It has been just over a year since I launched Art Within Reach and I have learned a lot about teaching, managing a classroom, and art activities.  So, I thought it would be fun to do a top 10 list of my best teaching moments!

#10

Joan Miró’s The Farm

The National Gallery of Art houses this signature Miró painting from 1921.  On one hand, it offers a visual vocabulary of objects familiar to children and on the other hand, a composition and formal elements that easily engage a child’s imagination.  The central tree, in and of itself, is almost always a point of conversation.  Similarly, the children often debate whether it is a sun or a moon that is depicted in the sky.  I use this painting for my introductory lesson where we familiarize ourselves with looking at art.  I was sad to see the NGA had taken it down, but thankfully replaced it with an equally appealing Picasso.

#9

The Camera

My dilemma came during a lesson on still life.  I wanted the children to draw their own still life while considering elements like texture and light, perhaps a little too sophisticated for a four-year-old.  However, they were quite capable of making their own still life arrangements with objects that I brought in.  After considering the layout of their still life, I would then photograph them.  They used the photographs to help them draw their arrangements.  I found the same thing worked in my lesson on portraiture.  When I asked them to draw a self-portrait, I most often got depictions of their faces and while I knew they weren’t necessarily ready to compose a more sophisticated drawing, I did know they were capable of considering how they would pose for a photograph.  Before taking each child’s picture, we discussed pose, expression, angle and background.  Marrying the drawing with the photograph turned out to be a winning combination.

#8

The Portfolio and Exhibition

Part of AWR’s mission is to teach children about museums.  At the end of each session, students are tasked with making labels and helping me to display their artwork for an art show, in which parents were invited and students described their work.  Remaining works were placed in their portfolio, which they make the first day of class.  By doing all of this they gain an understanding of a museum’s purpose and how to properly care for, and respect art.

#7

Wiggle Worms

I found this great little rhyme on the Preschool Express website to do before lessons.  It gets everyone’s wiggles out and prepares them to sit quietly for their lesson.  The Wiggle Worms is a hit with the 3-5 year-old crowd, 6 and up are a little dubious….

#6

Art Detective Badges

Before I launched AWR, I had a friend design some badges mostly as a means for me to remember the names of my students.  Students earn their badges after our first class when we discuss what a museum is and practice looking at a painting.  In the museum, I pass them out at the beginning of each class  while reminding them that good detectives always use their museum manners.  In the classroom, decorating the badges is the introductory activity allowing time for students to arrive.    It works on so many levels!

#5

Islamic Calligraphy and Faux Gold Leaf

I do a whole lesson on art from the Islamic world and I struggled because I wanted a project that captured the essence of the art, but didn’t crossover into religious territory.  I was thrilled when I found the Arabic alphabet on-line through Stanford University.  I now have students practice making one of the letters and then lay down glue in the form of the letter.  Once the glue is down, they are able to sprinkle blue and gold glitter, as well as faux gold leaf to mimic the gold and lapis lazuli commonly found in copies of the Koran.  I also found a great site where you can print up some of the geometric shapes also commonly used in the decoration of a Koran.  In this way, they are learning about the formal elements of the Koran and they love the gold leaf!!!!

#4

Jesús Rafeal Soto

This Venezuelan artist is featured at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden whose works often use repeated patterns of simple geometric forms to suggest movement.  His works  illustrate how artists use lines, shapes and patterns to bring an artwork to life and engage the viewer.  During my last visit, I learned that  the Hirshhorn took down Eight Silver, but you can go to his website to experience his works.

#3

Genre and the Time Machine

How do I make genre painting appeal to my young students?  We travel back in time on our time machine to meet Sam and learn a little about his life.  Through three paintings, Eastman Johnson’s The Brown Family, On Their Way to Camp and The Early Scholar , we meet Sam and/or his relatives and talk about these brief moments in Sam’s life and how they are similar to and different from the lives of children today.  For a follow-up activity, we draw pictures of dinnertime at our houses.  It never fails that they always remember Sam and our ride on the time machine!

#2

Pollock, Matisse and Brushstroke

Even in the galleries (we use paintbrushes and swatches of color construction paper to represent the paint), I am able to show students examples of brushstroke.  Matisse’s Open Window, Collioure is especially accessible to a young artist who can easily replicate his dots and short strokes.  And of course, Pollock’s innovative approach to painting where he often dripped, poured and splashed is especially appealing to children.  While it can be messy, practicing Pollock’s methods is an exercise in creativity!

#1

Giacomo Balla’s Sculptural Construction of Noise and Speed

Giacomo Balla’s Sculptural Construction of Noise and Speed is another work that I use in my lesson on lines and shapes. It is, as the title suggests, a fluid visualization  of noise and speed.  At first, I asked the students to associate certain words with the piece, like; fast, slow, quiet, loud, but that didn’t seem to work with this age group.  That is when I began asking them to use their bodies to recreate the lines depicted and we talked about how the movement felt.  I also have them move their arms out to represent a loud sound and in to represent a soft sound. The in and out movement of their bodies corresponds to the undulation in the piece and upholds the relationship to sound.

I hope you have enjoyed my best teaching moments, can’t wait for next year!