MY CAMPUS: Peacocks and Rainbows Art Room

Just thought I'd share are few pictures of my elementary art room. I think it has a "bit" more "stuff" in it than when these pictures were taken, but at least you can see the color and creativity that surrounds the students when they come in the room. I really believe artists are inspired by their surroundings and I also truly believe that an inspiring art room helps students become inspired. My art classes are extremely short, they are only 30 minutes, and so, believe me, my students need to get inspired fast! A well organized, creative, colorful art room helps provide that inspiration! I painted the two big canvas peacocks in about 30 minutes each. They are pretty big and my students marvel that I did the paintings in only 30 minutes each. Trust me, I often use those two acrylic paintings for inspiration to help my students get set up, their artwork done, and cleaned up in 30 minutes!

ECUADOR: A fun visit from my "daughter" from Ecuador!

     Each December we are fortunate enough to have a visit from Katty Aguirre, my "adopted daughter" from Quito, Ecuador. She is a very special young woman with an amazing and harrowing story. She dedicates her life to helping those less fortunate in Ecuador.  While she lost her own mamma when she was very young, she now has several mammas all over the United States. I've enjoyed going to Ecuador on two mission trips and spending time with her and the Quechua Indians up high in the Andes Mountains. Really high! I also enjoyed teaching school short term at an orphanage in Quito. Katty is a real inspiration to me and so many! Can't wait to see her again. A Fine Arts Camp is in the work for my spring break next year in Ecuador.  I'm trying to plan a camp, take a few art teachers with me, stay with her in the house I was able to help her move into a couple of years ago, and share art, music, and drama with the children in the area she works in. The love and acceptance that so freely flows from the children you work with, whether here in the U.S., or in other countries is so motivating to an art teacher!

ITALY: Kindergarten Capitignano Geraniums

     As a part of my Art Inspired by Italy Unit my Kindergarten students made these adorable and beautiful geranium collages.  They colored the background with crayons, then painted sheets of paper in brown, greens, and reds. Then they cut out a rectangle for the flower pot, round circles for the flowers, and long strips for the stems and curvy shapes for the leaves. There were geraniums all over Capitignano where I stayed this past summer in Italy and they just made me happy. It was a fun project to do with my Kinders and a bit challenging, too.

A Word about Globally-Inspired Art and Globalization

During the last year and a half I've been obtaining my Master's in Art Education Degree at Boston University.  My natural interests and my artistic interests easily merge into the area of globally inspired art and I have a bent toward exploring globalization in the art room, even the elementary art room.  The following are some of my thoughts on this subject which is very important to me, but should be important to all of us in a shrinking, changing world.  I recently wrote this short expose on globalization and globally inspired art.  It is my basic philosophy on the importance of teaching students about the world at large:


Photo: The photo below is of Nakateete School in Uganda where I had the privilege of teaching short-term a couple of years ago. It is still near and dear to my heart. I'll post soon about the exciting details of my school raising money to put a water well at the school this year!

GLOBALLY INSPIRED ART AND GLOBALIZATION

              Education will always be surrounded with timely events and issues. Curriculum choices, state and national standards and testing, the 21st century purpose of testing, budgeting and facilities, and student needs are relevant issues in education. For many years multiculturalism has also been an important focus of education. No longer on the distant horizon, however, globalization, a relatively new term, is here to stay and must be investigated.

            Communities used to exist in the United States and in other countries where most of the people in that community looked alike and had similar cultural backgrounds and characteristics. One can almost definitively say those days are over for the planet Earth. Through technology, mankind has learned to travel and communicate with a speed that former generations would have never imagined. Quechua children who live high in the Andes Mountains of Ecuador stand outside their thatched grass hut with no electricity or plumbing, but talk on their parent’s cell phone and inquisitively view images of a world they have never seen.  Simultaneously, some American children are busy playing games on their own cell phones, texting friends, and watching videos. I have witnessed both. I believe it is vital for INQUISITIVE American educators to begin teaching their students about more realistic aspects of the greater world, not just the geography and history of that world.   I also believe it is vital for this education to start at the elementary level.  If we care about our students’ futures I believe we, as educators, must prepare them for globalization.  I feel there is a sense of urgency in this area as the world is changing rapidly.

            Globalization refers to the interconnectedness of markets, communication, and human migrations.  Technology has forever shrunk the world; at least as long as current and future technologies continue to exist.  Borders and boundaries are no longer as fixed as they once were.  Our students and their families are living in a complex, technologically advancing, ever changing, diverse, and interconnected world.  Our students go to school in this world and they will one day work in the marketplace; quite possibly a global marketplace.  A globally informed pedagogy is needed not only because the world is changing and for assimilation, but to keep our students competitive, to keep America competitive, and to keep education relevant in a changing world.

            Students should be taught within the emerging globalized context. When students are engaged in concepts and cognitive processes involving critical inquiry and reflection, it will generate within the student the desire and ability to ask questions about relationships observed in society.  Micro-level thinking must give way to macro-level thinking.  American students must learn about the world before graduation and before it is their time to go out into it.  When education is presented with a globalization framework, there are several positive results including more deeply engaged students in the process of critical inquiry, incorporating the use of information technology as a tool for learning, emphasizing higher order thinking skills, offering a more cross-disciplinary and holistic view of practices, developing ethical leadership, and being inclusive of the growing diversity in society.  

            Additionally, if teachers reexamine developmental theory and merge it with globalization concepts, students will be the benefactors. Jean Piaget, one of the most prominent child development psychologists of all times, conducted all of his research before the Internet existed during the first half of the 20th century.  Piaget’s research concluded that children between the ages of 7-11 are in the concrete operational phase of development. He proposed that their thought processing was concrete and focused on the actual and factual aspects of subjects and topics. He believed abstract thinking, which allows students to think about the why and how and what for, came at an older age. Therein lies the current quandary. The Internet isn’t just reshaping the speed of communication and information; in some ways, it might be reshaping our future by redefining what we know about ourselves. It might be requiring students to think abstractly sooner as they travel the Internet community.

            Today’s young students have access to a wide variety of images and information via the Internet before they have the cognitive development to understand what they see. One could say that children are being forced into abstract thinking before they have developed the proper and normal sequence for that broader type of thinking. This must be a serious concern for educators and parents and viable options for teaching students about the greater world must be creatively explored.  Schools must be pro-active in not just monitoring Internet use, but in deciphering it.

            Globally inspired curriculum units have the ability to stir new knowledge in the minds of young students while promoting student growth that will transfer into all areas of their academic and personal life.  This kind of teaching constructs bridges to their future in the global marketplace.  Innovative units, such as The Crazy, Colorful Colorwheel Project that I have developed, partner school students in differing countries through art and technology. The Cuban Heart Project that my students did before my trip to Cuba with the National Art Education Association was a simple project that taught my elementary students about developing nations and different types of governments.  Globally inspired curriculum broadens our students sense of who they are and our world.

            The local community will always be important, but educators must act locally while thinking globally.  Margaret Mead, an American cultural anthropologist, believed “what distinguishes human groups one from another is not inborn; it is the way in which each has organized and perpetuated experience and the access each has had to other living traditions.” By teaching our students about the global community, we strengthen the local one.

ITALY: 4th Grade Introduction to Plein Air Painting

4th Graders Learn About Plein Air Painting

     As part of the Art Inspired by Italy Unit, my 4th graders completed a very exciting and lengthy project. They did a "deconstructed landscape painting" which is detailed in one of Kevin McPherson's books about Plein Air Painting. Plein Air painting, a French term,  is simply painting in the out of doors. Although my students painted "inside," they used a landscape photograph for the project. I provided each student with an 8x10 color image of the painting studio at Capitignano where I went to school this past summer in Italy. Using Sharpies, they outlined the main sections-essentially dividing the photo into smooth puzzle-type pieces. They then cut out the shapes and numbered them. Then they traced each piece onto a nice quality white paper and painted it with acrylic paint while looking at the cut-out photo image of the same portion of the painting at the same time. We then glued the pieces on a painted piece of canvas, added a quote about Italy, and Modge Podged the entire collage. This was one of my favorite projects in the unit. It was quite challenging for 4th graders and it was the first time my 4th graders had used acrylic paint in class, other than on clay projects. The whole purpose of the project was to teach them to "see" the individual parts, the lights and darks, of the subject, and not be overwhelmed by attempting to view the entire image to be painted. By deconstructing a subject it becomes much easier to construct it. We also talked about how this same concept is cross-curricular and helps in writing, learning information, test taking, and other subjects. 

Above: I took the above photo one day from the open doors of the room I stayed in while in Italy. This is the view I saw each and every morning. It's the painting studio at Capitignano, formerly a hay barn. This view and the photo take my breath away and this is the photo I copied for the students to use for this project. 

"Italy is a dream that keeps returning for the rest of your life." 

 -Anna Akhmatova

ITALY: Overview of unit and staff open house!

Art Inspired by Italy Unit Livens Up My Art Room and School!

So after spending the summer in Italy I came back to the art room in Texas ready to do a unit on art inspired by Italy. I actually wrote the unit during the evening hours at Capitignano, an estate outside of Borgo San Lorenzo, Italy (near Florence) where I went to school. I saved it for the last nine weeks of the school year so I could plan it well. Each grade level, K-4 completed 2-3 projects which will eventually all end up on this Blog! Bringing more of the Italian culture to the art room was part of the unit as well. Students watched videos I made for them while I was in Italy and I made quite a few where I was speaking directly to my students. Ok, they just thought that was completely COOL! We listened to Italian music, learned some Italian words, tasted gelato and spaghetti and learned some basic information about the beautiful country of Italy. It tickled me to hear students saying "ciao" all over the building. I'm pretty sure that word will continue to be heard at my school.  To culminate the unit I hosted an after school open house for the staff at my school. I hid some small images of cappuccino on the bulletin boards and tucked them into the artwork spread out all over the building-anywhere that art was displayed-and that, if found, could be redeemed for small prizes I actually brought back from Italy. Italian refreshments were served including the traditional tomato bruschetta, my own version of blueberry and goat cheese bruschetta, an artichoke Asiago spread from Italy on toasts, and a delicious Italian soda which I am now quite fond of, Sanpellegrino, which comes in a variety of flavors and can be purchased in the Dallas area where I live and teach.  I also made some homemade Italian Creme Sodas (Ok! They are DELICIOUS! Google it and you'll find lots of wonderful recipes.) and served some bite size Italian cookies. The staff got to take a minute to look at the artwork, enjoy some refreshments and camaraderie, and get a glimpse into the artroom and our school art program. It was also my way of thanking the teachers for the many times they help me communicate information to their classroom families or hand out artwork to take home. Advocacy is always important! A good time was had by all!

ITALY: 3rd and 4th Grade Italian Hoopoe Birds

Italian Hoopoe Bird

As a part of a recent Art Inspired by Italy Unit, my 3rd and 4th grade students made air dried clay Crazy Hoopoe Birds. The Hoopoe Bird is Italy's most flamboyant bird and students enjoyed making their own version of the bird. After using a wonderful air dry clay product from Texas, where I teach, students painted the birds with acrylic paint and added feathers, glitter, tissue paper, fabric, and ribbons to put their own spin on their CRAZY birds! The project was a big hit with the students and provided a pretty in-depth way for 3rd and 4th graders to learn to score and slip. 

ITALY: Ceramics lesson from Alice Gori.

This past summer while attending school in Italy as part of Boston University's Master's in Art Education Degree Program, we had a guest teacher, Alice Gori. She is a brilliant ceramist who is often asked by the Italian government and churches, etc. to restore the ages old ceramics inside of important buildings. We had some fun going to her studio, having her come to our studio, and we all enjoyed making a few ceramics pieces under her supervision. This really got me interested in learning more about ceramics and I'm thinking that maybe I'll find a local college course to attend. Never too old to learn!

Here is some of Alice (pronounced Aleeshay) Gori's work:

Above: Close up of headboard. Below: headboard for bed. 

Above: Sign for her studio. Below: Studio.

Above and Below: Two very unusual wall plagues. BEAUTIFUL!

ITALY: Paint pigments at infamous Zecchi Art Store.

One of my favorite pictures! These are dried paint pigments from Zecchi Art Store in Florence, Italy. I can still remember standing at the counter this past summer marveling at the many hues and asking what each one was made from. From herbs, to minerals, to berries, and much more...adding these powdered pigments to oil creates oil paint and is the way great Master's used to make their paint! Legend says that Michelangelo bought some of his art supplies from the Zecchi family.

PROSPER ISD: Folsom Elementary Teacher of the Year and PISD Elementary Teacher of the Year

     I started teaching in 1992 and have enjoyed the journey so much. Teaching, to me, is helping my students use their capabilities to find their abilities.  Recently I received the Teacher of the Year Award for my campus, and then the Elementary Teacher of the Year for my school district. I share this because it meant to very much to me; not to be recognized by my peers and the selection committee, but because I have dedicated myself to my profession and students since the day I stepped foot in the classroom.  I see this award as verification that I'm on the right track and it gives me inspiration for the future. I'm at a point in my career where I'm not only teaching children and young people, but also teachers. My desire is to have my art teaching transcend the four walls of the art room and leave a legacy for the future.