Mixed Media Art Lab

How did your team decide on your big idea and inquiry?
When Mrs. Montoya and I met the first time, we connected over both having grown up in a different country. (Maribel grew up in Colombia and Anni in Denmark). We compared school systems and dicipline and got to talk about what part culture played in shaping our own identities. We got curious about how the students' culture(s) influences their identities. 

How did your curriculum change?
We had initially planned to dive into the theme with some icebreakers and structured art activities to get to know the students/each other better. We did both, but noticed that the students were very quiet and very hesitant to share about themselves. We also noticed a general lack in enthusiasm for most of the initial activities. We tried different approaches, but when we straight out asked them, they told us they typically were tired by the end of the day. Several of them also shared that they often stay up late in order to complete tasks the day before and finally one student shared that he was just tired of always being told what to do. We asked him to elaborate and some of the other students chimed in. The told us that most if not all of their day iconsists of being given tasks to complete by others wether in school or at home. They also shared that they feel their days are so structured with demands that they barely have any free time to do what they want to do. When they do, they feel like they have no idea what to do, as they are so used to always being told what to do. For the most part, it's just easier to go on their device to fill their personal time. We determined to challenge the students to do pick to work on something they really wanted to do for themselves and let that drive us forward. We did continue sharing about different artists and processes for inspiration and talk about how the artists' culture inspired their work. We also continued to talk to the students about their projects and learn more about them as individuals through their artwork. 

What was one of the highlights during the year?
Towards the end of the school year, we provided the students with an opportunity to create an installation or exhibition inside a school locker. This seemed very abstract to them at first, but as we went on to first look at the lockers, measure them and determine what possibly could go into an exhibition or installation, we started to notice more independent ideas, utilization of decision making skills and determination to carete something completely outside of their original comfort zone. It was particularly exciting to see the students share their locker installations and talk about their work with attendees at the CAPE celebration, but also with curious teachers and the 6th grade assistnt pricipal.

If you could change one part of your curriculum what would it be?
Mrs. Montoya shared that she personally would have liked to incorpoarate more of the Leman Values into our curriculum and maybe also incorporating more movement and mind regulation transitioning from the school day and into CAPE. Anni shared that she would have loved to change the location of the class to a space in with more flexible seating. She felt that the constaints of the single desk seating to some extend enforced a more traditional approach to teaching, instead of an opportunity to connect with each others as peer artists. 

What did you learn about yourself as an artist?
"I learned that I continue to enjoy to challenge pre-established structures, wether it be the students' confinement to being told what to do or how to use a classroom or locker. While it can be frustrating at first, a new way will eventually present itself when you start asking the right questions."

What did you learn about yourself as a teacher?
"That I can incorporate into my teaching more elements about culture, and diversity and combine them with my students' needs and likes."

Masks
How do you view yourself? And how do others view you? How do you wish other's view you? What kind of masks do we wear?

We started our unit out reflecting upon how we view ourselves, how we think others see us and how we wish they saw us? Then we attempted to visualize what that would look like on a sketch. And finally we painted our masks. The masks evolved through every step. 

Zines & Comics
What is an incident that happened in your life, that could be turned into a comic?
We learned how to fold a zine and reflected upon incidents in each of our lives, we could use for inspriration to create a comic.
We also experimented with using a comic page templates and compared this to  making your own.

What we want to learn
We asked, what is something you'd like to learn to do? What are ways you can learn this? Some learned themselves advanced origami utilizing youtube. Others taught themselves how to use the clay tools to create smaller sculptures. Some explored anime through tracing and recreating objects in 3D.  Others experimented with color mixing and painting using acrylic paints. 

Wreaths
Together we explored creaing mixed media art pieces by using grapevine wreaths, fabric scraps and yarn.
A few of us also experimented with the wreath both as an object, as well as a piece of fashion.

 

Cookies
Our last day before the winterbreak was spent creating holiday sweater designs by decorating cookies with materials donated by a friend of the artist. 

Locker Installations
After winter break we started working on our locker exhibition. We started out looking closer at the lockers we were asssigned and we also took measurements.
We started brainstorming ideas for what each person could do with theirs. Eventually we determined the items that needed to be produced so we could obtain materials and start production.