Bring a Hands-On Art Experience to Your Site

Each quarter, ACCESS ARTS will offer two special project opportunities for students. These experiences extend beyond the materials and activities typically available in most classrooms, giving students opportunities to explore clay, papier-mâché, sculpture, printmaking, mixed media, and other hands-on art processes.

Each project may include a complete lesson plan, necessary supplies, and optional implementation support based on scheduling and availability.

To submit a request, please complete the linked Google document for the opportunity provided.

We encourage you to give one of these projects a try. Hands-on art builds confidence, curiosity, problem-solving, persistence, and creative independence—while giving students the excitement of working with materials and processes they may not otherwise experience. Have an idea of your own? Reach out and connect with us!

wire

Sculpture

Turn a simple line into a character with a story! In this imaginative sculpture project, students bend and shape wire, beads, fabric, buttons, and recycled materials to create an expressive three-dimensional personality. Inspired by Alexander Calder, Pablo Picasso, and Frida Kahlo, students explore drawing in space, simplified forms, symbolism, identity, and storytelling—while building creativity, problem-solving, craftsmanship, and confidence. Every finished character is completely unique, just like its artist.

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3D Sculpture

Bend it. Stretch it. Paint it. Make it unforgettable!

Students transform wire and nylon into bold, free-form sculptures inspired by nature, Henry Moore, and Joan Miró. With color, pattern, movement, and imagination, every finished sculpture becomes completely one-of-a-kind.

This highly visual lesson builds creativity, problem-solving, craftsmanship, spatial thinking, and artistic confidence.

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Dragon Eyes Lesson

Enter the Creature Design Studio and bring imagination to life! In this hands-on clay sculpture project, students study animal eyes and natural textures, explore inspiring artists, and design a one-of-a-kind dragon eye that tells a story. The lesson blends observation, art history, creative problem-solving, sculpture, color, texture, and storytelling—giving every student the freedom to create something bold, meaningful, and unforgettable.

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Lesson/ Supplies

SPRAY, CUT, CREATE

Spray • Cut • Create: A Spray-Painted Paper Portrait Adventure invites students to design their own colorful papers with spray paint, stencils, masks, patterns, and layered textures, then transform those papers into an expressive mixed-media self-portrait. Students build skills in color, composition, craftsmanship, problem-solving, fine-motor control, and visual storytelling while using symbols, accessories, and background details to communicate who they are. This project is hands-on, energetic, highly personal, and full of creative choice—there is no single correct result, and every finished portrait becomes a completely original reflection of the artist who made it.

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Junk Journals

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Collect it. Layer it. Make it yours.

Students transform recycled papers, found objects, memories, and everyday “junk” into a one-of-a-kind handmade journal. Through collage, writing, pockets, textures, and personal details, they create a meaningful book that tells their story.

This flexible, low-cost project builds creativity, sustainability, self-expression, organization, reflection, and confidence—while connecting easily to art, English, history, science, and more.

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