News from Summit by Sharon Jacobson-Speedy 21. East Central Regional Report by Jane Thomas 22. Gelli Printing - Lesson Plan by Cindy Migliaccio 24. Aboriginal Art: Let Artworks Tell Stories That are Sometimes Difficult to Grasp by Dr. Max Darby, Arts Education Consultant, Workshop Leader, Artist-in-Residence. Melbourne, Australia 37. Jorge Lucero: A Keynote Speaker at the 9th Annual Arts Education Leadership Institute 41. Pattern Tree Abstractions by Kyla Witt 46. Classroom Rescue: Part I by Vanessa Hayes-Quintana 54. Guidelines for College Students Who Observe in Schools by Cathy Moore, Elementary Art Teacher, Sierra Elementary, Elemenatry Art Rep, CAEA
Page 46. Classroom Rescue: Part 1
56. Call for Submissions for Fall 2015 Collage
Page 79. Mixed Media: Black and White and Red All Over
57. Presenting a Workshop at the CAEA Fall Conference by Cathy Moore 62. Fourth Annual Teaching for Artistic Behavior (TAB) Conference by Kelly Beach 64. ArtSource Colorado Summer Institute 2015 with Peter London and Lisa Hochtritt, “The Voice of The Rockies: Exploring The Genius of Place in The Rocky Mountain Region” by Melody Epperson 70. Jeffco Schools Foundation 2015 Equity and Excellence Art Show by Aimee Pickar, Swanson Elementary School, and Phyllis Bubeck, Wayne Carle Middle School 79. Mixed Media: Black and White and Red All Over by Kim D’Arthenay, Soaring Hawk Elementary, Douglas County School District 88. Think 360 Arts for Learning by Kristi Jones 94. The Art of Empathy by Laura Svigel, M.Ed.
COLLAGE is published by the Colorado Art Education Association Elizabeth Licence – President Vanessa Hayes-Quintana – Editor Rosemary Reinhart & Elisabeth Reinhart – Copy Editors Janet McCauley – Layout Design & Production Please submit all materials to: COLLAGE Editor: Vanessa Hayes-Quintana, sayhayes@mac.com
100. 2015 Youth Art Month (YAM) by Justine Sawyer 104. Art of the Everyday: Social Practice and Lived Experience by Connie Stewart with assistance from Donna Goodwin and Eliaz McMillan Cover Art: Tiwi Birds. Artists of the Jilamara Arts and Crafts Centre. Bathurst Island.
COLLAGE is published tri-annually. Submission deadlines for COLLAGE are: Spring Issue - February 1; Winter Issue - October 1; Fall Issue - July 1. Email all submissions to caeacollage@gmail.com. Contributions of articles, photos, and artwork are encouraged. Submissions of text should be emailed as Word documents. Accompanying photographs of student work or students at work is encouraged. Do not include images within a Word document. Images should be in .jpg format and sent as separate attachments. Refer to the attachment and the file name in the body of the e-mail. Whenever possible, include captions and, in the case of photos of original student or teacher artwork, include names of artists. Submitted items may be edited for clarity, length, and format. Opinions expressed in the articles are those of the authors and publication does not imply endorsement. Lesson plan submissions must include lesson objectives, appropriate assessments, procedures, standards applications, and materials.
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Justine Sawyer - 2015 Pacific Region Secondary Art Educator of the Year
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Justine Sawyer
2015 Pacific Region Secondary Art Educator of the Year Reston, VA— The National Art Education Association has named Justine Sawyer, of Denver, CO, to receive the 2015 Pacific Region Secondary Art Educator of the Year Award. This award recognizes the exemplary contributions, service, and achievements of an outstanding NAEA member annually at the Regional level within their division. The NAEA is divided into four geographical Regions: Eastern, Western, Southeastern, and Pacific. The Pacific Region includes: Alaska, Alberta, American Samoa, Arizona, British Columbia, California, Colorado, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, and Yukon Territory. The award will be presented at the NAEA National Convention in New Orleans, March 26-28, 2015. NAEA President, Dennis Inhulsen states, “This award is being given to recognize excellence in professional accomplishment and service by a dedicated art educator. Justine Sawyer exemplifies the highly qualified art educators active in education today: leaders, teachers, students, scholars, and advocates who give their best to their students and the profession.” NAEA is the professional association for art educators. Members include elementary, secondary, middle level and high school art teachers; university and college professors; education directors who oversee education in our nation’s fine art museums, administrators and supervisors who oversee art education in school districts, state departments of education, arts councils; and teaching artists throughout the United States and many foreign countries. For more information about the association and its awards program visit the NAEA website at www.arteducators.org, Justine graduated from Clarence-Lowden High School, Clarence, Iowa in 1989, earned her BA in Art Education from of the University of Iowa in 1994, and her MA in Creative Teaching Through the Arts from Lesley University in 2008. She currently resides in Denver, Colorado with husband, Price and son, Sam and teaches all levels of Drawing and Painting classes from beginning level through Advanced Placement (AP) at the historic East High School in the Denver Public School District. Justine is the daughter of Richard and Deborah Sawyer, and Bonnie Sawyer of Clarence, Iowa and the granddaughter of Charlene Pottebaum of Mechanicsville, Iowa.
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From the Editor
From the Editor
by Vanessa Hayes-Quintana From Left to Right: Patrick Fahey, Pacific Region Vice President; Justine Sawyer, East High School; Elizabeth Licence, CAEA President
CONGRATULATIONS, Justine Sawyer!!! To begin, I want to congratulate Justine Sawyer for receiving the Pacific Region Secondary Art Educator of the Year award. Congratulations, Justine! Last fall, Justine received the 2014 Colorado Art Educator of the Year award. Along with other recipients of state-educator-of-the-year awards, she was eligible for the Pacific Region Art Educator of the Year award. In March, Justine received recognition for her accomplishment at the National Art Education Association convention in New Orleans. I greatly admire Justine’s integrity and grace. She is such an extraordinary representative for CAEA and Colorado!
This summer, Ben Quinn and Jenny Gawronski are organizing mini-workshops in Colorado’s more remote regions in the south and in the mountains. These mini-conferences will emulate the metro-area spring conference. If you are interested in heading a mini-conference in your region, such as the Western Slope or in the north, contact Elizabeth Mahler Licence at caeapresident@gmail.com. Look out for these great professional development opportunities coming soon! What better way to fill a summer than with making art?
Mini-Conferences
Now that spring is here, we are already knee deep in Fall Conference planning. Some of you have already submitted great workshops on the theme Experience Synesthesia. (Don’t worry, no one can pronounce it.) Synesthesia occurs when the experience of sensations or cognition in one realm triggers sensations or
Arapahoe Community College will be hosting Art For Us – our spring conference – once again this May! CAEA is working to enhance members’ benefits in all aspects of education.
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Fall Conference
Collage As you are reading Collage, you are likely using your desktop computer. If not that, then, you are either on your mobile device or your tablet. Also, it’s likely you’ve spent an average of five and a half minutes reading the articles and finding great art ideas. What I find exciting, however, is that you could be reading this in another country. Our new online server tracks access to Collage. Isn’t it just super cool that our magazine has been read in over ten countries?!? This is seriously great! Not only that, the sample of countries is quite diverse. Besides readers from the U.S., people from New Caledonia, Japan, Portugal, Turkey, Netherlands, Canada, Australia, Peru, and Nigeria have accessed our material in Collage. You should all be so pleased with the work you have done to create such an amazing magazine. Keep sending in your ideas and your articles. People love to see the great work you are doing! Patrick Fahey, Colorado State University, NAEA Pacific Region Vice President
Isn’t it just super cool that our magazine has been read in over ten countries?!? cognition in another realm. Just imagine what you can do with multi-sensory fun. For example, think of Wassily Kandinsky’s ability to perceive color through the experience of listening to music. Think Alton Brown meets Pablo Picasso meets the B-52s meets… make something up! We will have some great people creating synesthesia with us this fall: musicians, actors, and a physicist, just to name a few. Be sure to submit your workshop before the end of May! To learn more, go to www. caeaco.org and click on the workshop submission link. Also, check out Cathy Moore’s article in this issue: “Presenting a Workshop at the CAEA Fall Conference.” Also, don’t forget to give yourself an art brain-break. Spring is crazy busy for us and we need to nurture our inner artist. Submit your workshop proposal, then go make something cool! Also, look for the Fall Conference Program Book coming out this summer. You will have the tools you need to advocate for your attendance!
Jody Chapel, East High School, presenting digital journals at the 2015 NAEA Convention
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Making Art Now on to art making. Summer is coming quickly. Amidst your springtime fury, spend some time thinking about what summertime means for you. How are you going to recharge? How will you reconnect? Summertime often reminds me of sewing dolls with my grandmother in her Los Angeles backyard. As I gazed at the sky with eyes closed, streams of light scorched the silhouettes of palm-fronds through my eyelids. The lush tropical plants on her tiled patio banked an Olympic-sized swimming pool. I loved that water! Cool blue laps extinguished the sizzle on my legs. My fingertips tickled the smooth surface as I slowly coaxed myself in deeper. The heavy air carried the hum of the tiki hut, then, with a quick icy dunk, my being was engulfed in still silence. Grandma’s house is gone. But summertime brings the beach and the ocean every year. I’ll be painting sea shells dug from the sand or the million shades of ocean. And maybe making some dolls. Have a great summer making art!
I greatly admire Justine Sawyer’s integrity and grace. She is such an extraordinary representative for CAEA and Colorado!
Honoring Justine Sawyer at the 2915 Pacific Region Awards Ceremony. From left to right - Paula Rowinski, Gwen Ahlers, Robin Wolfe, Patrick Fahey, Justine Sawyer, Vanessa Quintana, Elizabeth Licence, Jody Chapel
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I Love Art Teachers! by Mike Carroll
So…I went to the CAEA conference. Do you know what was the absolute best thing about the event? The fact that I was able to talk to people that think like I do! One of the things that I like to do is to get student art out into the public. I heard from other teachers about how they got in touch with their communities to support art in the public schools. Things like getting in touch with the local libraries to place displays in the children’s section. It’s simple. It’s free. Some teachers talked about businesses, restaurants, and other public buildings that were willing to display student art in the same way. Sometimes the businesses were looking for opportunities to support young artists, but were waiting to be asked. Most of the time, when I started teaching, I waited to be asked if I wanted to participate – now it seems the tables are turned. Businesses want us to ask them!
When one of my students was chosen as the winner, they came to our school and presented the award to my student in front of her entire class! Collage Spring 2015
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The Golden Hotel tells us that their clients ask “When is the next holiday card coming out?” because they love the art on the student cards so much! Recently I got lucky and a local hotel, the Golden Hotel, contacted me about a “Greeting Card Contest.” They have been contacting the Golden schools for the past couple of years to do this contest. All of the entries are hung in the lobby of the hotel for the month of December and the managers of the hotel choose the winner. The winner gets their card design printed and it is sent out to all of the hotel’s clients! When one of my students was chosen as the winner, they came to our school and presented the award to my student in front of her entire class! This was so cool! The student got some copies of the professionally produced greeting card, a gift certificate for the hotel restaurant, and some other fun stuff too! YES! BUSINESSES WILL SPEND THIS KIND OF MONEY ON OUR STUDENTS! The Golden Hotel tells us that their clients ask “When is the next holiday card coming out?” because they love the art on the student cards so much! Look, in this day and age of teacher evaluations, school-based budgeting, and PTA-influenced school decisions,
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doesn’t it make sense to be as popular with the community as possible? By getting student work out in the public, I feel like I am killing two birds with one stone. My students get some really cool recognition that goes beyond putting their work up on the wall in the school (which is also really important), and our students and schools participate in the community in ways that build good rapport. When the community supports what art teachers are doing, the Board of Education and the superintendent have more on their plate to consider when determining the value of our art programs. If you are reading this, then I know that I am preaching to the choir when I say this, but GET YOUR STUDENTS’ WORK OUT IN THE PUBLIC! It does make a difference!
Venues to display your students’ work in public are out there. It usually only takes a couple extra hours per year to display in one or two spots, but the rewards are phenomenal!
If you don’t already do this, start looking. Venues to display your students’ work in public are out there. It usually only takes a couple extra hours per year to display in one or two spots, but the rewards are phenomenal! Especially, you’ll see rewards if you make the extra effort to make sure that you mention the display in the school newsletter, or post a sign about the display outside the art room, or even send a newsletter with information about the display to all the students’ parents. After I arrange an art show, I usually make sure to attend the PTA meeting and announce the event to everyone there. I announce it to all the teachers at the next staff meeting and encourage them to put it in their next newsletter home. It is easy to tell and teach kids that art is a part of the world and is what makes us human, and that art is not just something that is in the world or what some humans do. As the last CAEA conference taught us, art is an instinctual part of being human. It is harder to convince parents and the general public of this fact. By getting art out there, maybe more people will see the truth and significance of what we do.
I attend the PTA meeting and announce the event to everyone there. I announce it to all the teachers at the next staff meeting and encourage them to put it in their next newsletter home. • Collage Spring 2015
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Jump on the Train! The CAEA Exhibition by Vanessa Hayes-Quintana Kanon Gallery
As some of you know, the Colorado Art Education Association (CAEA) sponsors a member art exhibi-
tion every year. This exhibition has morphed in various ways over the years. Most recently, our good friend Michael Cellan has reinvented the CAEA Exhibition and curated an outstanding show of our teacher work. (Well, your work, that is!) In 2013, he partnered with our Theory Loves Practice friends at Metropolitan State University of Denver and that partnership culminated in a show at the Center for Visual Arts on Santa Fe in Denver. This last year, Michael has trudged all across Colorado, packing and unpacking our wonderful show in a variety of venues. Michael knows that deep down we are all artists. He is passionate about keeping the artist alive in all of us! A few years ago, Michael had a great idea. He thought that if teachers were compelled in a meaningful way to create something new, we could use this as a catalyst for making the CAEA Exhibition spectacular. He asked, “How can we make this show better?” “What if we got art teachers making more art?” “What if we changed the trajectory of the show into a charge of art making that changes over time, embracing the art making process we teach each day?” “What if, instead of having a juried show where people pay to participate, we open the show to all CAEA members free of charge as a benefit, no juries?” He thought that a process-oriented show would be engaging over time. He was right. He also thought that if teachers felt motivated in this way, the work would be of outstanding quality. Again, he was right. Michael knew that art teachers would produce their best work for the masses tho rabidly consume. So far, he has been right again! I believe Michael should definitely be pleased with his efforts in getting us all to make more art!
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Diane Wright
Angie Willsea
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Kate Claassen
Jane Thomas
The 2014-15 show has made appearances all over Colorado. The wagon train began in July at the Kanon Gallery on Santa Fe in Denver. Then, we packed up the show and Michael took it to the Breckenridge Theatre Gallery where it was on display during our Fall Conference. He also took the show to the Adams State University Snook Gallery in Alamosa, then to the Bridge Gallery in Colorado Springs. It is currently scheduled to be up at the University of Northern Colorado’s Mariani Gallery this spring. Michael has secured a permanent spot for our exhibition at the Mariani Gallery on a yearly basis. Right on, Michael!! The photographs accompanying this article represent some of the work from the 2014-15 show. Kick the dust off your boots and get raring to create! Soon, Michael will need to upgrade to a railroad car to haul this art all around the state! For now, he is currently cooking up another great process project for us to get lost in! Look for the can of soup he’ll open for us next! You are all going to love it!
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Joyce Baker
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Interview with Victoria Eastburn, Director of Education and Programs at the Clyfford Still Museum by Vanessa Hayes-Quintana
Victoria, tell us about your role at the Clyfford Still Museum. I am the director of education and programs, and I oversee our public programs such as concerts, gallery talks, films, and lectures for adults as well as our tour guides, interpretive technology program, and education initiatives like school and teacher programs. I have worked with students and teachers in museums around the country, and earned a Colorado teaching license through the Stanley British Primary teacher preparation program here in Denver. Describe your education program at the Clyfford Still Museum. inStill Gallery Experiences are immersive museum visits unique to a single-artist museum. Departing from standard museum tours, inStill transforms the galleries into a classroom combining the best of contemporary classroom practice with the best of museum education techniques in a “workshop model” lesson. These experiences facilitate students’ own thinking about the art while building interpretive skills and visual literacy. Students do most of the talking during inStill, and the Museum’s professional team of gallery teachers facilitates hands-on, standards-aligned lessons in the gallery setting. Students participate in a combination of deep looking, inquiry, writing, and discussion. Hands-on activities and small groups are used to address various types of learners, integrating art, literacy, and humanities. The program is based on work we did with local students and teachers, called the inStill Project, a collaborative research and development workshop with a focused group of Denver-area schools during the fall semester of 2012. Museum staff and teachers worked together over the course of the multi-visit program to create thematically integrated, standards-aligned lessons for their class’s museum visits. Students participated as creators and collaborators in the museum visits – their observations, reflections, questions, and learning shaped the type of experiences we currently offer. By building our programs using collaborative work with Denver-area schools, we hoped to provide visiting students with deep, meaningful learning experiences that carry far beyond our walls. We are continually working with the community to evaluate and refine the program, in hopes of offering the best experience possible.
Students do most of the talking during inStill, and the Museum’s professional team of gallery teachers facilitates hands-on, standards-aligned lessons in the gallery setting.
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Many teachers thought it really empowered the students to trust them to use materials in the galleries, and to use those in tandem with exploring original works of art. What kinds of subjects do you integrate into your sessions with students? How do you do this while still making art the centerpiece of the learning experience? Our approach is designed to facilitate student interaction and engagement to build relevant – and transferrable – 21st century skills such as critical thinking, problem solving, and communication. inStill lessons relate to Colorado and national academic standards in multiple areas, allowing a teacher to plan a visit to the Museum even if his or her focus is on literacy or social studies. Three “enduring understandings” guide the inStill curriculum: Art Language; Artistic Vision and Voice; and Art as a Reflection of Human Concerns. Teachers may choose from multiple lesson topics including World War II and Abstract Expressionism; Historical Focus: The Great Depression; Making Connections: Art and the World Around Us; Making Meaning: Questioning; and Choices Artists Make. We believe that by focusing on enduring understandings, students will learn ideas that are transferrable to other types of art museums and settings, and build their own interpretive skills and visual literacy this way. Exploring and understanding the art of Clyfford Still happens as a result of exploring the big ideas. While we want students to learn about Clyfford Still, we think it’s even more important, perhaps, to encourage students to be metacognitive about the art-viewing process: “How did I approach looking at a work of art I don’t understand? What strategies did I use today that helped me think more deeply? Can I use these if I encounter art like this again somewhere else?” Do your museum educators teach these programs outside the museum? At this time, we do not have a formal off-site program, although, when requested, we do deliver programs off site when available. Do students create art during their visit? Several of our gallery activities include art making; however, the activities are mostly used for building background knowledge. So, in the lesson “Choices Artists Make,” for example, students use authentic materials Clyfford Still would have used, such as construction paper and Conté crayon, to scaffold the experience of exploring choices Clyfford Still would have made when viewing the artwork. We employ “activity-based learning” in the galleries so that students are making things and using the activities to understand the artwork versus completing art activities in a separate space after the gallery experience. We found this to be something that had real impact on students and teachers when we evaluated the program; many teachers thought it really empowered the students to trust them to use materials in the galleries, and to use those in tandem with exploring original works of art.
While we want students to learn about Clyfford Still, we think it’s even more important, perhaps, to encourage students to be metacognitive about the art-viewing process.
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How much time do your sessions take to complete? inStill Gallery Experiences are 90 minutes from start to finish, which includes time for arrival, short communitybuilding, and debriefing. Many districts limit bus access or field trip time. Is there anything the museum does to support these restrictions? We offer reimbursement for bus funds up to $150 to schools who express need. How much does it cost for schools to take part in your programs? In order to best serve the community, our program is also 100% free of admission costs or fees, which we hope helps enable teachers to bring their students here. Does the museum have any special projects coming up that teachers would like to know about? inStill is an evaluation-based program – we are continually assessing it from multiple perspectives to understand how best to serve students and capitalize on the unique potential a single-artist museum offers. We love to get feedback from teachers, students, and have even invited administrators to observe the program to learn the ways in which they would like to use the museum. Thanks for sharing, Victoria! We hope CAEA members can connect with your program in a meaningful way!
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News from Summit by Sharon Jacobson-Speedy
To all CAEA members who are actively teaching and using Colorado State Standards: Let us open a discussion, via , about effective ways to involve students in critique. Include a short or long “ramble” on activities that pertain to critiquing and standards. Images would be a great addition. Other than ski slopes being a little firm right now, the semester is moving along into the fourth week. Hard to believe the year is over halfway gone. Since I am not a huge writer, I am taking inspiration from Michael Cellan’s “Ramblings” articles. At the end of last semester, I moved around some groups of students as they worked on a final critique and evaluation assignment. I watched the students writing and interacting as they viewed the finished group projects. This was not a “test” and I was excited to see them talking about what they were seeing and writing. Yay!
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Wouldn’t it be great to see a conversation started in Collage about teachers’ ideas on critiques and standards? Let’s put it out there and see if anyone responds. To all CAEA members who are actively teaching and using Colorado State Standards: Let us open a discussion, via Collage, about effective ways to involve students in critique. Include a short or long “ramble” on activities that pertain to critiquing and standards. Images would be a great addition. What a way to end the year and have some ideas for next year!
When I saw a “task party” during a random exploration on the Internet, I got the idea for the last sculpture project, which is usually a group-installation assignment. So I assigned each group of students a task, which included a project assignment and a connection to the other groups’ tasks.
Do you ask students to stand up and present? Do you have interactive activities that get the same results and are more fun and engaging? Are you using technology and digital means for critique activities? How are you asking and involving students in evaluating, reflecting, and assessing artwork?
As I watched the interaction, I began to think about what other art teachers might be asking students to do for final evaluations of work and how critiques looked in other art classrooms.
Let us see if anyone will accept the challenge and share….
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East Central Regional Report by Jane Thomas There has been a lot of collaboration and celebration around Colorado Springs this quarter. CAEA members and other art teachers from the area have been having monthly Happy Hour events at the Bristol Brewing Principal’s Office in the old Ivywild School. What a great way to toss around new ideas and share information about what is happening in the arts in our area. The end of February saw not only a happy-hour gathering but also an ArtLuck. The ArtLuck combined good food and good beverages with a creative outlet as well. Everyone who participated had a blast, made some great art, and ended the evening by attending CAEA’s traveling art exhibit “Expanding The Possibilities” at the Bridge Gallery. We try to have an East Central get-together every month and everyone is invited. If you haven’t been getting the emails, please contact me at jthomas@cmsd12.org and I’ll add you to my list. The more the merrier, so come on out and join us.
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Gelli Printing – Lesson Plan by Cindy Migliaccio
Level: Middle School, Grade 8 Focus: Monotype Printmaking and Multimedia Art Objective: To learn about the contemporary new art medium of Gelli monotype printmaking. The Gelli
surface enables one to do monotype printmaking without a printmaking press. Students will learn about the concept of layering and creating contrast, and drawing on the print for added imagery. Students may also extend the project by adding handmade stencils and gold leaf.
Art Elements: Space, shape, texture, line, and color Art Principles: Movement, unity, emphasis, and harmony Vocabulary: Printmaking, monotypes, layers, color scheme, texture, shape, variety, negative space, viscosity,
contrast and composition
Supplies: 6”x6” Gelli plate (or use the size you have) Pencils Scissors Tag paper or manila folders Various texture-making tools such as used gift cards, bubble wrap, string, pressed leaves, acetate plastic, stencils, netting. Acrylic paint Brayers Newsprint Printmaking paper Gold-leaf materials Liquitex gloss pouring medium Paper: Prints can be made on many types of paper such as sulphite drawing paper, any smooth absorbent paper, 90-lb. drawing paper, colorful tag paper, Canson Edition bright white paper, Arches Cover printing paper, cheap watercolor paper.
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A great resource for inexpensive art materials is the Art Shoppe in Aurora, which has a wholesale section of the store for teacher orders. (The Art Shoppe is located at 13686 E. Alameda Ave, Aurora, CO 80012. The phone number is 720-606-5822.)
Artists Who Inspire Me: Rex Ray: http://www.rexray.com/ Flora Bowley: http://braveintuitiveyou.com/ Jessica Swift: http://www.jessicaswift.com/ Emilia Van Nest Markovich (a local artist): http://www.emiliavannestmarkovich.com/ Carla Sonheim Make sure to “Like” the Gelli page on Facebook. Many fine artists are using Gelli plates.
Steps I Take with My Students to Get to the Final Print: Day One: I show videos from YouTube to get the kids warmed up to the idea that this is new and
amazing. I bring in a frame print I purchased from Carla Sonheim. If time allows, I show them slides of some of my favorite artists’ work. We talk about the different phases of art making: introducing/inspired phase – idea phase – problem solving phase – development phase – final-piece phase – reflection phase. Of course, some of these steps run into the next class period.
Day Two: I have my students use previously mixed acrylic paint colors that are stored in small condiment
cups. I tell the students to choose a color scheme (we study color at the beginning of the semester). We get out old brushes. I demonstrate. Students use this time as a warm-up to Gelli printing and paint consistency. On this day, students use plastic stencils that they have to wash. My students also learn how to clean the Gelli plates properly.
Day Three: We make our own stencils out of old file folders. I have the kids keep their painted stencils
to add to their work later. We spend time looking at the prints made the day before. We talk about “ghost prints.”
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The art of revision
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Collage Spring 2015
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Aboriginal Art
Let artworks tell stories that are sometimes difficult to grasp by Dr. Max Darby Arts Education Consultant, Workshop Leader, Artist-in-Residence Melbourne, Australia
Women story near Kintore. Maisie Campbell Napaltjarri. Acrylic on canvas. 180 cm X 1.3 meters. Note: All photographs used in this article were taken by the author Dr. Max Darby. Apart from the wall paintings, the artworks included are in the custody of the author who acknowledges that no one can privately “own� the ideas expressed and included in works of Aboriginal people. Special care has been taken to not show or make reference to persons who are deceased or works that address stories and beliefs that are sacred and private. All reasonable attempts have been made to obtain copyright clearances where required. Articles such as this can only begin to scratch the surface of a topic as broad as Aboriginal Art. A quick search on the Internet shows that nearly six million entries for Aboriginal Art can be found. In a few hundred words the best that can be achieved here is to share works related to the historical/cultural contexts in which they were made and are viewed, and to share with you some artistic qualities contained in contemporary works. As mentioned in the heading at the beginning of this article, the artworks can tell their own stories. Knowing a little about how Aboriginal stories are interpreted, however, helps considerably.
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Hopefully, seeing some of the works included in this article will encourage you to investigate further, to learn more about some of the stories and to develop an appreciation for a unique and perhaps unknown form of the aesthetic. Not all Aboriginal stories are shared and many have meanings not understood by non-Aboriginal people.
Women story near Kintore by Maisie Campbell Napaltjarri of the Central Desert area in Australia is an example of an artwork that tells a story. It’s the story of the crucial women’s role in gathering food and celebrating the success of the search. Undertaking this task isn’t just about doing menial work while the men do something more important. It’s a ceremonial role and one that is celebrated seriously because the physical and spiritual life and well-being of the people depend on it. The white dots represent the paths and trails of the women and the circles represent water holes or sacred places. The close cluster of white dots in groups to the far left of the painting represents the women dancing and singing together in lines. What at first may seem like an abstract arrangement of dots and colors is, in fact, an aerial interpretation of an important function of women in the life of the community. It’s part of their story. And, it’s not abstract at all; to Aboriginal people it’s reality because it’s not about life, it is life. The close-up of Women story near Kintore later in this article provides greater insight into the manner in which it was painted. Guide lines are seldom used in dot paintings and much of the planning is intuitive and spontaneous. In some large works, up to four women artists can work on a painting at the same time. Looking after your own section is moderated by what others are doing. In a way, rather than work in a carefully planned order, the arrangement is more of a “felt” order. With so many wet dots of paint in a given area, it is inevitable that some will smudge or appear slightly imperfect in appearance. But that is the nature of dot painting. Besides, the painting is just an avenue to share the story, not the story itself.
Close-up of Women story near Kintore.
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The use of different art forms in Australian Aboriginal culture to express and interpret ideas relating to traditional stories dates back tens of thousands of years. Included among these art forms are dancing, singing, making hand tools and implements, weaving baskets and carrying bags, and making rock or wall paintings and engravings. The visual forms range from the more enduring rock engravings and paintings to the relatively ephemeral forms such as body painting and decoration, bark and ground paintings, ceremonial sculptures in wood, and a vast array of ritual and utilitarian objects made using fibers, shells, seeds and feathers. Many of the rock art engravings precede the building of the Pyramids and Stonehenge by thousands of years. Because Aboriginal artists use materials readily available to them, a diversity of regional variations abound. Paintings on bark are common in Aboriginal-owned Arnhem Land (at the top end of Australia) as are paintings on rocks and walls. This example (below) of a Mimi Stick Figure located at Ubirr Rock in Kakadu National Park was painted in natural ochres made from grinding rocks. Oil from Eucalypt trees was often used as a binder to the powdered dust colors. Mimi figures can be described as “fairy-like” beings of Arnhem Land having extremely thin and elongated bodies. They are said to have taught Aboriginal people to cook and hunt for food.They are like humans but live in rock crevices and also live in a different dimension.
Kakadu has an enormous and rich collection of Aboriginal wall paintings. Being located within a National Park provides strong protection against deliberate or accidental damage. And, being in such a park surrounded by an amazing tropical wildlife and vegetation allows visitors to view original artworks in the context in which they were created. The park is just a three-hour drive south of Darwin, the Capital City of The Northern Territory at the top end of Australia. Named after Charles Darwin, the city was bombed heavily in early February 1942 by planes from aircraft carriers that had taken part in the attack on Pearl Harbor just two months earlier in December, 1941. No wonder there was confusion about where the Japanese fleet went after Pearl Harbor. The Port of Darwin, which was considered an important strategic port in the Pacific area, was totally destroyed by the incoming waves of bombers with the loss of an estimated 250 lives – rather large given the population of Darwin then was around 5,200 people! This photograph shows the lovely Aboriginal interior of the Catholic Church of St. Therese on Bathurst Island (part of the Tiwi Island group), which reported the incoming planes before they arrived.
Interior of the St. Therese’s Church on Bathurst Island.
Mimi stick figure. Ubirr Rock, Kakadu National Park.
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I mention Kakadu and Darwin early in this article because the whole north of Australia is such an important site for the exploration of examples of Aboriginal, Tiwi Island and Torres Strait Island artworks related to the long-term history of Australian Aboriginal Art and Culture. Over 40,000 years of continuous occupation and ownership of the land in Australia has resulted in thousands of wall images painted by Aboriginal people during that time. Kakadu is not the only such site. Hundreds of other locations exist across Australia including some that have never, or seldom, been seen by non-Aboriginal people. This is particularly true of thousands of sites in Western Australia. An example of these has been included later in this article. New locations are constantly being discovered but many are inaccessible due to their remoteness. Some also are legally inaccessible to non-Aboriginal people without permission since they are set aside solely for Aboriginal use and full ownership.
Ubirr Rock looking across the Kakadu flood lands.
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During the “wet season” between November and March, there is enormous flooding of the grass plains caused by high temperatures (30 to 50 Celsius) – and large amounts of water in the air. People who lived around Kakadu through the years were restricted in travel and spent much of their time living in large caves or under over-hanging rock shelters. These places became kind of socio eco-centers. Much art was created on the walls related to the spiritual ancestors and stories shared by people, and to the major sources of food available. Fish and local animals feature heavily in these natural galleries of artworks, some because they belong to the traditional creation stories and some primarily because they are major food sources. Two such locations with World Heritage status are Nourlangie Rock and Ubirr Rock. The artworks found in these places provide a fascinating record of Aboriginal life over thousands of years with paintings providing one of the longest records of any group of people in the world.
Rock Art Gallery at Ubirr Rock in Kakadu.
Detail of Rock Art Gallery at Ubirr Rock in Kakadu.
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Enormous galleries of rock art can be found at Ubirr Rock in Kakadu. The site is world class which is one of the reasons it has World Heritage status. Naturalistic paintings of animals, traditional x-ray depictions and paintings of early contact with non-Aboriginals can be found there. There is even a wall painting showing a “white� man carrying a gun and one wearing a hat (see detail above). For Aboriginal people art is seen as an expression of cultural identity and connection to the country rather than something to make things look more attractive. Stories about creation and connections to the land have been told and illustrated through the ages. Since the act of painting these images is generally more important than the paintings themselves, you might even see evidence of older paintings being covered by younger ones. Interesting parallels might be drawn here between rock art and Street Art. Aboriginal people respect the connection of their group to the land and do not misuse it. Hunting is solely about survival, not for fun. Crocodiles, for example, are highly respected although small ones are sometimes eaten. The crocodile population was almost totally decimated by non-Aboriginal people during the 1970s as a result of recreational and commercial hunting. They are now protected. The Kakadu waterways are the home to thousands of estuarine saltwater crocodiles, some of them over five meters in length. Other animals hunted for food and included in wall galleries include turtles, kangaroos, lizards and goannas, birds and fish.
Rock Art Gallery from Raft Point in the Buccaneer Archipelago in Western Australia. Many of the characteristics of these works from a remote Western Australian wall gallery are similar to those found on the wall at Ubirr Rock in Kakadu although they were created about 2500 kilometers away. The gallery here is also located under a rock canopy that protected people during the wet season. Along with the fish-like images, there are figure-like forms that can be seen on the roof of the canopy and on the wall to the right. These are known as Wandjina. These are Aboriginal mythic beings, both male and female, which have individual names. They are associated with fertility and spirit children and with the power to bring the cyclonic and monsoonal rains on which all life relies to the Kimberley region in northwest Australia.
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Detail of Wandjina and fish on rock wall in Western Australia. While some of the ways of art making might be common to Aboriginal people, individual groups have their own stories to pass on about creation, spirits, creatures and important locations within their “country.” Aboriginal people do not copy stories belonging to people from another “country” even when they live just a few hundred kilometers away as is the case with artists from around Darwin and those on the Tiwi Islands just an hour’s flight on a light plane away. Aboriginal artists in Central Australia also subscribe to this practice. When asked at a workshop whether it was appropriate for non-Aboriginal teachers to allow students to do Aboriginal-influenced art works, Jungala Kriss, artist and Aboriginal leader from the area around Alice Springs, stated “Aboriginal people don’t own dots and lines. But, they do own their stories. So get non-Aboriginal students to use dots and lines to tell their own stories.” An example of one such project has been included at the end of this article. Traditional historical stories are referred to by Aboriginal people and Tiwi Islanders as Dreamings whereas Torres Strait Islander people refer more to their stories as Legends. The Tiwi Islands are located in the Arafura Sea just 100 kilometers north of Darwin and comprise Bathurst and Melville Islands. While all the Aboriginal peoples of the Northern Territory are distantly related, their artworks are sometimes quite similar and sometimes quite different. The following sculpture and the painting following below, for example, show clearly similar Raak painting techniques (one which relies on crosshatched lines as seen in the close-up photograph).
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Tiwi Birds. Artists of the Jilamara Arts and Crafts Centre. Bathurst Island. 700 cm tall.
Close-up of Tiwi Birds showing the patterned Raak designs.
A lot of wood carvings of birds are made by Tiwi people. The carvings represent birds from Tiwi mythology, which have various meanings. Certain birds tell the Tiwi people about approaching monsoonal rains while others warn of impending cyclones. Other birds, depending on the particular totem of the people, alert the Tiwi people that someone has died in a particular group. There are others still that represent ancestral beings who were, according to mythology, changed into birds. Carved birds are sometimes at the top of pukumani poles (totems), which are placed at sacred burial sites. Traditionally Aboriginal people do not allow these to be photographed.
The two Tiwi Birds shown here were carved into the roots of mangrove swamp trees by people from the Jilamara Arts and Crafts Centre. As a result of being submerged under tidal water for much of the time, they are quite dense and heavy. Like the wall paintings included earlier, they show an interest in natural animal life in the area with which the people have close connections.
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The natural curve of the wood has been used in each work to enhance the long, slender form of the two birds. Birds such as these hunt for small fish among the plants (including water lilies) growing in the water. The colors are reminiscent of many other Aboriginal works in that they are made from natural rock pigments ground and mixed with a natural binder such as oil from eucalypt trees to hold the paint together. Yellow, red and brown ochres are popular as can be seen in the paintings on the sculptural forms. The Raak painting on these two birds was applied using dried twigs rather than brushes. Some of the slight variations in consistency of the thickness of the lines occur when this method of painting is used, as can be seen in the close-up view. A similar method of painting can be seen in the painting below. I observed in amazement the hand-to-eye control exhibited by the artist while this work was made.
Barramundi and long necked turtle with water lilies and water weeds. 2004. Leslie Nawirridj. Acrylic on paper. 42 X 30 cm. Gunbalanya Western Arnhem Land, Northern Territory.
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Painted in the Raak style, Barramundi and long necked turtle with water lilies and water weeds clearly demonstrates the artist’s care and control over his subject. This is both for aesthetic reasons and to show respect for the creatures on which the people relied to survive. Both of these animals are a major food source for people in the northern end of Australia. Leslie has carefully balanced each animal facing opposite directions and has reduced them to similar sizes as a design feature of his work. The colors in this painting, as in the Tiwi Birds, are traditional ochre tones and are easily recognized because of all of these characteristics as being Aboriginal works. In the Central and Western Desert areas of Australia, 1500 kilometers from the Darwin area, ground paintings or drawings in colored sand flourish today as they did in the past. It is from this rich history of symbolism that contemporary dot paintings, such as Angeline Pwerle Kngale’s Arlperre My Country, 2009, have emerged. Usually painted on canvas using acrylic or polyester paint, dot paintings show a non-traditional Aboriginal influence in their use of materials and their “rectangular format.”
Arlperre My Country, 2009. Angeline Pwerle Kngale. Acrylic paint on canvas. 1 X 1.3 meters.
Close-up of Arlperre My Country, 2009. Angeline Pwerle Kngale.
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The area where this painting was created is located about 200 kilometers above Alice Springs in Central Australia. Utopia Station, generally known simply as “Utopia,” is an Aboriginal community from which numerous successful contemporary Aboriginal artists come. Utopia is within the boundaries of a much larger cattle station, Delmore Downs, which has been owned by the Holt family for over 60 years. Arlperre My Country, 2009 was patiently created with many tiny dots, some contained within slightly larger dots. From close up, the complexity of the work is obvious with many of the dots being no more than a millimeter in diameter and many being much less. From a distance, the dots combine to create waves of color with alluring combinations of highlights. The work reflects the artist’s reverence for her country and the practices of living in what can be a harsh land. The topic is about the Bush Plum that dominates Arlperre country on the Utopia Cattle Station. The red colors are indicative of the readiness for the plum to be eaten so the work is about the location of an important food source. The Arlperre people celebrate in ceremony the mythology of The Bush Plum ancestors who travelled to this place and created the Arlperre rock-hole, which is an important water spring deep inside a cave. The women “sing-up” the bush plum, ensuring its fertility for the future, and to teach younger family members of its significance. Other Aboriginal artworks exhibit similar qualities of dot patterns and rich earth colors even when created in quite different locations. Bush Orange Dreaming by Patrick McMillan Tjupurrula, for example, is a contemporary Aboriginal painting made by a Central Desert artist living about 500 kilometers to the west of Utopia. It is a location where rain is scarce and the painting anticipates the coming rains that will ensure a successful crop of ripe bush oranges for the local people. Paintings like these are created to help guarantee the provision of food.
Patrick McMillan Tjupurrula. Bush Orange Dreaming, 1990. Born Santa Teresa Mission, Central Australia. Ochres on canvas. 56 X 70 cm.
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The artist’s explanation of the symbols he included in the painting is that the semi-circular forms in each of the four quarters of the arrangement represent sacred sites. The cross-like pattern form running vertically and horizontally through the center of the painting represents the journeys made through the land to collect bush oranges, while the central circle represents the location of the place where the ceremony to celebrate the growth of the bush oranges is held. This would take the form of eating the oranges and celebratory dancing. An interesting feature that can be observed here is that the whole arrangement is very “map-like” and could be considered an aerial view of a large area of dry sand and earth. Many such works amazingly interpret the nature of a countryside that the artist has never seen from above, in a similar manner to maps. Some works not only show the nature of the terrain but also trails of hunted animals such as emus or kangaroos and waterholes that nomadic people are able to find even after walking over large distances. Stories about such important information would traditionally have been passed on through direct experience with the land and from spoken stories, songs and dances passed on from one generation to the next. As with many other Aboriginal artworks, the topic is about finding food. Sadly, many of the original spoken languages have already been lost. In this short introduction to Aboriginal Art, many of the major Aboriginal art-making techniques have been shown. A range of different kinds of artworks has also been included. The importance to Aboriginal people of telling their stories in traditional and less-traditional ways is quite clear. Hopefully, the works themselves will encourage you to explore other stories and Aboriginal traditions. Maybe, if you visit Australia, you may experience many of the works first hand. In conclusion, the following wall mural, made by primary-aged, non-Aboriginal students during an Artistin-Residence project, allowed students to learn about and be influenced by the beautiful dot paintings of Aboriginal people without copying or trying to tell stories belonging to Aboriginal people. The dots are recycled CDs and old vinyl records and reflect contemporary culture and contemporary stories related to the need to conserve and protect the natural and built environment. The CDs were hand painted by the students and were installed by me. The mural also emphasizes the need to recycle and re-use precious resources and creates a more aesthetic environment. It is strategically placed in the school so that story cannot be missed. In addition, it helps to colorfully promote the value of Art Education within the school. CD wall mural, 2012. Reservoir West Primary School.
Additional CD murals and many examples of student artworks can be found on my free Art Education website www.artseducationguru.com Email: max@artseducationguru.com
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School of
Art and Design LOW RESIDENCY MASTER OF ARTS DEGREE The Low Residency Art & Design Master’s degree is designed for current art educators who wish to build upon their credentials while pursuing development as artists, teachers, and leaders in the field of art education. • Reconnect with your studio practices and develop new teaching strategies • Courses designed to fit your schedule with two summer residencies and courses conducted online • Learn through both expert faculty and practical field application • Discover new resources and contacts • Synthesize your personal talents with curricular interests
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT OUR LOW RESIDENCY PROGRAM, VISIT ARTS.UNCO.EDU/ART-LOW-RES. 36.
Jorge Lucero:
A Keynote Speaker at the 9th Annual Arts Education Leadership Institute Jorge Lucero is an artist and educator currently serving on the faculty of art education at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. When he was hired, he was given an office for conducting school business, meeting with students, and writing up his research. He has opened up this office space as the Jorge Lucero STUDY COLLECTION. The “work narrative” of that move is found in these pages. Lucero — along with long-time collaborator Alberto Aguilar — will be delivering one of the keynote lectures at this summer’s 9th Annual Arts Education Leadership Institute, Art in the Everyday: Social Practice and Lived Experience at the Center for Integrated Arts Education, University of Northern Colorado. The Institute will take place June 9 – 11, 2015.
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Editor’s Note: The following is reprinted with permission from Jorge Lucero’s website: http://www.jorgelucero.com/Pages/studycollection.aspx
The Jorge Lucero STUDY COLLECTION is a modest art library and ephemera archive assembled by artist and educator Jorge Lucero during his various teaching appointments across the Midwest. The STUDY COLLECTION is a roving site that is currently housed in the School of Art and Design (room 127), at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. The STUDY COLLECTION is open to the public during the winter months (approximately mid-November to early March), but only while school is in session. You can visit the STUDY COLLECTION during its singular hour of operation, Mondays from 4 to 5 PM. Browsing, study, quiet reading, and open discussion is encouraged while the STUDY COLLECTION is open. Ceramic mugs are available for free tea drinking during our open hour.
The Jorge Lucero STUDY COLLECTION is a repository for books, journals, and videos on Conceptual Art, performance art, Latin American Contemporary Art, the art of Chicago, collage, art education, curriculum theory, critical pedagogy, critical theory, religion, and philosophy.
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The special holdings of the STUDY COLLECTION recently acquired a twenty-five volume sampling of self-published books by the Chicago based duo Temporary Services. We are also the home to a robust assembly of published works by the performance groups Goat Island and Every House has a Door, as well as an—almost complete—collection of books authored by and about the experimental composer, artist, and teacher John Cage. We are proud to also be holders of a first edition copy of Herman Melville’s Moby Dick, beautifully illustrated by Rockwell Kent (Random House, 1930), as well as a carefully curated assortment of art books in Spanish.
Finally, the STUDY COLLECTION is happy to be the humble home of a hodgepodge selection of important artworks, posters, objects, and tidbits of significance. At the collection visitors can view one of only fifty existing Workboxes, an artist book co-authored by Cupola Bobber and performance philosopher Laura Cull. Other practitioners included in this area of the STUDY COLLECTION are: Alberto Aguilar, Bruce Nauman, Stphanie Springgay, Roger Brown, Janine Antoni, Jay Ryan, Jim Duignan, Panhandle Slim, Liz Born, Yoko Ono, and Charlie Roderick. This part of the STUDY COLLECTION also carries a spectacular wealth of drawings and objects created by Lucero’s children.
From time to time the STUDY COLLECTION also holds exhibits in its onsite gallery Three Clip Gallery.
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The STUDY COLLECTION is non-circulating. It is the primary mission of the STUDY COLLECTION to be a forum for conviviality, especially over these unique items within this particular place and time; therefore we are unable to lend our holdings. Some exceptions can be made on a case-by-case basis. All requests to borrow items must be made in person.
Chief curator, lead educator, and archivist, Jorge Lucero says this about the STUDY COLLECTION: “Sometimes books are heavy, but not if you carry them in small batches and with others”. The Jorge Lucero STUDY COLLECTION holds no special events other than the singular event of being open during its designated time. Visitors to the STUDY COLLECTION have made reasonable suggestions about specific public events that could potentially increase the number of visitors and visibility of the STUDY COLLECTION (e.g. public readings, organized discussions, screenings or listening events, etc.). Although these suggestions are appreciated and understood as coinciding with other models of how similar spaces are normally participated in, the mission of the STUDY COLLECTION is not necessarily to be consumed en masse or to provide purposeful entertainment of any sort. The staff of the STUDY COLLECTION is perfectly at ease with nothing (or the appearance of nothing) happening during the open times of the STUDY COLLECTION.
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Pattern Tree
Abstractions by Kyla Witt
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Grade Level: Fourth Grade Objectives Students utilize color theory and pattern to create a stylized/abstract tree. I can create an abstract tree using color, pattern, and measuring. Â Vocabulary Elements and Principles of Design Abstraction Color Zentangle Pattern Pattern Shape Rhythm Rhythm Standards 1.1.a, 1.2.a, 2.1.a, 2.1.b, 2.1.d, 2.2.a, 3.2.c (See Demonstration of Standards at end of lesson plan.) Activity Discuss what abstraction is and give examples of abstract art. (Compare a real tree to the art we are about to start.)
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Have students measure out and draw a light pencil grid on a 9”x12” paper. The grid is 1”x1.” (Before they begin their final piece, I have my students practice doing one grid on scratch paper and making two trees inside a circle. I have found I get better results.) Have students draw a circle (about 5” to 5 ½” on the protractor) a little above the center (vertically) of the paper and about an inch from the top. Have students draw a tree and then trace over the tree and the grid lines within the trunk and branches with a black felt-tip pen. (I find I like the results better if the circle is not included as part of the tree, just the trunk and branches.) Discuss Zentangle art and what a pattern is comprised of. (I usually demonstrate a few Zentangle patterns and have examples of the final project for students to refer to.) Have students draw various patterns inside the tree trunk and branches, changing at every grid line. Have students copy over the pattern lines with a felt-tip pen. Have students use warm colored pencils inside the circle behind the branches and use cool colored pencils outside the circle. (I have students make the colors solid and heavy.) Have students keep the tree black and white. Have students answer critique questions.
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Demonstration of Learning Students create a presentation-ready, color-correct, and pattern-correct artwork. Accommodations For some students, I need to give out a pre-drawn grid or tree. Sometimes students struggle with pattern and need areas pre-marked. Critique Questions for Fourth Graders What do you like about this (specific person’s) artwork? If you were working on (specific person’s) art, what is one thing you would change to make it look better? Out of all the projects you see, which is your favorite? Why? Who has the best color choice? Who has the most detailed patterns? Who has the best tree drawing? Who has the most clean/neatly done tree? What was easy about the project? What caused you to struggle with this project? Demonstration of Standards 1.1.a. Students can categorize visual information (DOK 1-2) 1.2.a. Students can discuss how characteristics of art [elements and principles] are used in specific ways to create meaning (DOK 1-3) 2.1.a. Students can critique personal works of art and the works of others through multiple modalities (DOK 1-3) 2.1.b. Students can participate in critiques by offering suggestions and recommendations in a positive manner (DOK 1-3) 2.1.d. Students can use aesthetic valuing criteria to discuss works of art (DOK 1-3) 2.2.a. Students can identify and explain how the characteristics and expressive features [elements and principles of design] of art and design are used in works of art (DOK 1-3) 3.2.c. Students can problem-solve the various properties of a variety of tools and materials (DOK 1-3)
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Classroom Rescue: Part I by Vanessa Hayes-Quintana
Kids are people too! You might remember t-shirts worn a few years back that said, “Kids are people too.” Well, in my book, “High-risk kids are people too!” In fact, they’re the most interesting people I know. They haven’t succumbed to the boring stuffiness of adulthood. They’ll tell you they don’t care what you think. Why should they when every other adult in their life has disappointed them? They hoard insights and stories many of us couldn’t imagine living through. Some of them hoard food. They might share with you the anticipated brevity of their life span. Their parents may be in prison, or their siblings abused. They might live with grandma or their family might be a gang and they take care of their own. Some have never really attended school nor do they care to. Some have spent many of their schooling years in treatment centers, in jail, or on the street. They may know how to multiply, but not know how to add. They may know that Columbus sailed from Spain to the Americas, but won’t know the earth is round. They solve problems the old fashioned way, with a fist fight or a shouting match. They tackle misperceptions and frustrations in the same way.
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These high-risk kids didn’t ask to be abused, neglected, or born into poverty and ignorance. They didn’t ask for their developmental disability. They didn’t ask for their developmental disability to coexist with mood disorders or personality disorders. They didn’t ask for parents who don’t understand their conditions, or for parents who are afraid to admit they need extra assistance keeping their child safe navigating this scary world. They didn’t ask to be sexually abused in treatment or to be taught to seek inappropriate physical attention. They didn’t ask for the life circumstances that can make your classroom a bed of chaos and frustration.
Managing students with extremely difficult behaviors, students who need you at every moment of the day for every matter and for everything that has nothing to do with school…. How do you help them?!?!? These students are generally passed through the system, dumped into one educational setting after another. We attempt to connect with them. We attempt to teach them problem-solving skills. We attempt to pull them into the safe fold of our art rooms.
The question I’m asked most often about teaching high-risk students and students with special needs is, “How do you deal with the difficult behaviors?” Managing troubled students in the moment can be daunting. It’s often difficult to find an “entry point” when approaching a student. And, as Keziah Kelsey so keenly pointed out in her TAB (Teaching for Artistic Behavior) address in January, sometimes the “onramp” is long! As you guide students along that on-ramp (which sometimes feels really long), students will sense your sincerity and your caring and empathetic demeanor. They will come around as they assimilate you into their world and sometimes adjust their behaviors.
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I organized this article as a two-part “go-to” tool you can use to more effectively manage difficult behaviors in your classroom. In this issue, Part I addresses a healthy mindset and key understandings. In the next issue, Part II will provide more specific strategies for addressing difficult behaviors as they relate to classroom management, planning, and student/teacher relationships. Hopefully, some of my ideas will help you generate some more of your own! To scaffold Part I, I want to strongly emphasize how important it is for you to understand why behaviors occur. Knowing the purpose or function of behaviors is half the battle of knowing how to address behaviors. This is important! Knowing why students behave in particular ways and why you respond to these behaviors gives you a strong foothold for taking your next step in effectively teaching and responding to students. As with any successful educational scenario, the process of teaching and learning is not one of quick fixes. Consistent, patient practice helps us refine our approach in guiding individuals who operate from their unique life contexts. Part I: The Healthy Mindset and Key Understanding
1. You CAN help your students! Share your passion! Help your students find a purpose! Students with very difficult behaviors are the most difficult to help. But you CAN help them! Discouragement can set in when you rarely see the fruits of your labor. You plant tiny seeds that may take years to sprout. Keep watering! Bring students good and exciting news whenever you can. Share the world with them! Give them something invigorating and meaningful to engage with and look forward to. Connect with them. Help them find and create meaning! Present meaningful and engaging material. Students need to connect with whatever you are dishing out, and it needs to make sense to them. You need to be able to answer their question “Why?” Why should they give a S*$!%?
The question I’m asked most often about teaching high-risk students and students with special needs is, “How do you deal with the difficult behaviors?”
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2. Don’t take it personally! Students’ life experiences and personal difficulties are packed heavy and tight into their confused and growing bodies. They bring all of this invisible baggage to class. Their outbursts and frustrations are not directed AT you. You may simply be in the line of fire. Keep this fresh in your mind; it is up to you to maintain a positive relationship. Even though your experience is personal, you need to remember, don’t take it personally. 3. Strategies may apply, or not, to any given student at any given time and place. What works one day may not work another, or you may find a perfect intervention that works forever. What if something you tried yesterday, or even five minutes ago, doesn’t work now? First, don’t be discouraged. An ineffective or short lived strategy is not a reflection of your teaching abilities. It is, however, another step closer to knowing what WILL work. A student may require you to pull a thousand strategies from your bag of tricks. Keep your bag of strategies full along with a patient and caring attitude. Try new strategies, make adjustments, and remember Key Understanding #2, “Don’t take it personally.” 4. You do not control students. Students make their own choices based on any number of natural and environmental factors. Your guidance is just one more voice they may or may not heed. If a student has made a poor choice and you have done everything you can to direct them in a positive fashion, you’re still on the right track. Trust yourself, keep working with your team, and move forward.
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5. How you speak to your students is probably MORE important than what you say to them. Your body language is more powerful than your words. So are your tone of voice and the tone of the heart with which you speak. Think empathy and patience. Also, it is okay to tell your students, “Hey, I’m having trouble today too. I’m not feeling as patient as I usually do. Let’s work together and see how we can make this better.” Bring yourself to each student’s level, not only physically, but emotionally. This conveys to a student that you can be trusted and that you are genuinely there to help the student. If your tone consistently conveys your demand for compliance, the student will fight you every step of the way. The result in this case is frustration for you both, and nothing is accomplished. In addition, forcing compliance in ongoing disputes puts the burden of work solely upon you. In this case, the student isn’t learning anything and you become exhausted! A little sugar goes a long way! 6. Students must feel physically and emotionally safe before they are able to learn. A thousand high-risk scenarios flash through your mind! Hunger, family or peer conflicts, illness, disabilities, etc. These scenarios usually exist together in multiple combinations. They ALL contribute to a student’s inability to learn and/or behave appropriately. Sometimes you can help a student feel emotionally or physically safe, sometimes you can’t. Knowing which of these scenarios is at work will help you navigate your path. Keep working with your team and move forward. =) 7. Showing empathy and holding students accountable go hand in hand. The best part of holding students accountable is that you can do so and still demonstrate empathy. “Hey Bob, I know it’s hard when others have different ideas about things than you. Everyone’s ideas are okay. Let’s talk about how to let others have their opinion while you still have yours too.” Or, “I know how hard it is to do your work when you have other more important things on your mind. Is there something you do that helps you take your mind off of the bad stuff? You know, if you focus on something you’re interested in or maybe try to focus on your class work, you won’t be so troubled by that problem for a little while.” Or, “I know you’re not mad at me, can we find a place for you to scream out your madness in private so others can work?” Or, “What can I do to help you stay on task?” Or, “Show me what you’re working on.” Or, you can thank a student for exhibiting a behavior before the behavior is exhibited. For example, if you need a student to speak in a quieter voice, say, “Thank you for using a soft classroom voice.” Another example of a way to encourage desired behavior would be to say, “Thank you for using appropriate language.” You want to validate students’ experiences and feelings while also making sure they know that they are being held accountable to rise to an expectation outlined by you or other adults. 8. Give genuine and specific praise. For everything a student does well, for every time the student follows your directions, for every time they need encouragement, give genuine and specific praise. “You did such a great job smoothing the coils on your pot.” “Thank you for walking away from his drama.” “I really appreciate you being a friend to Cody.” “You did such a great job paying attention to the contour.” 9. Feelings are okay! We all have them. Anger, fear, frustration, etc. are all natural feelings. This is a big one! Students may demonstrate a lack of control because they are scared, angry, frustrated, etc. (Remember, students need to feel emotionally and physically safe before they are available to learn.) The objective is to teach students that it is okay to feel angry or frustrated, but that they need to learn how to cope with these feelings in a socially appropriate fashion. Effective and healthy
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High-risk kids are the most interesting people I know. Collage Spring 2015
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intervention requires your calm response to students’ escalated feelings, never reacting with sarcasm or anger. Model the behavior you seek while offering a couple of acceptable choices without attached emotion. This approach helps students see that they can have their feelings and cope with them too. It facilitates the trust needed to help students feel emotionally and physically safe, strengthening the teacher/student relationship and guiding students to the path of learning. “Let’s come rest in the hallway for a few minutes and then we can figure out what to do when you’re feeling better.” “You are welcome to do any of these three tasks. Pick whichever one you like.” Then walk away. “I know you’re upset. I won’t argue with you. I’ll let you make your choice.” Then walk away. Return and calmly inquire about the choice they made. Recently, I asked a student, “How is your choice coming along?” The student’s argumentative response: “Why don’t you go f*!$? yourself.” I said, “I won’t be doing that, however, you are more than welcome to either focus on your work so you can get credit or you can take a break and come back when you are ready to politely participate.” I share this because it’s a real scenario that illustrates the need to remain calm, not take it personally, allow the student’s feelings, and still hold the student accountable. I like to ask students, “Can I ask you a question without you getting angry?” This one question opens the door to a thoughtful discussion, increases trust, and often leads to understanding and positive behavior. 10. Students’ poor behavior ALWAYS serves a function. There are always feelings students deal with that are brought on by their life circumstances. There is always a reason why students exhibit particular behaviors. Find out why (see Key Understanding #6). You need to find out what function the behavior serves. If you learn the function a particular behavior fulfills, you are on your way to determining effective strategies to replace that dysfunctional behavior with a positive behavior. This is where you should really be working with your team! Counselors and case managers should have a good handle on these matters. Your response to students who are hungry and don’t know where they are going to spend the next night will be much different than your response to students who are emotionally unavailable due to a mental illness. 11. Poor behaviors can be replaced with positive productive behaviors. Ask yourself, do I need to rethink my perspective? How do I approach students? Do I treat them as if their problem behaviors are character flaws? Students are not bad. Their behaviors may be bad. Some students are reacting emotionally. Some have not been taught how to behave in certain contexts such as in public or in school. Students have not asked for their life circumstances; your empathy and patience will pay off. Remember, poor behaviors always serve a function for the student. Find out why the student exhibits a certain behavior, and you are on your way to helping the student replace it with a positive behavior. Go find your team and work together!
High-risk kids didn’t ask to be abused, neglected, or born into poverty and ignorance…. They didn’t ask for the life circumstances that can make your classroom a bed of chaos and frustration.
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12. Know yourself, know your students. Be aware of your threshold for tolerating poor behaviors. Know which behaviors are difficult for you to deal with. Understand how and why you react to particular behaviors so you can most effectively address your perceptions and responses. Learn how you can best individually address students. Practice strategies. Know your students. Learn their stories,
connect with their families, connect with the special education team, learn what works and what doesn’t, and move forward. Plan, teach, monitor, and adjust. 13. Be consistent and follow through. Consistency and follow-through equals results! 14. You can never offer enough encouragement! There isn’t enough encouragement in the world for students who hear the word “no” more than any other word. For every redirection or “no” they hear, they need ten pounds of genuine encouragement. Give students specific, genuine praise for everything good. Teach them that they can accomplish what they choose to accomplish. When they rise to the occasion, reward them with your specific, genuine praise. Tag every redirection positively to give them the confidence they need to follow through with tasks you might find easy, but they find nearly impossible. Genuinely praise them for tasks well done. Tell them, “I’ll never ask you to do something you aren’t able to do.” Then tell them, “I knew you could do it!” I’m not speaking about superficially patting students on the back every time they seek approval. I am, however, speaking of a practice of finding the best in the most difficult students and showing it to them. When students are hard on themselves about their work, I like to tell them, “If it’s great, it’s great! You can’t take that away!” When others compliment them on something we have been working on together, I like to say, “I told you so!” But only then! Join me next time for Part II. I will discuss ways I specifically address particular behaviors. I will provide specific strategies for how I address difficult behaviors as they relate to classroom management, planning, and student/teacher relationships. Again, hopefully some of my ideas will help you generate some more of your own!
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“Selfies”
(Exactly where I want to be!) Lesson Plan for Grades K–8
Creating self-portraits is a snap with this easy technique In this lesson plan, facial proportions and features are traced onto clear film, then layered over a background of a student’s own choosing — a location where she or he would most like to take a “selfie.” These self-portraits may go to the moon, the bottom of the ocean, or anywhere else the imagination goes! DickBlick.com/lesson-plans/selfies-exactly-where-i-want-to-be
FREE lesson plans and video workshops at DickBlick.com/lesson-plans. For students of all ages! ®
Alliance for Young Artists Writers
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Visit DickBlick.com/requests/bigbook to request a FREE catalog!
Request a FREE catalog!
800•447•8192 DickBlick.com
California AEA Winter 2015.indd 1
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Guidelines for College Students Who Observe in Schools by Cathy Moore Elementary Art Teacher, Sierra Elementary Elementary Art Rep, CAEA
I love it when a college student writes to me and asks to observe my art classroom! It is flattering to have a soonto-be colleague come and see my awesome artists in action. Over the years, however, I have experienced some disasters. For example, on one occasion, two college students came into my first-grade classroom to observe. They sat in the back of the classroom texting, laughing, and selfieing (a new verb) during the entire 45-minute class! I was furious, and kicked them out. Didn’t they know how hard it is to keep first graders focused…without distractions? I encountered another uncomfortable occasion when a beautiful, young art-teacher-to-be came to observe a sixthgrade class. As she was sitting innocently at an art table, a couple of boys (which turned into about seven boys) were behind her with their eyes bulging like telescope eye goldfish. I casually walked over to see what they were looking at. No wonder she drew a crowd! Her modern-fit jeans were stretched low around her fanny. There was a colorful and large dragon tattoo resting on top of her pink, thong panties (yes, you could tell it was a thong). Didn’t she know that these boys were fresh out of last year’s “Growing and Changing” unit? She was ruining their ability to focus, their ability to make art, and to ever look at another sixth-grade girl again!
It is a good idea to set up the observation times well in advance.
Then, there was the time a college observer asked me where I went for lunch. Lunch is my time to clean up and cut paper. She acted like I was supposed to drive her to a restaurant! Another incident occurred when a student showed up once for an agreed-upon semester of observing, then never showed up again. This college student told her college professor that Cathy Moore
“forgot” to sign her hours sheet! She blamed her no-shows on me! Wow! It was a good thing her professor didn’t trust her student’s word and called me to confirm that her student was an irresponsible embarrassment. Then, there was the time…wait, I’ll stop. You are probably catching on to my point by now. All of these incidents – and others that I’ve heard about – really did and do happen. As a result, I have developed the following guidelines for college students who observe in the classroom, which I wrote for a college art education program not too long ago. I hope you find them useful!
Student observers can be expected to help the classroom teacher. Cutting paper, matting art work, and organizing supplies could be some of the tasks student observers might be asked to do. 54.
It is flattering to have a soon-to-be colleague come and see my awesome artists in action. Over the years, however, I have experienced some disasters. 1. Student observers should always email to set up an appointment with the supervising teacher before they come to observe. If the students write a message, it needs to be clear and concise. The students must include their name, college name, phone number, and an idea of when they want to observe. It’s important to let the teacher know if the student will be observing one time or for an extended period, and what the dates are. If the supervising teacher responds to the email, the college student should confirm the observation as soon as possible, and not leave the teacher in limbo. Also, it is a good idea to set up the observation times well in advance. 2. The student observers must meet with the supervising teacher before they plan to observe. This can be before or after school or even on the day they plan to observe. If this is impossible, the students should find out what grades they will be observing and any expectations the teacher has of them. 3. Student observers must be on time to their appointments and observations. 4. Student observers must check in at the school office each time they visit a school. 5. Student observers must come alone. If they come in twos or with a group, it must be approved prior to their appointment. If there is more than one student observer, each student must act professionally (meaning no joking, laughing, etc.) during the class time. 6. Student observers must bring a letter from the college they are attending which outlines the goals of their art education program. This letter will also have the name, phone number, and email address of the art education contact at their college. 7. Student observers must dress as if they were teaching in the school. Excessive tattoos should be covered up. Student observers should be clean and well-groomed. 8. Student observers should have a notebook, paper, and a writing instrument with them. They should be taking notes and writing down questions while they observe in the classroom. 9. The supervising teacher will tell the student observers ahead of time whether or not it is okay for them to walk around the room and talk to the students. 10. If the student observers have permission to speak to students, their conversation, observations, and questions will be appropriate and brief. Conversations with students will not be disruptive to others in the classroom. 11. Student observers can be expected to help the classroom teacher. Cutting paper, matting art work, and organizing supplies could be some of the tasks student observers might be asked to do. 12. Student observers will turn their cell phones off during their time in the school. 13. It is not appropriate for student observers to wander the hallways of the school unless they have permission from the supervising teacher.
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14. If a school observation falls during the supervising teacher’s lunch, it is the responsibility of the student observers to take care of their own lunch. The students should talk with the supervising teacher about this beforehand. Some supervising teachers work during their lunch and some may wish the student observers to bring their own lunch. 15. Each observation must be documented with a timesheet issued by the college. Student observers will have their name, school, and hours filled out ahead of time before the supervising teacher is asked to sign it. 16. If the observation is ongoing, each observation must be signed off on the day it was completed. It is not the job of the supervising teacher to keep track of the student observer’s hours. 17. Observations should be followed with a “thank you” card to the supervising teacher or teachers.
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18. If the supervising teacher has questions or concerns about a student observer, the supervising teacher should call the college immediately with the concerns.
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Call for Submissions for Fall 2015 Collage Yes, Fall is a long way away. Summer, though, is a great time to reflect and plan for your upcoming school year. We at Collage would like to hear from you! Share your practices and methods from your studio classroom. What ways do you build inquiry with your students into your studio work time? Have you discovered a higher-level way to facilitate student discussions about their art making? Are there some cool “I am so jazzed about how this came out for the students” units and/or assessments you’ve created? Collage is a great place to share them! Deadline is July 1, 2015.
“The Real Purple One with an Olive” Media: Acrylic on Canvas Size: 16” x 20” 2013
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Send submissions to Vanessa Hayes-Quintana, COLLAGE Editor, at sayhayes@mac.com
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Presenting a Workshop at the CAEA Fall Conference by Cathy Moore
If you’ve ever considered presenting a workshop at the CAEA Fall Conference, now is a good time to think through the ins and outs of making a conscious choice to take the plunge. It can be scary to consider that you would be putting yourself “out there” in front of your colleagues, but the rewards of stretching yourself out of your comfort zone are worth it. Here are some answers to frequently asked questions about presenting as well as some information specific to the CAEA Fall Conference on November 12 – 15, 2015. What are the advantages of making a presentation at the CAEA Fall Conference? One advantage is getting $35 off of your conference registration. It doesn’t matter what kind of presentation you make (hands-on, interactive, or lecture) or how long your presentation is (one or two hours), you will get the $35 credit. If you and a partner co-present, however, only one of you will get the discount. Another advantage of presenting is that you will get to expand the possibilities of your teaching and get yourself out of your comfort zone. It’s fun to “shake up your teaching” once in a while and to share something that you are passionate about with others in your field.
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the neurological phenomenon in which stimulation of one sensory or cognitive pathway leads to involuntary experiences and stimulation in another area of sensation or cognition.” Huh? So, it seems that anything you would consider presenting would fit the description.
Are there any disadvantages? You will have to do some planning, a lot or a little, depending on what you are teaching. Also, you must submit your workshop proposal by June 1, 2015, which is more than five months before the fall conference. This early due date is awesome because your pre-thinking and planning will pay off when the conference comes. Actually, you can submit your conference workshop proposal now as all the submission information is currently on the CAEA website. You will have to order supplies for your workshop and bear the out-of-pocket expenses before you collect the fees from your class. Loading and hauling the supplies and materials for your class will add extra work to your conference experience. And, finally, you will be a tad bit stressed (probably) until your workshop is over. How do I know if my idea is good enough to present at the CAEA Fall Conference? This is a question every presenter thinks about, but you really don’t need to worry too much. If you are passionate about a technique, lesson plan, or topic, you will not have to be too concerned. Most art teachers will be just as interested as you are. The title of the 2015 CAEA conference is “Experience Synesthesia,” which is the most out-there title I’ve heard in 22 years. Some explanation from the CAEA website reads: “How can you teach to multiple modalities? Synesthesia is
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The CAEA website goes on to state, “Acceptance of lesson plans is not judged by relevance to the theme.” Great presentations teach participants how to use a certain media in a new way or how to incorporate a new product into the classroom. You may be presenting a lesson plan which you have perfected. But your workshop does not have to be hands-on or media-related. For example, you can offer your expertise in teaching visual/spatial learners or how to differentiate teaching in an art classroom. The sky’s the limit, really. How do I sign up to be a presenter? On CAEA’s website (caeaco.org), you will find the 2015 Fall Conference Workshop Proposal form, which will walk you through the process of submitting your idea for a workshop. Read all the instructions before you begin to fill out the proposal form. You will have to decide on a workshop title and description, both of which will be published in the conference catalog. Try to come up with something that describes what you will be teaching in a concise and catchy way. No pressure though. You will have to decide on how many participants will likely take your class. The number you choose will determine the size of room you will be assigned and the amount of materials or supplies you will be providing for your class.
It is a good idea to bring your own equipment and practice setting it up. Speaking from experience, I like to recruit an assistant to help me set up and, in return, I give them “free admission” to my workshop.
Next, decide if your class will be one hour or two hours and what you will need for your class. I advise bringing your own computer, projector, extension cords, and power strip. Even though some of these can be supplied for you, it is a good idea to bring your own equipment and practice setting it up. Now, you have to decide whether you’ll charge a fee and, if so, how much it will be. You can’t charge more than $10 and you must make sure that participants get their money’s worth. In fact, you will be asked to list exactly what the fee covers for your participants. Remember that your fellow colleagues have already spent a lot of money to be there and they should not be expected to cover your lunches and cocktails during the conference, only the materials they will use in your class. I love that the proposal form also asks you, the presenter, to list any “extra” supplies you would like participants to bring. For example, if you are teaching a class which will include painting, you might want to ask your participants to bring an apron. Okay, it’s summer and I’ve been selected to make a presentation. (Yea! I think.) Now what? Relax. You’ve got a few months to get ready. Start planning right away, however, because when school starts up again in August, your time will be very limited.
You can submit your conference workshop proposal now as all the submission information is currently on the CAEA website. Make a list of what you will need – supplies, electronics, art materials, etc. Begin to work on any lesson plans, handouts, or PowerPoints you will need. Those who will be attending your class will love to have a packet of handouts which may include a brief lesson plan; a list of materials and where to get them; and a list of any artists or websites you’ve used in your lesson planning. I would say that you should always plan on handing out a fairly large packet of information with extensive, useful information. Your workshop students love to leave with a lot of information. If you are presenting with another person, set up a planning meeting to nail down the details of your workshop. Decide who will do what and who will bring what so that you and your partner start out on the same page. Now is a good time to think about how you will set up the room you will be presenting in. Most likely, you will know your room number(s) when your proposal confirmation is sent to you. The majority of the rooms include long tables that are very narrow, chairs, a table or two up front, a pull-up screen to show media, an empty bucket to pour dirty water into, an extension cord, paper towels, and one or two tables in the back of the room. Large presentation rooms may include round tables rather than the long ones. Plan as much as you can as early as you can.
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It’s fun to “shake up your teaching” once in a while and to share something that you are passionate about with others in your field. The conference is here. Yikes! What should I do? Should I be nervous? No, relax. Hopefully, you registered for the conference and check-in runs smoothly. As a presenter, you should also check in with the conference coordinator. Once you’ve done that, you might want to navigate Beaver Run and find your presentation location. Look at your room and decide what you’ll need to do to get ready for your workshop.
No doubt, you have a carload of materials. You should unload your car through the back of the conference center about two hours before your presentation. It’s easiest to drive to the back parking lot and pull up next to the double glass doors. Unload through those doors and park your car nearby. If you need help getting your materials to your workshop site, you can use the conference house phone to call a bellman to bring a cart to help move your presentation materials. There will probably be a workshop going on in your room before your workshop is slated to start, but you will have about 30 minutes to set up when they are finished. Speaking from experience, I like to recruit an assistant to help me set up and, in return, I give them “free admission” to my workshop. I bring 9”x12” colored paper and set the paper on the tables for my participants to use as a placemat and personal work area. I also put out a handout, scissors, paint brushes, glue, water cups, etc. on each table so they’re accessible to each workshop student. At the back of the room, I will have extra materials, reference books, visuals, etc. for participants to use as well. I try to limit the times participants have to get out of their seats in order to get materials. The rooms are cramped and time is limited. Conference goers are teachers/ artists, and most come to make art and to learn new things. Don’t cut their time short by making it difficult for them to create and learn. Also, even if you are slated to teach a class of 30, bring enough materials for 40 people and maybe even 50. It is amazing how conference attendees love to drop in to learn something new, even if it’s for a minute or two. Often, you’ll find teachers/artists working on the floor during a workshop and some
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will share supplies. I try to accommodate everyone who can find a space in my workshop or, at least, give them a handout. I’ll also offer to download my PowerPoint onto their flash drive if they would like. You will most likely sign many conference books so that your participants can get credit for attending your workshop. Lastly, don’t forget to take pictures of your workshop and the art that is being made. It’s good to document your efforts on behalf of your profession. It seems that we are needing to prove ourselves more and more, and teaching at CAEA will surely give you a let-up with your principal, so document it!
Here is a checklist for you as a CAEA presenter: Come up with an idea. Submit a workshop proposal by June 1, 2015 and be approved by July 1, 2015. Meet with your workshop partner if you’re co-presenting. Create your handouts, visuals, and PowerPoints; order supplies, materials, and books for your presentation. Register for the conference with a $35 discount. Start to pack a few days before the conference. Bring everything you think your participants will need, even scissors, tape, pencils…everything.
Check in with the conference coordinator when you get to the conference. Unload your materials a couple of hours before your presentation.
Find someone to help you set up your presentation. They might also help you collect your fee for the workshop. Present your workshop and Relax!!! You’ll do a wonderful job! Oh, don’t forget to document everything!
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Fourth Annual Teaching for Artistic Behavior (TAB) Conference by Kelly Beach
Keziah Kelsey - TAB presenter This January, during the weekend honoring Martin Luther King, Jr., several art educators from Colorado, Wyoming, and New Mexico gathered at the Denver Art Museum to participate in Colorado’s fourth annual Teaching for Artistic Behavior (TAB) Conference. Anne Bedrick, keynote speaker and author of Choice Without Chaos, joined teachers of all experience levels and backgrounds in rich conversations focused on the TAB pedagogy. Dale Zalmstra and Cynthia Barnes, in association with the University of Northern Colorado, put together an amazing conference that reaches beyond the state of Colorado.
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Anne Bedrick - conference keynote speaker
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ArtSource Colorado Summer Institute 2015
with Peter London and Lisa Hochtritt “The Voice of the Rockies: Exploring the Genius of Place in the Rocky Mountain Region” by Melody Epperson Editor’s Note: This article is reprinted with permission from the ArtSource website. See http://www.myteacherpages.com/webpages/acolorado/resources.cfm
Is there a common artistic voice for the Rocky Mountain region? Do artists of Rocky Mountains look at the world the same? How much does the majesty and beauty or the issues and problems of our region inspire artists? This summer we will investigate this idea of “The Genius of Place”.
There is no doubt that we live in an incredibly beautiful place. As we enjoy the beauty and relaxation of our lovely Rocky Mountains, we will also be artistically and professionally challenged to look at the “genius of place”. We will explore how we are part of the “genius of place” and will have the opportunity to investigate this collaboratively with others working in the arts in this region.
As part of the week we will have an inspiring group of local artists, poets and dancers. Lisa Hochtritt from University of Arizona and formerly Chair and professor at RMCAD will guide our investigation along with our very special guest Peter London.
Peter London is a professor emeritus at University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. He holds a Doctorate in Art Education from Columbia University and is a nationally and internationally renowned educator, author and artist. He has written many books, the most well known being No More Secondhand Art: Awakening the Artist Within and Drawing Closer to Nature: Making Art in Dialogue with the Natural World. http://www.peterlondon.us/biography
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Peter’s week with ArtSource in 2013 is the inspiration of this summer’s institute. While in Colorado two summers ago, Peter shared his vision to help ArtSource lead our region in discovering our unique Rocky Mountain Voice. Now he is with us again to share his inspiration and guidance. We are so lucky to have two incredible leaders for this summer’s institute!
Along with our two great leaders, there also will be plenty of time available for your own art making. There will also be plenty of opportunities to connect with colleagues. Don’t miss out on this incredible event.
This summer we will be nestled in the beauty of Allenspark, CO with views of Mt. Meeker at The Highlands Retreat Center. Join this amazing group of colleagues and presenters June 21st-26th. This center has wonderful scenic views, hiking trails and comfortable rooms.
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ArtSource Colorado is an organization that provides a retreat-style week of art making and professional development. Our goal is to promote excellence, foster innovation and develop leadership for art education. After you have attended our summer institute, we provide two additional free professional development opportunities every year as well as leadership opportunities.
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Jeffco Schools Foundation 2015 Equity and Excellence Art Show by Aimee Pickar, Swanson Elementary School, and Phyllis Bubeck, Wayne Carle Middle School
F
ifteen years ago, we developed the Jeffco Schools Foundation Equity and Excellence Art Exhibit. We felt, as visual arts teachers in Jefferson County Public School District, that there was a strong need for art teachers to have a platform to celebrate and display student works of art related directly to topics of diversity, equity, and culture. Thus, the show was born. This unique show encourages art teachers at the elementary, middle, and high school levels to submit two-dimensional or three-dimensional student works of art that connect to the cultural information being learned in the classroom and/or personal stories tied to diversity. K-12 student artwork is displayed with written descriptions that explain the educational process experienced in the classroom as well as personal artist statements that help the viewer understand the student artists’ thoughts behind their creations.
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Phyllis Bubeck hanging artwork at Jefferson County Public Schools Education Center
This show provides an opportunity for the community to view wonderful works of student art while gaining insight into the students’ learning process of the history, culture, skills and techniques that were taught to create their works of art. The show has grown from its early roots at the former Jeffco Equity and Excellence building on 10th and Wadsworth in Lakewood to the current exhibit at the Jefferson County Education Center in Golden. Each year, this amazing show grows with more and more art teachers entering relevant, high-quality student work. In addition, the community continues to embrace and celebrate the show by attending the artists’ celebration and purchasing student work.
Jeffco art teachers Rebecca Jones (left) and Katy Irvin (right) volunteer to hang the Jeffco Schools Foundation Equity and Excellence 2015 Exhibit
Jeffco Schools Foundation Equity and Excellence 2015 Exhibit poster
Jeffco Schools Foundation Equity and Excellence Exhibit founders and coordinators Aimee Pickar (left) and Phyllis Bubeck (right) The Jeffco Schools Foundation has been monumental in providing the funding, support, and exposure for this show as well as for all of the district art shows. Without the Foundation’s support, this show would not have the opportunity to continue. This year’s show was on display until March 31, 2015. The show was located at the Jefferson County Education Center, 1829 Denver West Drive, Building # 27, Golden, CO 80401.
Golden High School student work. Art teacher: Tim Miller
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Mixed Media: Black and White and Red All Over by Kim D’Arthenay Soaring Hawk Elementary, Douglas County School District
Artwork by Jacob2015 Hendee 79. Collage Spring
Artwork by Brody Wilson
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Grade Level: Third and Fourth Grade
Piece by Audrey Shinn (fourth grade) displayed at Art on the Edge Gallery.
Enduring Understanding: Process impacts outcome. In art, process can even trump outcome. What we choose to do as artists and how we do it is essential to how we develop our work over time. Essential Questions/Sustainable Learning: How do artists communicate? How can mixed media promote visual communication? Mixed media allows artists to communicate with flexibility and variety.
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Learning Targets and World-Class Outcomes: Create by exploring a variety of skills and techniques. We utilize a huge variety of skills, tools, and media in art class. This unit focused on our use of monoprinting, collage, and painting. Our “Call To Artists” and theme was “Black and White and Red All Over.” We explored Gelli printing, monoprinting, collage, and painting with a limited palette. We could communicate abstractly or realistically, but we talked about the value of focusing on formal elements in these mixed-media pieces.
4Cs Communication: We communicate throughout the planning, creating, editing, and critiquing process. Collaboration: We collaborate as we generate ideas, problem solve, and work together with materials. Creativity: We create artwork. It is what we do – we are artists. We have been focusing on our openness and courage to explore, and this unit lent itself to that.
Artwork by Paige Powell
Critical Thinking: We problem solve and use critical thinking as we run into difficulty with our design work and our process. And when we are finished, we use critical thinking to see what we might change next time.
21st Century Skills Resiliency: We have to be resilient. We make the most of things, work through happy accidents, tackle problems as they arise, help each other with challenges. Problem Solving: We run into problems with materials, sharing our work space, fixing or solving design issues…. We work through the problems together. Civic Responsibility: We know that others will see our work when it is displayed. When our work is in a public place (gallery, art show, town square), we know it must be appropriate. We need to think of who our audience may be.
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Artwork by Brandon Searle
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Authentic Audience Pieces were selected for display at a local gallery (Art on the Edge). Community members, Art Guild members, and patrons will see our work. Additional pieces may be selected for the district art show.
Materials During monoprinting process: Gelli print plates Acrylic (or tempera) paint Brayer Stamps Textural tools Paint shapers (rubber-tipped brushes) Paper During collage process: Scissors Glue Student-created prints from previous classes Paint Brushes (to paint accents, if desired)
Production Process
Artwork by Sara Chagolla
- My intro addressed how to produce this version of a mixed-media piece, and to ask my students to research examples of mixed-media artwork so they could get a feel for the possibilities. In the beginning portion of the unit, I demonstrated how to produce a print. After all of my students produced their prints, I demonstrated how to collage. - The first few days, I pulled several kids to my back table to monoprint with me while the rest of the class was set up for open studio work. I continued this until I had two prints (one red, one black) for each student in each class of third and fourth graders. - The printmaking table was set up with Gelli plates, paint, paint shapers (rubber-tipped brushes), stamps, and textural tools. Students were encouraged to explore composition by paying attention to formal elements, but also to focus on exploring the process and making discoveries along the way. - After each student had two prints, the following classes were devoted to the collage process and the application of accent paint.
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Artwork by Noah Brown
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Artwork by Andrea Lee
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Assessment When all work was completed, we had a gallery walk, some celebrations of personal bests, and some time to reflect (orally and in writing) on our work. We also used one of the EdLeader Creativity rubrics to assess how we felt we did with our openness and courage to explore. They have also helped me to develop rubrics for what they see as successful within our units.
Third-grade example by Noah Brown
Third-grade example by Tessa Boehm
Third-grade reflection example
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hink 360 Arts for Learning is a nonprofit organization which works to improve learning in and through the arts for preK-12 students and teachers throughout Colorado by providing enriching arts experiences with professional artists. We do this by developing strategic partnerships with schools to help support their arts programs. One such partnership is with Merrill Middle School in Denver. Two of Think 360 Arts Teaching Artists – Eric Dallimore, a visual artist, and poet Adrian Molina (aka Molina Speaks) – will be in part-time residency at Merrill to help support the school’s efforts in creating enriching after-school programming. Merrill is working on creating a sense of community and respect within its student body and the school has partnered with Think 360 Arts to make that idea a reality. Merrill students will sign up for these two after-school offerings, which are free for the students thanks to subsidized assistance from Think 360 Arts to compensate the artists. Dallimore and Molina will be at Merrill for five one-hour sessions, with the common goal of helping students express themselves and learn what it means to be a part of a community. These two programs will complement each other to truly unite these students through art. Molina is preparing his group of students for a poetry slam that will happen during the fifth session, and Dallimore plans on sharing his love of carpentry, visual art, and installation work with the students to produce a collaborative project for the poetry slam. In addition to the students working after school with these teaching artists, Merrill’s Videography Club will document the poetry slam and the visual art installation. Merrill Middle School hopes to use the collaborative momentum from Think 360 Arts programming to invite middle schools from the surrounding area to participate in a united poetry slam led by Molina. Think 360 Arts believes that all students deserve meaningful involvement with the arts and that arts are essential to a complete, well-rounded education and to the development of necessary skills such as creativity and collaboration. The organization offers a variety of standards-based arts integration programs such as artist
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residencies, performances, and workshops. Programs are all customized to meet the needs of the school, teachers, and students. Think 360 Arts has a comprehensive roster of highly trained and vetted professional teaching artists. Think 360 Arts is unique in the breadth of disciplines and depth of artistic experience represented, including dance, music, theatre, creative writing, visual arts, digital arts, and more. In addition to programs for students, Think 360 Arts also trains hundreds of Colorado teachers each year in standards-based arts integration. These programs provide hands-on experiences in various arts disciplines, which demonstrate how teachers can connect the arts to their own content area in order to address higher-order thinking and innovation and increase engagement in the classroom. In 2015, Think 360 Arts anticipates bringing over 300 programs to schools spanning 14 Colorado counties, impacting over 26,000 students and more than 1,550 teachers. For more information, please visit think360arts. org.
Think 360 Arts Teaching Artist Eric Dallimore and students from the Sculpture Art Club at Thornton Elementary pose in front of the installation he helped them create during a Think 360 Arts program.
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Students painting clay tiles as part of a Think 360 Arts program
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Think 360 Arts Teaching Artist Adrian Molina (aka Molina Speaks) creates poetry with students during an in-school residency.
Educators work with Think 360 Arts Teaching Artist Jesse Wilson during a day-long professional development workshop, Practices in Arts Integration.
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Think 360 Arts Teaching Artist Michael Gunst helps a student create a mask.
Masks created by students during a Think 360 Arts in-school program.
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Students screen-print their own works of art during a Think 360 Arts workshop.
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The ART of Empathy
by Laura Svigel, M.Ed.
Having empathy toward one another has become a key focus in my classroom this last year. And finding ways to incorporate this message into my curriculum has been a wonderful journey and exploration. I was inspired to create this lesson by an article I read in an online journal titled The Empathy Mirror. The article shared a story of a mother’s loss, and her road to forgiveness. In 2004, a Palestinian woman named Robi Damelin wrote a letter to the mother of the man that had killed her son during an act of war. This woman reached out across political, social, and cultural differences to try to make sense of the violence that had affected both women and to look for a mutual understanding between them for the hope of peace in the future. This article resonated with me, and made me think about how the differences between my students seem to set them apart rather than bring them together to make our classroom a community. And, with too many acts of violence being committed within our schools, I needed to pay attention to this. Early on in my career, I was stunned to learn that by the end of the semester most of my students still did not know the names of their peers in my classroom, even though we had all spent close to 45 hours together over the course of the term. I needed to change this behavior and plan activities and ways for my students to get to know one
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another, and not just on the surface, but be able to build a classroom community of trust and understanding towards one another, that would hopefully transcend the walls of my classroom into the school and community beyond our building. I need my students to create compassion for their peers and break down the perceived differences to show that we are all of the same humanity. I have found that this lesson and activities like these are helping to bring the students together in a way that I had not seen before when I was just teaching to techniques or art-based skills. But by combining a skill-based lesson with a greater depth of thinking, I hope to encourage my students to be kinder people, better listeners, and more empathic to their peers. Objective: The goal of this lesson is to have your students think critically about another person in their lives. The students will be asked to send someone a letter. This letter can be written for a multitude of reasons: to say hello, to show gratitude, to forgive, to ask for forgiveness, to put themselves in someone else’s shoes, or just to make the recipient smile. The Art is in the delivery system and the writing itself. The students will use elements of art such as pattern, shape, and line to create the artwork within the letter. The students will be asked to share their letter with the class but, as these letters can sometimes be very personal or emotional, this should be optional. However, the more students share, the more the class will gain insight into the lives of one another and start to create the bonds that will build a better community. Modeling the sharing activity as the teacher always helps to get the conversations started. If we are going to ask our students to be open and trusting of one another, we have to be able to model this behavior ourselves. Colorado Model State Content Standards Met: 1. Observe and Learn to Comprehend: The visual arts are a means for expression, communication and meaning making. 4. Invent and Discover to Create: Generate works of art that employ unique ideas, feelings, and values using different media, technologies. Grade Level Expectations: I used this lesson in a mixedgrade-level High School Art Foundations class, but I believe it can be adapted for all grade levels and you can add in grade-level expectations based on your current curriculum. This lesson is a great way to show the use of literacy within the Art classroom as well. Introduction to Lesson: Inquiry Questions: Ask the students in the classroom to think about the following questions, perhaps even write their responses down in a sketchbook. Then ask the students to share responses and write them down on the board to create a common definition and reason behind the activity.
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• How do you define empathy? • Why do we show empathy for one another? • Who do we need to be empathic towards? • Why should we be empathic? • How can we show our empathy? If the students do not conclude that they can show empathy by sharing in another’s emotion and by putting themselves in the shoes of others, prompt that response to lead into the main idea of lesson. Examples to share with the class that model empathy in writing and critical thinking: • SoulPancake.com: The Science of Happiness – An Experiment in Gratitude https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHv6vTKD6lg • SoulPancake.com: The Science of Happiness – Forgive and Forget https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8o9_TlZyB_Y • Good Magazine: The Empathy Mirror http://magazine.good.is/features/neurofeedback-enables-us-to-better-see-ourselves-in-the-other
Lesson Activity: Have students write down three names of people in their sketchbook that they would want to write an empathy letter to. Remember, this letter can be written for many different reasons:
• To say hello, and remind a friend that they are being thought of.
• To express gratitude towards someone in their lives that they may not always thank.
• To forgive, and let go of something they may be holding on to. • To ask for forgiveness from someone they feel they may have wronged in some way. • To put themselves in the shoes of another. • To simply share a smile with someone who might need one. (This doesn’t even have to be someone they know personally, it could just be someone they see in the halls or in the classroom.)
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Once they have a few ideas of whom they may address this letter to, it is time to start designing the letter and envelope. Materials Needed:
• Tagboard for envelope templates
• Scissors
• Pens
• Scrapbook paper or colorful paper for making cut-out shapes
• Pens, colored pencils, markers
• Brown kraft paper
• Glue sticks
• Cardstock cut to fit in the envelope
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Lesson Steps: Have students trace envelope template onto kraft paper. I used brown paper as it reminded me of packaging, but you can use any color you have. I downloaded the template for an envelope online and made a few tagboard templates to trace. There are many different styles of envelopes to choose from, but I simplified it for my students and only gave them the one option. Once the template is traced, the students cut out the envelope, fold it into shape along the lines, and add a little glue to the tabs to keep the envelope together. By folding it first, the students are able to see exactly where their design will fit. You could add the design elements to the paper before you fold it, but some of the design may not be as apparent once you glue the envelope together. After the envelope is prepared, it is time to design it. I ask my students to include at least three elements of art within their design such as line, shape, and form. We talk about how you could use principles of design as well to create a visual rhythm or movement within the design as well. I also give them colored and patterned scrapbook paper to allow them to cut out shapes to be included within their design. The design does not have to relate to the content of the letter, but it could if they want it to. One of my students was writing a gratitude letter to his mother, so he included her favorite color within the cut-out shapes. Remember to leave space or design a specific space for the address lines and the stamp. After the envelopes are designed, it is time to work on the letter. I pre-cut cardstock to fit in the envelopes and pass out one piece to each student. The students are given time to plan out what they want to say and some of them even practice writing the whole letter by hand. I tell them to focus on legible writing, and also allow them to add design to the edges of the paper if they want to. When the students finish creating their envelope and letter, I ask them to share it. I give them the option of either sharing it out loud with the whole class or sharing it with a partner that I pair them up with from within the class. They do not have to read the letter itself, but they have to explain to whom they wrote the letter and what it is about. This sharing activity is where the community building really takes place. The students really start to see each other for their similarities and learn to respect each other’s differences. Assessment: The main goal of this lesson is to build a stronger sense of community within your classroom and to help students identify and develop deeper levels of social and emotional intelligences through exploring empathy. My assessment for this lesson includes the authenticity of the letter, a few conventions of letter writing, and the use of elements and principles of design. You may choose your own curriculum goals to assess. My feelings are that as long as the students are working towards a greater sense of self within the community, the lesson is successful. Other Resources and References:
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• Startempathy.org • Soulpancake.com • Edutopia.org • Daniel Pink, A Whole New Mind
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2015 Youth Art Month (YAM) by Justine Sawyer
Congratulations to the 2015 YAM flag winners! Teachers each submitted three pieces of work that were blindly judged. All flag submissions were on display at the Colorado State Capitol building for two weeks in March, 2015. All selected winners and NAEA selections were on display at the National Art Education Association National Convention in New Orleans, Louisiana in March, 2015. Winners received recognition and art supplies in a ceremony at the capitol and teachers also received Sargent Art supplies. The state flag winner will travel to New York with the art teacher and one parent, courtesy of Sargent Art. Look for the 2016 YAM flag theme at the CAEA conference this fall. All CAEA members are eligible to submit student work. To view all flag submissions, selected winners, and past YAM work, click on this link: www.caeayamflags.weebly.com. The student work is beautiful!
State Flag Winner: Aeneas Gomez. Teacher: Robin Wolfe, Monte Vista Middle School
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High School Winner: Olivia Wischmeyer. Teacher: Justine Sawyer, East High School
Middle School Winner: Sydney Toffa. Teacher: Sarah Mitchell, Kent Denver School
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Elementary Winner: Oscar Bender-Stone. Teacher: Cathy Moore
Justine Sawyer setting up Colorado YAM selections at the NAEA convention in New Orleans in March, 2015
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View of YAM flag panel at NAEA convention in New Orleans in March, 2015
Robin Wolfe and Aeneas Gomez, State Capitol YAM Awards Ceremony in March
Oscar Bender-Stone sitting with his flag
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Art of the Everyday: Social
Practice and Lived Experience by Connie Stewart with assistance from Donna Goodwin and Eliaz McMillan
Our lives are filled with the Everyday. My Everyday can be described as: wake up to my alarm playing some irritating tune, turn it off, go back to bed for five minutes, get up, make coffee, get dressed, drive to work, teach, go to meetings, answer emails, complete (maybe) other work-related tasks, walk through the parking lot to my car, go to yoga or the gym (on good days), drive home, fix dinner, do the dishes, and go to bed. The next day I do it again. As I write this, I realize that my everyday will seem fairly simple to some whose daily responsibilities are more complicated and demanding. Many others might add: making sure the kids eat breakfast, get to school on time, have transportation to after-school activities, and maybe hoping everyone eats dinner in the process.
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itself….An intense, eager devotion to present day life, to study it, to help relieve it, this is the calling of the Negro artist.” (Bearden, 1934, p. 138). John Cage, Robert Rauschenberg, Allan Kaprow and others during the 1950s and 1960s built upon the Surrealists and Dada movements as they stated that “art is life” and used everyday sounds, objects, and actions as art media (Foster, 2004). During the 1960s and 1970s, Feminists Martha Rosler (Rosler, 1975) and Mierle Ukeles (Ukeles, 1969) created performance pieces and art manifestos using household tasks to draw attention to assumed gender and class roles.
For most of us, the Everyday, in its many reiterations, is relegated to insignificance, “the everyday escapes” (Blanchot, 1962), as we strive for something else. My good friend Lauren Lehmann, a Colorado art educator, once commented, “There are so many people in the world and we are all just trying to ‘make it.’” I agreed. At that time, I was one of the many desperately trying to keep up, to achieve, to “make it.”
Presently, Caledonia Curry (also known as Swoon) has used her career on the streets and as a gallery artist to develop projects that “exhibit compassion driven recognition of the interconnectedness” believing that “small scale interventions can be the seeds of lasting change” (Heliotrope Foundation, 2015). The architect Shigeru Ban builds structures from unexpected materials that begin with an examination of human need (Buntrock, 1996). Ceramist Michael J. Strand uses processes of exchange and gift giving to draw attention to everyday life and story (Strand, 2015).
Now, at a different point in my life, I just wonder what the “It” is. Does this, the everyday routine as it is repeated, become It? I wonder if I should do as Jorge Lucero suggests in another article in this issue of Collage. Instead of worrying about the lasting legacy of my career, maybe I should fix tea and open up my office once a week for others to browse through my resources.
The Everyday will be the focus of the 2015 Arts Education Leadership Institute sponsored by the University of Northern Colorado School of Art and Design. In 2007, the School of Art and Design at the University of Northern Colorado initiated the Center for Integrated Arts Education (CIAE) for the study and implementation of quality arts education and professional development practices.
Throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, artists and philosophers have seen the Everyday as a subject of art, the provider of art objects, and an artistic medium with which to engage. After World War II, a focus on the Everyday became a way to draw attention to class struggle and differences (Lefebvre, Blanchot). Harlem Renaissance painter Romare Bearden challenged artists to be “the medium through which humanity expresses
Throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, artists and philosophers have seen the Everyday as a subject of art, the provider of art objects, and an artistic medium with which to engage.
Each year the staff and students working with CIAE develop an idea in the arts that will be further explored at the annual Arts Education Leadership Institute through artists’ presentations, keynote lectures, workshops, facilitated school planning, and informal discussions. Recognizing that art making can be “a dialogue that brings into existence new understanding” (Hausman, Ploof, Duignan, Brown, & Hostert, 2010), we will ask questions this year about the Everyday: ·
How can everyday acts be Art? And can Art be found in the everyday?
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How can the objects that we collect, value, and return to become the media we use to make and teach (Szekely)?
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Can attention to everyday rituals become a mode of artistic inquiry?
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Can we challenge assumptions about what is monumental and significant by focusing on the mundane?
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Will the bringing of private routines to a public forum begin a dialogue challenging cultural values and privileges?
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Can the everyday acts and rituals performed as we feed ourselves, shelter ourselves, and care for those around us become modes of artistic inquiry?
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To sum up, what will happen if we as artists, art teachers, and those who live everyday lives take hold of the everyday, draw attention to it, explore it?
This discussion of Art and the Everyday will take place at the CIAE Arts Education Leadership Institute June 9-11, 2015. Keynote speakers, artists and workshop presenters will help us find new spaces for art making in our teaching, learning, and day-to-day living. Artists Alberto Aguilar and Jorge Lucero will privilege their roles as fathers and family members as they discuss their academic careers. They will reimagine the routine activities of teaching (such as filling out forms, going to meetings, developing prescribed curriculum, monitoring student behavior) as opportunities for creative engagement. Richard Saxton and Kirsten Stoltz will share the work of M12 Collective who invite viewers to see the familiar with a new sense of understanding by bringing creative experiences to rural cultures and landscapes. Chip Thomas, working as Jetsonorama, will show how street-art styles placed in unexpected locations can redefine and change attitudes toward its occupants. Tamara Meneghini will lead a transdisciplinary exploration of Rasa spaces to develop deeper awareness of levels of presence so teachers will know when students are truly present. Phil Bender will talk about the repetitions and artistic placements of common items and offer a small group the opportunity to shop with him for art materials repurposed from thrift stores. Lynn Hull will use materials found in overlooked spaces to open up conversations about habitat and shelter. The artistic theatre troupe Phamaly will perform Rapunzel in a manner that models how to overcome everyday challenges caused by physical disability. Bread and Puppet Theater will use its history of social activism to work with participants to create a “cantastoria,” a combination of image and story, to respond to an issue of societal need.
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This discussion of Art and the Everyday will take place at the CIAE Arts Education Leadership Institute June 9-11, 2015. Keynote speakers, artists and workshop presenters will help us find new spaces for art making in our teaching, learning, and day-to-day living. ANIMAL/object, an avant-garde musical group from Denver, will perform and also hold a three-day workshop showing attendees how to make instruments from everyday objects and assemble “Acoustic Laptops.” UNC graduate student Eliaz McMillan will discuss the art of gift giving as a medium, including the significance of giving of oneself and the elevated status of an object not “earned” or paid for. Implications of gifts and gifts economies will also be the topic addressed by artist Rebecca Vaughan as she discusses her work Occasion. Finally, songwriter Ian Cooke will expose the “not so insignificant side of human endeavor” (Boven, 2010) through a musical performance. The CIAE Arts Education Leadership Institute will apply personal and collective re-contextualization of everyday activities to the classroom. The Everyday will be shown as a vehicle for observing, thinking, researching, collecting, drawing, dissecting, and depicting. Resource material will be provided for classroom use. If you would like to attend this professional development institute, you can find registration links at http://www.unco.edu/arts/ciae/. As we consider the Everyday, we can all ask, “What happens when nothing happens?” (Johnstone, S. 2008) and remind ourselves to pay attention.
The Everyday will be shown as a vehicle for observing, thinking, researching, collecting, drawing, dissecting, and depicting. Resource material will be provided for classroom use. References Bearden, R. (1934). The Negro Artist and Modern Art. In D. L. Lewis (Ed.) (1994) Harlem Renaissance Reader. New York: Viking Penguin Books. Blanchot, M. (1962). L’Homme de le Rue translated Hanson, S. ( 1987) Everyday Speech, Yale French Studies, no 73 pp 12-20. Boven, J. (2010). Denver’s Best Musicians, retrieved March 3, 2015 http://denver.cbslocal.com/top-lists/denversbest-musicians/ Buntrock, D. (1996). Shigeru Ban: Ethical Experimenter. Architecture, 85(10), 104. Foster, H., Krauss, R., Bois, Y., Buchloh B. (2004) Art Since 1900: Modernism, Antimodernism, Postmodernism. NY: Thames and Hudson. Volumes 1 and 2. Hausman, J., Ploof, J., Duignan, J., Brown, W. K., & Hostert, N. (2010). The Condition of Art Education: Critical Visual Art Education CVAE club, Winter 2010. Studies in Art Education, 51(4), 368-374. Heliotrope Foundation. (March 3, 2015). Retrieved from: http://www.heliotropefoundation.org/
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Johnstone, S. ed. (2008). The Everyday (Whitechapel: Documents of Contemporary Art). Whitechapel Gallery and MIT Press. Cambridge, MA. Lucero, J. (2006). Running in Place Is Dumb/Great. Teaching Artist Journal. 4(2). Marshall, J. & Donahue, D.M. (2014). Art-Centered Learning across the Curriculum. New York, NY: Teachers College Press. Rosler, M. (1975). Semiotics of the Kitchen, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vm5vZaE8Ysc Strand, M. (March 3, 2015) retrieved from http://www.michaeljstrand.com/#!ex.change Szekely, G and Bucknam, J. (2012). Art Teaching Elementary through Middle School. Routledge. Ukeles, M (1969). http://www.feldmangallery.com/media/pdfs/Ukeles_MANIFESTO.pdf
Websites for Arts Education Leadership Institute Speakers and Workshop Leaders http://albertoaguilar.org/ http://breadandpuppet.org/ http://www.colorado.edu/theatredance/tamara-meneghini http://eco-art.org/ http://www.iancookemusic.com/ http://jetsonorama.net/ http://www.jorgelucero.com/ http://m12studio.org/ www.phamaly.org http://www.pirateartonline.org/pages/artist_pages/phil_bender.htm http://rebeccavaughan.com/pages/occasion.html
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CAEA TASK FORCE CHAIRS & PUBLICATIONS
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Vanessa Hayes-Quintana Collage Editor 2014-2016 sayhayes@mac.com
Timothy Gianulis Advocacy 2014-2016 timothy_gianulis@dpsk12.org
Janet McCauley Collage Design/Layout 2015-2016 janetmccauley@comcast.net
Pam Starck Scholastics 2014-2016 TPLBStarck@aol.com
Rosemary Reinhart and Elisabeth Reinhart Collage Copy Editors 2014-2016 rsrhart@gmail.com
Robin Wolfe and Michael Cellan Web Master 2014-2016 medcellan@mac.com caearobin@gmail.com
Dana Orton, Christina Martinez and Tiffany Holbrook Social Media 2014-2016 www.facebook.com/CAEAColoado Linda Schmale Spring conference 2012-2014 lgschmale@msn.com Justine Sawyer Youth Art Month 2014-2016 caeayam@gmail.com
CAEA REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVES North West: North Central: North East: Metro: Metro: East Central: South East: South Central: South West: West Central:
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open Sharon Jacobson-Speedy, Frisco, CO 2014-2016 Christina Martinez, Holyoke, CO 2013-2015 DJ Osmack AND Danielle Williams Mike Carroll, Denver, CO 2013-2015 open open Jenny Gawronski, Alamosa, CO 2014-2016 open open
speedywheat@aol.com martinezch@hcosd.org mcarroll@jeffco.k12.co.us
jennygawronski@adams.edu
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From: The Colorado Art Education Association www.caea-colorado.org/
Collage Vanessa Hayes-Quintana 16041 Bluebonnet Drive Parker, CO 80134