That’s been the question of the last couple of weeks...if this is our studio and we are artists, how do artists work in their studio? And how do they get their ideas? We started by discussing that artists create what they see (observational contour and blind contour drawings) and looked at both the Lascaux Cave drawings and Georgia O’Keeffe’s big flowers and bones. Next we moved into artists creating from their imaginations - and looked at “Where the Wild Things Are” and those amazing Sendak wild imaginings. There’s never a dull moment in the Art Studio and I so enjoy watching these little people find their voice, discover a new material and respond to a new artist. With both the Drawing Studio and the Collage Studio open for business, the great WOW (Wonderful Original Work) projects will soon follow. Don’t forget to stop by the art hallway to see new works being added to our Gallery 12!
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First week back in the Art Studio...I missed this place and judging by the Rartists’ energy level, I think they missed it too! :) The theme for this week was “We have to know where we’ve been before we can decide where we’re going.” We looked at our Studio Cards (a card that each student uses to keep track of which media studio they worked in each week) to determine where we spent most of our time. That reflection led us into the discussion of which studios have overlapping skills and techniques and lend themselves to shifting between easiest. We then looked at our Studio Habits of Mind (SHOM) self-reflection sheets and goal that we filled out last May to see if those goals are still relevant now....that’s ALOT of deep thinking for 3rd, 4th and 5th graders!!
Finally I reminded each of my amazing Rartists that their Art Studio is focused on a 3 sentence curriculum: The Students are Artists. The Art Room is their Studio. What Do Artists Do? It’s gonna be an amazing year - I can just feel it! This is the time of year, every year, where after a month away from the school house I begin the process of looking back over the school year, my plan book, photos and studio cards to find what worked really well and what needs some 'tweaking'.
I was thrilled to find, through student reflections that my 4th and 5th graders want more art history while 2nd and 3rd graders want more skills and techniques in building/sculpture. It's so important to involve the student artists in this process. I'll be splitting one of my studios into 2 next year as it was a place of continual organizational headaches. The Fiber Studio was nearly the death of me last year, so to remedy that, I'll move the sewing materials, which typically involved the production of pillows, stuffed animals and such, into the Sculpture Studio (soft sculptures!), and the remaining yarn options will become a separate Weaving Studio with cardboard looms, braiding and knot tying options. I'm continuing to brainstorm how best to make yard accessible and organized.... The layout of my studio will evolve a bit based on that little studio split and also because more laptops are coming for our Tech Studio! It's alot to wrap my brain around right now, but as a TAB teacher, I KNOW that the layout of the studio is crucial to the entire process, so it deserves my time and careful consideration. I'm super proud of the work our Rartists engaged in this year and am looking forward to August when it all begins again! A chunk of my 4th grade boys have been working diligently in the Builders space for the past several weeks creating fantasy weapons. Having boys of my own, I didn't really give it much thought simply because I have witnessed for years the developmental stages of kids: and yes, fantasy is a stage nearly all kids maneuver through. Today, it was brought to my attention in a "questioning" way and while I did my best to explain to this awesome 4th grader why I was ok with it, I'm not sure I succeeded.
I was in that moment reminded of an article I read and will post here for you ( http://clydegaw.blogspot.com/search?q=boys+and+weapons ) In this article, my fellow TAB teachers Clyde Gaw and Clark Fralick discuss this important stage of artistic development and how censoring that development can cause more harm than good. "Like the early artists of Lascaux, children develop a fascination for objects of power and it is not surprising that for many young artists, representations of power dominate their imagination and their art," Clyde Gaw. I just wanted to share my thoughts on the matter, in case you have noticed such artworks coming home. As always, continue talking to your little artists about what they are bringing home, how they made it and why. Those are important conversations for everyone involved! It took 9 full weeks to work our way through the opening of our 6 studio spaces. Each opening requires the teaching of studio specific expectations for how materials are organized, used and cleaned up. My artists have been amazingly patient as we've worked our way around the Art Studio opening: Drawing, Collage, Builders, Fiber, Painting and Clay. We also have a Computer & Resource Library which did not require an official "opening".
As we have worked through the first 9 week and all the procedures it has entailed, I have been again reminded of how unique and authentic this Studio is. While most Elementary students across the city and state have at this point only been exposed to drawing and maybe painting, my artists have had mini experiences in 6 major medias! Now, the challenge is for each kiddo to take that base knowledge and exploration to the next level. We will start to shift our Studio Habit focus from Stretch & Explore to Envision, Engage & Persist and Developing a Craft. That's a huge mind shift for any artist, let alone little ones! I have so appreciated the support I have received from my fellow staff members and from my artists parents. It's a huge mind shift for them too! Because this pedagogy focuses on the process over the project, the work coming out of the studio looks MUCH different. No longer are these talented little artists forced to complete "cookie-cutter" projects. No longer are they told that the ideas of the teacher are more important than their own. NOW they are creating authentic artworks based on their own ideas and interests. NOW they are thinking independently while they organize their work spaces and use materials appropriately. NOW they are beginning to think like artists while becoming better leaders of themselves, better problem-solvers and more engaged students. The school year in the RART Studio has begun brilliantly! We began with Creativity Challenges just to get those creative, collaboration, problem-solving juices flowing. Next the Drawing Studio opened with new materials and tools for the artists to explore. The following week, the Collage Studio was open for business and this week it's our Builders Studio! So much important information and demonstrations to get done, but the result is some amazingly authentic artwork. 3 Studios to go - our goal is to have all 6 Studios open and rockin' by the first week of October.
Be sure to ask your own little artist what they are creating in the Studio - those conversations further validate the great things that are happening in here. It's extremely difficult for me to wrap my brain around the fact that tomorrow is our last day of school...we have been on such a roll down in the Art Studio that it makes me sad to see it come to an end. I found a really great challenge for all my students (and parents too) for the summer and will be sending it home with students this week, but in case I miss someone or it gets lost in the massive amount of papers that will be crammed into those worn-out back packs, here is the link: https://www.theartofed.com/content/uploads/2017/05/SummerArtChallenge.pdf
The transformation is really starting to take roots...from those roots our RARTISTS are blooming! They are coming in with ideas that are theirs - NOT mine. They are engaging in a media center and working to make those ideas become reality. They are becoming better problem-solvers, more creative thinkers, and certainly along the way; better RARTISTS. Teaching for Artistic Behaviors focuses on the process over the product, and their projects absolutely demonstrates their developmental stages - what a thrill it is to witness authentic learning!!
http://www.schoolartsdigital.com/i/808215-may-2017
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