PROJECT 1: Kaleidoscopes
Students were shown the engineering components of the inner elements of kaleidoscopes then given the freedom to CHOOSE how they were going to create their own kaleidoscopes. Students discovered that with FREEDOM comes RESPONSIBILITY! While creating a beautiful design for the outer portion of their kaleidoscopes students were reminded to MANAGE their TIME and make their tube WORK! Here are the results
PROJECT TWO - Legacies & Executive Functioning
This project was full of "lessons".
First students were expected to invest in a work of art to would leave as a legacy. Then they actually had to "give" the art work away. As with legacies - they are inheritances that are given, with the hope that it may be appreciated, but in truth when something is given - the attitude and/or heart of the recipient is an unknown. The recipient had the instructions to receive the work and make it their own. This was a two day process as the art work went through the hands of two students. In the end, the art work came back to the original owner and they had the opportunity to reclaim their work to give as a final legacy to Nichols.
This was a COLLABORATIVE piece. A rather emotional collaborative piece. I wanted the students to be challenged, so their pallets were limited to three oil cray pas. I wanted the students to invest in their work. Sadly, too many students do the bare minimum and care little for the affect their work has on the viewer. Presenting the project as a legacy, encouraged some students to be more mindful of their intent. Students fully had the opportunity to experience PROCESS, (aka executive function). There were definite steps that had to be taken for the end product to emerge. Subsequently, the conversations that came about during the informal critiques were interesting.
I have tried to present the pieces as they changed, so that you may also experience the "process" and collaboration.
First students were expected to invest in a work of art to would leave as a legacy. Then they actually had to "give" the art work away. As with legacies - they are inheritances that are given, with the hope that it may be appreciated, but in truth when something is given - the attitude and/or heart of the recipient is an unknown. The recipient had the instructions to receive the work and make it their own. This was a two day process as the art work went through the hands of two students. In the end, the art work came back to the original owner and they had the opportunity to reclaim their work to give as a final legacy to Nichols.
This was a COLLABORATIVE piece. A rather emotional collaborative piece. I wanted the students to be challenged, so their pallets were limited to three oil cray pas. I wanted the students to invest in their work. Sadly, too many students do the bare minimum and care little for the affect their work has on the viewer. Presenting the project as a legacy, encouraged some students to be more mindful of their intent. Students fully had the opportunity to experience PROCESS, (aka executive function). There were definite steps that had to be taken for the end product to emerge. Subsequently, the conversations that came about during the informal critiques were interesting.
I have tried to present the pieces as they changed, so that you may also experience the "process" and collaboration.
The Presentation
Comments about the assignment:
Lila: "I think that the results of my legacy project were satisfactory. I'm glad that the other students who worked with my piece chose to add more color and expand on the landscape. I am also relieved that we were able to reclaim our artwork. Legacies we leave are usually put out after we die, and as a result we cannot change it after it's put out. I'm glad I got to experience my art being changed. It reminded me about life: You can't contril what other people do but you have control over YOUR actions and what YOU can do".
Rowan: "I thought this project was fun and challenging. I thought it was hard to change the other person's art work without destroying it. I think that this is a good project to try to learn how to accept people to change your work".
Marco: "I found this project to be very fun. I really liked the idea of someone taking your art work and changing it their way. Overall, this project was very interesting and I would love to do it again, and I was actually sad at getting mine back and not seeing it change completely".
Dotty: "I wish I had more ideas to start with,. The rules with coloring were confusing to me, 'Is black not a color, only when it's an outline or just in general?' No one drew on mine because I didn't put my name on it, so I didn't get the entire project."
Toby: "This artwork definitely changed over time when people added to the picture. This unit told us that life can have unknown changes"
Zoe: "I think many of the artworks changed for the worse because they went in directions we didn't want, but I think the experience of having your work change was cool because you could see how others interpreted".
Sofia: "I think this project was hard but fun and it was interesting too. I think my work ended up being pretty ok and I did a good job taking it back and making it my own again. This experience was hard but had a good life message underneath.
Malachi: "I was not about my end product of my legacy - it was more satisfying of seeing the outcomes - each time made it really cool throughout the process. I liked how you made people give a chance to work on someone's else's legacy."
Spencer: "I generally liked this project. My only downside that I missed the first couple of days so I couldn't do the base from my project. I feel like I tried ti cope with each picture and making it my own."
Kendl: "My art was good... Till it wasn't . Some people were disrespectful."
Ezekiel: "This assignment was fun and I wish I could have done mine [with] more difficulty"
Keely: "I felt that this assignment was helpful in teaching us how to create and build our own legacy. I really like it."
Andrea: "I feel impressed by how this turned out because, although some people during the stage where they make it their own didn't do so, the pieces were filled with a lot of meaning that you had to discover yourself, which I think is pretty neat."
Ainslie: "I thought this project was useful for teaching a lesson about legacies, and how legacies change, but I felt that it was hard to find something that I wanted to leave behind because I don't really care about leaving a message for others. They can figure it out themselves."
Lizzie: "I didn't like this project I worked on my art for hours and it was ruined.I don't like my end product I like the art work I envisioned the artwork I worked on my end project wasn't my art work it was the person who worked on it and it isn't fair"
Frances: "I think this assignment is cool because it gave us a chance to work on other peoples artwork. Sometimes it was a little anonymous when your art work was changed in a way that didn't look like the other person tried, but overall this assignment was fun".
Sebastian: "I feel as if this assignment is quite cool. I like the idea of getting different view points from other peoples art styles."
Payton: "I feel like this assignment was fun and a learning experience. It was also very simple, I think, but I like symbols and I like this project."
Safiya: "I enjoyed being able to take something and make it my own. I also liked looking at everyone's versions of everyone's art."
Louis: "I liked this project. I liked it because we got to take other people's art and it our own."
Niamh: "I really liked this assignment. It made me think about the legacy I am leaving. I also liked adding on to someone's piece. It reminds me of a legacy through story form - things get added on."
With this last comment, "... things get added on". - Much of life is this way - we get added on to ... Our opinions changed , get colored, take on new directions we never imagined all because of what we share with others who are willing to sometimes question and prod, and stir up, what we suppose are our last and final ideas, but surprise we get new creations - we get to remake our budding ideas and even sometimes old ones and grow them into hopefully something new. We become better people as a result because we were willing to share, change, receive with another... Being open to the create process instead closed to the endless possibilities.
Lila: "I think that the results of my legacy project were satisfactory. I'm glad that the other students who worked with my piece chose to add more color and expand on the landscape. I am also relieved that we were able to reclaim our artwork. Legacies we leave are usually put out after we die, and as a result we cannot change it after it's put out. I'm glad I got to experience my art being changed. It reminded me about life: You can't contril what other people do but you have control over YOUR actions and what YOU can do".
Rowan: "I thought this project was fun and challenging. I thought it was hard to change the other person's art work without destroying it. I think that this is a good project to try to learn how to accept people to change your work".
Marco: "I found this project to be very fun. I really liked the idea of someone taking your art work and changing it their way. Overall, this project was very interesting and I would love to do it again, and I was actually sad at getting mine back and not seeing it change completely".
Dotty: "I wish I had more ideas to start with,. The rules with coloring were confusing to me, 'Is black not a color, only when it's an outline or just in general?' No one drew on mine because I didn't put my name on it, so I didn't get the entire project."
Toby: "This artwork definitely changed over time when people added to the picture. This unit told us that life can have unknown changes"
Zoe: "I think many of the artworks changed for the worse because they went in directions we didn't want, but I think the experience of having your work change was cool because you could see how others interpreted".
Sofia: "I think this project was hard but fun and it was interesting too. I think my work ended up being pretty ok and I did a good job taking it back and making it my own again. This experience was hard but had a good life message underneath.
Malachi: "I was not about my end product of my legacy - it was more satisfying of seeing the outcomes - each time made it really cool throughout the process. I liked how you made people give a chance to work on someone's else's legacy."
Spencer: "I generally liked this project. My only downside that I missed the first couple of days so I couldn't do the base from my project. I feel like I tried ti cope with each picture and making it my own."
Kendl: "My art was good... Till it wasn't . Some people were disrespectful."
Ezekiel: "This assignment was fun and I wish I could have done mine [with] more difficulty"
Keely: "I felt that this assignment was helpful in teaching us how to create and build our own legacy. I really like it."
Andrea: "I feel impressed by how this turned out because, although some people during the stage where they make it their own didn't do so, the pieces were filled with a lot of meaning that you had to discover yourself, which I think is pretty neat."
Ainslie: "I thought this project was useful for teaching a lesson about legacies, and how legacies change, but I felt that it was hard to find something that I wanted to leave behind because I don't really care about leaving a message for others. They can figure it out themselves."
Lizzie: "I didn't like this project I worked on my art for hours and it was ruined.I don't like my end product I like the art work I envisioned the artwork I worked on my end project wasn't my art work it was the person who worked on it and it isn't fair"
Frances: "I think this assignment is cool because it gave us a chance to work on other peoples artwork. Sometimes it was a little anonymous when your art work was changed in a way that didn't look like the other person tried, but overall this assignment was fun".
Sebastian: "I feel as if this assignment is quite cool. I like the idea of getting different view points from other peoples art styles."
Payton: "I feel like this assignment was fun and a learning experience. It was also very simple, I think, but I like symbols and I like this project."
Safiya: "I enjoyed being able to take something and make it my own. I also liked looking at everyone's versions of everyone's art."
Louis: "I liked this project. I liked it because we got to take other people's art and it our own."
Niamh: "I really liked this assignment. It made me think about the legacy I am leaving. I also liked adding on to someone's piece. It reminds me of a legacy through story form - things get added on."
With this last comment, "... things get added on". - Much of life is this way - we get added on to ... Our opinions changed , get colored, take on new directions we never imagined all because of what we share with others who are willing to sometimes question and prod, and stir up, what we suppose are our last and final ideas, but surprise we get new creations - we get to remake our budding ideas and even sometimes old ones and grow them into hopefully something new. We become better people as a result because we were willing to share, change, receive with another... Being open to the create process instead closed to the endless possibilities.
In Between...
Before break, we examined how we could be "connected" with one another... artistically speaking. We are very similar, (shown by the colors), but can connect with one another if we but follow the simple formula, (the instructions).
Final Project 3
Mixed Media
Students were challenged to used whatever THREE art mediums they chose to showcase a Dr. Seuss character, being mindful of the surroundings of the character and the quality of the usage of the chosen medium... This is what your children created...