End of the School Year Lesson Highlights

The end of the school year was bittersweet for me. It is nice to have off a few weeks before starting my summer teaching job, but I will miss seeing my students. They are the reason I love my job! What a wonderful feeling to always look forward to going to "work." I say it in quotes, as I believe it is more than a job. Being a waitress was work. Being a barista was work. Teaching is living what I love. It is a calling. It is joyful. It allows me to not only be a guide, but to continue to be a learner.

Here are some pictures from some of my favorite lessons this year! Somehow, I only photographed 3rd grade work, and just realized this! Bummer! Luckily, my 3rd graders were amazing young artists!

I love, love, LOVE children's artwork. I have a vision of one day opening a museum for children's art. There needs to be one! Where did Picasso get his inspiration? Answer- children (well and tribal cultures... )!


Shel Silverstein Lesson- After studying Shel Silverstein, students created their own original poem and drawing.

The very talented, "My Piano"












Another Superstar, "In My Boat"














The Infamous Turtle-loving, "Turtley, Turtley, Turtles"




Georgia O'Keefe Paintings- students studied artist Georgia O'Keefe and painted live flowers from observation in the zoomed-in, large scale style of O'Keefe

















Beautiful use of color!


















Impressive blending techniques!

















Nice contrast with the near-complimentary palette!




Multi-Media Alphabet Book Pages- students were given a letter and word associated with our school in order to create an Academy in Manayunk Alphabet Book.












'U' is for Unity"



















 "'R' is for Robot"












Ms. Malinosky (my teacher example) "'Z' is for Zany"

My Philosophy of Art Education- Ashley Malinosky

My goals as an art educator are to have a safe, respectful, and inclusive classroom where students will learn to understand art through techniques, self-expression, history, and culture.

Art instructors must teach students the technical skills to make art so that technical issues do not get in the way of expression. As students’ skills progress their confidence does as well and in turn they are able to express themselves more effectively and freely. Teaching art history is also vital. Learning about art with respect to its historical and cultural contexts provides students with a deeper understanding of the subject. Lastly, I believe respect is not something that can simply be on a list of rules the students are expected to follow; it has to be promoted, implemented, and demonstrated by the teacher and students. I will work to ensure that the environment in my classroom is one of inclusiveness, safety, and respect.

City Silhouette Project
Ashley Malinosky
Watercolor paper, watercolor, glue, construction paper




This project would be appropriate for elementary students. However, I realized after making it that I need to make a silhouette lesson plan for middle school students, so I will be creating a new, similar, more advanced project for next week!

The inspiration for this project is the view outside my window when the sun is setting. I have lived in the city for 7 years and have always loved seeing the silhouette of the buildings against the sky at this time because the buildings become black and the sky becomes pink. This project could be adapted depending on the environment where the students live for example, in a woodsy environment it could be trees’ silhouettes, in a surburban environment perhaps houses. The project is to create a watercolor painting which will act as the background and sky for the silhouettes, in this case city buildings, which will be made out of black construction paper.

Silhouette Lesson Plan- Abbreviated

Teacher: Ashley Malinosky

Title: Cityscape Silhouettes

Grade Level: 6

History/Background: The silhouette has remained a popular image in art since the beginning of time. Silhouette images can be found in various forms of ancient art such as cave paintings and Greek vessels. The technique became particularly popular in the 18th century when silhouette portraiture was common. There are many contemporary artists who are known for depicting silhouettes in their art, including Kara Walker and Karl Johnson.

PA Standards:
9.1.6 A. Know and use the elements and principles of each art form to create works in the arts and humanities.
9.1.6 B. Recognize, know, use, and demonstrate a variety of appropriate arts elements and principles to produce, review, and revise original works in the arts.
9.1.6 C. Identify and use comprehensive vocabulary within each of the arts forms.
9.2.6 C. Relate works in the arts to varying styles and genre and to the periods in which they were created.
9.3.6 A. Know and use the critical process if the examination of works in the arts and humanities.
9.3.6 D. Evaluate works in the arts and humanities using a complex vocabulary of critical response.
9.4.6 D. Describe to what purpose philosophical ideas generated by artists can be conveyed through works in the arts and humanities.

NETS Standards:
1. Creativity and Innovation
Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology.

2. Communication and Collaboration
Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others.

Goal: Students will create a multi-media cityscape silhouette collage.

Objectives:
Students will:
1. Learn about silhouettes in art.
2. Learn about cityscapes in art.
3. Learn about collage.
4. Create a cityscape silhouette watercolor collage.

Visual Aids/Resources:
Images of silhouette cityscapes in art-
Michael Penn photography
Monet's London Paintings
SavvyGalDesigns on Etsy
images of collages
teacher exemplar

Supplies/Materials:
Watercolor paper
Watercolor paints
Brushes
Water containers
Magazines
Scissors
Glue
Rulers
Digital camera
Computers

Teacher Preparation: Create rubric, gather visual aids, magazines, prepare teaching board or PowerPoint to display visual aids, get out supplies.

Teaching:
Introduction: Discuss silhouette history and show visual aids (use teaching board or PowerPoint). Ask students how silhouettes are different than traditional representations of people and things. Do they evoke a different feeling? What kind of feeling? Discuss method of collage and show visual aids. Ask students how they can use the collage method to create a silhouette. Discuss cityscapes and show visual aids. Introduce project and explain steps to students. Show teacher exemplar. Pass out rubric.

Directions:
1. Using watercolor paper and watercolor paint, students will paint a sky sunset or a sky at night.
2. Using magazines, scissors, and rulers students trace and cut out shapes they need to create building silhouettes (rectangles, squares, triangles circles), pieces should not be bigger than approximately 1”x1”. Students may wish to create a few templates for shapes rather than using ruler to make straight lines for each shape. They should cut out light colors for windows and dark colors for buildings.
3. Students assemble collage pieces to make buildings and glue down pieces on top of their watercolor painting.
4. Students take digital photos of work, upload to classroom computer (or go to computer lab), email photograph to themselves, and for homework post on class blog, and write about their work and comment on each other’s work.

Closure: Students clean up. Students hang up work for one in-progress class critique and one final class critique.

Critique/Evaluation/Assessment: Students hang up collages. Have short class discussion about the art making experience. What was difficult? What was easy? What did you like or dislike about collage and creating a silhouette? Discuss each student’s piece briefly, ask the students to comment on each other’s pieces. What stands out to them, why?

Student projects will be assessed by teacher using rubric based on effort, craft, completion, and participation in the class critique.

Time Budget: Depending on working pace of students the project will need 3-4 days.

Vocabulary:

Cityscape- an image or representation of a view of the city.

Collage- a technique in art in which various materials (usually paper) are glued to a surface.

Silhouette- the outline of something filled in by solid color, usually black.

eLecture- Exploring the work of Faith Ringgold-Recreate a Famous Work of Art

In this eLecture we will explore American artist Faith Ringgold and discuss how she references and recreates famous works of art. Click on any of the links to further explore on your own! Many feminist artists recreate famous works of art from a feminist perspective. Feminism is a movement based on the belief in equality in all areas of life for women and girls. Feminist artists express and represent these beliefs in their artwork. American artist and art teacher Faith Ringgold, who has said feminist artist Judy Chicago influenced her, has created and continues to create powerful art about women, African Americans, and American culture. In some of her art Ringgold references famous works by men, but includes and honors African American women in her re-interpretation. Ringgold often creates her work in the form of quilts with paintings on the fabric, which is a reinterpretation in its own right, as quilts are traditionally thought of as being created by women. In Dancing at the Louvre Ringgold depicts a woman and girls dancing around Leonardo Da Vinci’s paintings, including the Mona Lisa. The children depicted are actually her grandchildren and the woman is a character Ringgold created named Willia Marie Simone, who is an artist. They are in a famous art museum in France. In The Sunflower Quilting Bee at Arles she references Vincent Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, but includes images of many famous African American women holding a sunflower quilt.

Dancing at the Louvre, Faith Ringgold, 1991


The Sunflower Quilting Bee at Arles, Faith Ringgold, 1991


Another example of Ringgold revisiting a famous man's artwork, here she references the work of Henri Matisse


Matisse's Chapel, Faith Ringgold, 1991


Other Examples of Feminist Artists Recreating Famous Works of Art by Men

Artist Mary Beth Edelson reinterprets Leonardo Da Vinci's famous painting,
The Last Supper by including many female artists in her painting.


Some Living American Women Artists / Last Supper, Mary Beth Edelson, 1972

Artist Judy Chicago also references Da Vinci's The Last Supper in her installation/sculpture The Dinner Party which features 39 place settings and ceramic plates for important women in history.


The Dinner Party, Judy Chicago, 1979

Activity- Recreate a Famous Work of Art Painting

Note to Teacher or Parent: This activity is appropriate for grades 5 and up. The teacher or parent should make necessary adaptations to activity depending on grade level. For example, really encourage older students to think about the content and message of recreating the particular piece of art they choose.

Supplies/Materials:
Pencils
Brushes (assorted sizes)
18” 24” paper (heavy weight paper)
acrylic paint
water containers
rags

Instructions
Use books or the internet to browse through famous works of art. Chose a piece you would like to reference in your own art or reinterpret in your way. Think about who you would include in your piece, what you would change, and why! You can be looking at the work in a museum or a book, show yourself making the work, include yourself or someone you know in the work, it is up to you! Sketch out some drawings. Once you have decided on a sketch you can begin your final piece/painting.

When you are finished painting you may wish to write an explanation and/or story to go with your painting.

Resources

http://www.faithringgold.com

Holton, Curlee. (2004) Faith Ringgold: A View from the Studio. Charlestown, MA: Bunker Hill Publishing

The Dinner Party WebQuest

This WebQuest is designed for grades 10-12.

Introduction
You are about to take a tour of one of the world's most influential pieces of feminist art- Judy Chicago's The Dinner Party!

Artist, Judy Chicago is known for many feminist art works and projects, but most famously for The Dinner Party. Chicago began work on The Dinner Party in 1974, it is a massive multimedia work of art that is meant to honor and preserve the history of women. It consists of a large triangular table with thirty-nine place settings, each representing a particular woman from history. Each setting includes an embroidered runner with the woman’s name on it, a gold chalice and utensils, and china-painted porcelain plates.

The Dinner Party was finished in 1979. On March 14, 1979 it was opened to the public at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Five thousand people attended the opening, and one hundred thousand people came to see it during the three months it was exhibiting. Later, The Dinner Party went to the Brooklyn Museum of Art where people lined up for as long as five hours to see it.

The Dinner Party is undoubtedly seen as one of the most important pieces of feminist art and even the beginning of feminist art. The work went into permanent housing at the Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art at the Brooklyn Museum of Art in 2007, which is where you will be taking your virtual tour!



Judy Chicago, The Dinner Party, 1979

Task
Students will explore Judy Chicago's The Dinner Party by using the "360 virtual tour" feature on The Brooklyn Museum's Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art website. After thoroughly examining the piece using the virtual tour students will choose a woman to research on their own. The woman can be one from The Dinner Party or a woman of the student's choosing from history or current times. Students will then write a research paper about this woman's life and accomplishments. Students will also create a piece of art work to honor and represent this woman's memory and life.

Process
To start your exploration go to
The Brooklyn Museum Website for a virtual tour of The Dinner Party. Use your mouse to click around the art work and see it from different angles. You can click on a specific place setting to learn more about the woman it represents.

After exploring the thirty-nine women The Dinner Party represents, choose one to investigate further on your own, or think of a woman who is not in the project who you would like to research further. Write a short research paper (2-3 pages) on this woman's life and accomplishments. Explain why she is interesting or important to you as well. You will also create an art project to represent this woman. It can be any medium you choose. You may choose to represent the era she lived in, her personality, her profession, or anything else that is significant to her life.

Evaluation
Have a class discussion (see discussion prompts below). Each student will give a presentation on the woman they have chosen to research. Class will have a group critique of the art work created to represent the woman they are researching.

Have you ever heard of feminism? What have you heard about it? What misconceptions do you think exist about feminist?

How is feminist art different from any art that is made by women?

Is there a woman you know personally or a public figure you admire that you would want to be honored and/or remembered? Why? How would you represent this woman using symbols?

Why do you think Judy Chicago made The Dinner Party? What is it’s meaning? Do you think it is an important piece of art? Why or why not?

Conclusion
There is nothing that can compare to seeing a work of art in person, it is an amazing experience that can be emotional, influential, inspiring, and even life changing. However, due to geography, time, and financial reasons among others, we often do not get a chance to see many works of art that we love or want to learn about in person. The wonderful thing about technology is that it has made it possible for us to view many of these artworks in ways that are much more interactive and 3-dimensional than a photograph in a book.I hope that you have learned, discovered, and been inspired while exploring The Dinner Party via virtual tour.

Credits
http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/dinner_party/

Everything I Know I Learned in Art Class

My inspiration for the title of this blog comes from a poster I once saw that said something like, "Everything I Know I Learned in Art Class." The poster also had a witty and charming list of things one learns in an art class. Unfortunately, I do not remember the list and cannot find the poster online or otherwise. I saw the poster when I was in college, so it was at least 4 years ago, and the message stuck with me, I love it, and what better name for an art education blog!? Rhetorical question, please don't tell me better names. My boyfriend's suggestion was "Art Ed." He's so creative!

Sooooo.... what did I learn in art class?
1. Try, try, try, and try again!
2. To give advice and offer my opinion gently, but constructively.
3. How to use scissors.
4. To share my crayons (and other art supplies).
5. Not to use Sharpies for extended periods of time.
6. That I can make really cool stuff!
7. It's ok that I really stink at softball, kickball, dodgeball, and all gym class activities.
8. That mom and dad will think anything I make is amazing.
9. How to make secondary and tertiary colors, and neutrals, and tints, and values....
10. That just because I wouldn't hang a piece of art in my living room doesn't mean I shouldn't respect it and understand it. (paraphrased from my high school art teacher, sage, and art education hero, Mrs. Rolnick)