Frank Stella/ Jean Dubuffet Inspired Pieces

Students studied Frank Stella and Jean Dubuffet's non-objective artwork.  They looked at their abstract design and their use of color.  Students had to choose an adjective that described themselves and create a piece based on that word.  Their piece needed to be non-objective and abstract just as Stella and Dubuffet's work.

Post Secret

6th Grade Students looked at the series "Post Secret," both the books and online, and as a class we discussed what secrets were and why people tended to have secrets.  Students all wrote down a secret and put them inside a clay fortune cookie that each student made.  Then they made a vessel that would contain or protect their secret.

Collagraph Books

Students experimented with printmaking using collagraph plates.  They included different kinds of craft materials to add to a piece of cardboard (which was their plate) that was then used to ink and print with different colors.  Students created a series of prints and then created an accordion book in which to store them.

Record Bowls

My parents were getting rid of some of their old record albums and I remember seeing something about melting albums in the oven using a glass bowl.  So I tried it, and thought what a cool idea for a project!  Unfortunately, I could only do this using my oven at home as I was not permitted to use the school's oven.  So, I pre-made them all and had the students personalize them by creating their own designs.

Incredible Inflatables

 Incredible Inflatables is based on recycled art.  Students looked at art from Christo, Jeanne Claude and Inflatable Street art that is inflatable through subway grates (Joshua Allen Harris.)  Students were to design and construct a site-specific sculpture of a creature we have never seen before!  Students used trash bags, clear drop clothes, scissors, and packaging tape to construct their never-before seen animal.

Magazine Art

 I have done this project for two years now.  The first time I did it was with 6th and 7th graders and I tried it again this year with 4th graders.  All students used were old magazines and hot glue.  It's a very inexpensive project so if your school budget is a little low, this is a perfect assignment.  I had all students first create magazine bowls, then after they completed those they could experiment making other things using magazines.

Repousse Study

Students work with Repousses to understand texture and shape.  Students used very thin black tin-like paper and prisma colored pencils to create their drawings.  It was a very challenging material for them because Repousses can easily get holes in them.

Georgia O'Keeffe Flower Design

Focusing again with the viewfinder and Georgia O'Keeffe as our artist, students created pastel drawings reflecting on the beauty of nature and also reflecting on our field trip to the Botanical Gardens. 

After students created their pastel drawing they were to make a tissue paper collage using the layering technique to get the true colors and textures of the flower that they chose.  They used some other craft materials to help enhance the appearance of their piece.  These pieces were completed by 3rd and 4th graders.

Clay Tiki

Being that I love the islands (I even named each of the tables in my classroom a different Caribbean Island) I decided I wanted to do a project based on the islands.  So, I thought I would have the students create clay tikis. 

We discussed the culture of the tiki as well as clay form.  Students learned the slab technique to create their structure.  They were asked to incorportate some kind of power that they wished they had into their tiki.  So each tiki represented something that they wished they had or possessed.

This is what students in 3rd and 4th grade created.