Grade 6 Art Projects. 2D and 3D.

And, we're back. It has been close to a year since my last post...not that anyone has missed me. I do have a couple of good excuses. 
1. I'm new to the world of fatherhood as of last April. 
2. I published my first book. 

Our daughter Ximena

My book, Denvoid and the Cowtown Punks -- A Collection of Stories From the '80s Denver Punk Scene is a unique and seminal kind of localized punk oral history, for it features over 100 vivid, hand-colored illustrations alongside flyers and other artifacts from the era. Eclectic, in-depth interviews with prominent scenesters range from musicians and culture jammers to reformed skinheads and business owners. Grassroots and outgoing, Medina examines the small window of opportunity in which they impacted cultural behaviors and musical styles at large, even reached a global network desiring to know more about the isolated frontier world that sprang Frantix and Bum Kon. You can order by clicking HERE

Let's get down to business. I have returned to my former school in Alexandria, Egypt to teach Art and Drama at Middle and High School level. It's nice to be in familiar territory again. I wanted to take some time off from documenting student artwork as I felt like I over-documented at my former school in Ethiopia. With teaching IB Art, documentation of learning and growth is essential. Between projects and the student's investigation workbooks, I've accumulated 1000's of images in two short years. 

I was going through photos of student artwork during the past week and became a little sentimental. It was encouragement enough for me to dust off the camera and snap a couple of photos of what hasn't already been sent home from their year's projects. 

Below are a few samples of what I've been doing with Grade 6 students. 

1. Group sculpture work with old markers, VHS tapes, books, rulers, erasers. This project is perfect for a class with only 30-40 minutes. Variations can include with different stations, material such as chairs, etc. It is nice to see the students work together to problem solve through trial/error and discussion.   

2. Masking tape paintings (12"x18") with over lapping patterns. 

3. Obligatory show drawings (9"x12") with a 6B pencil. We made values scales prior to the shoes.

4. Oil Pastel Portraits. The main leaning objective was to experiment with blending oil pastels. Prior to this project, students made color swatches by experimenting with mixing 2-3 colors together. 

5. Book/Journal making with paper Batik covers. 

 6. Printmaking-block reduction prints on gray paper. Dia de Los Muertos theme.

 

7. One point perspective with markers.

 

Sadly all the clay projects went home along with the bulk of the other projects. 

Wire Sculpture

I could kick myself for not taking and posting more photo's of my student's wire sculptures. Theses were the first couple finished and had my camera that day. Sadly, I didn't take shots of the other work. I guess some is better than none.

High School Cardboard Sculptures.

We have a huge recycling area in the back of the school with lots of cardboard. It is no longer rainy season so we took advantage of that. We looks at other examples to see what worked and didn't. For some, it was a long process to figure out the problem of how to manipulate cardboard and to think outside of normal convention for solving problems. Below are my student's examples.

The Garbage King

I had the opportunity to be apart of the long, intensive, and amazing production of the Middle School's production of the Garbage King. The play is based on a book by Elizabeth Laird. The story takes place in Addis Ababa,  Ethiopia and focuses on two main characters who come from different backgrounds. Both boys meet each other while living on the street. 

From wikipedia:

It tells the story of Mamo and Dani. Mamo is from a very poor family where everyone has died except for him and his sister, Tiggist. Mamo is kidnapped by a slave trader who claims to be his Uncle Merga. "Merga" takes Mamo far from the city and sells him to a cruel farmer and his wife.

Dani comes from a rich and privileged family in a prosperous part of Addis Abbaba. His father, however, wants him to send him away to make him learn something useful and toughen up. Dani's mother is sick and flew to London, England, to receive better medical care. Dani runs away to escape his father. At the same time, Mamo escapes from the farmer and hitchhikes back to Addis Ababa, and hides in a graveyard where he meets Dani who is also hiding there. They form an unexpected alliance and together join a gang of beggar street boys. The gang members share a strict code of sharing whatever they obtain. Mamo becomes "the garbage king" because he is an expert at finding treasures in rubbish heaps. Dani writes stories which the others sell for money. Mamo tries to sell a story to a schoolteacher that turns out to be one of Dani's old teachers, Ato Mesfin. Ato Mesfin recognizes Dani's handwriting, and approaches Dani's father, Ato Paulos hoping for a reward.

Ato Mesfin and Ato Paulos learn of the boys' pitch to sell their stories by talking with homeless street people who know Dani. Eventually they find Dani and his gang, and Ato Paulos is angry that his son left a prosperous home to become a street beggar.

Dani returns home with his father once he hears his mother is recovering, and that she will soon return home. Mamo sets off to find his sister, and learns she now lives with a new husband. When they reunite, Tiggist is happy to have her younger brother back, although she is ashamed of what he has become (a beggar). The two boys remain friends and provide food and new clothes for their old gang members.

Kudos to everyone involved in pulling off this production. 

My tasks were making the poster and building gigantic piles of garbage. 

The Garbage piles at opening. The heave rains days prior made them sink, I was a little disappointed.

The man in red, Adreas, was the brainchild for the heaps of garbage. His daughter also helped for her CAS reflections.