Myrna Kaiser Art Classroom Grant

The beginning of the year I spent quite a bit of time writing grants, and all that hard work is paying off. I was notified at the beginning on November that my proposal for the Myrna Kaiser Art Classroom grant had been approved, and it being fully funded!!

Weaving with a Tech Twist

This project will have two main goals; the first is to connect students to other cultures through learning about their art. Students will study and learn about the Navajo and explore their art of weaving.  My classroom does not have looms or basic weaving materials, so receiving supplies from Blick Art Materials will be crucial to completing this unit of study.

The second goal is to turn the students' weavings into an interactive art experience. This second goal is part Science and part Technology. While weaving students will add in pieces of aluminum foil (have in stock) to several sections of their project, this will turn each art work into part of a circuit. Using a device called a Makey-Makey (already have), students will be able to connect their fiber art to a computer through a series of wires. The circuits will then be built, but not functional.  The last step will be to close the circuit. Students or other members of the community will hold one wire, while touching each weaving. This will close each circuit, on contact and the computer will play a musical or spoken word audio recording. This is completely safe; there is no shock to completing the circuit. All you have to do is lightly touch the wire and the foil and music will play. Each work of art will play a different melody, or word. Allowing each performance to be completely customized, which creates a constantly changing experience each time someone closes the loop.

Here is the inspiration for this project.

Radiating Art Display

A new year has started for the Art Lab, and with that comes new ideas. I have been thinking all last year about what I could do better or different for this school year. If something is working great I say leave it alone, but check in every so often to see if it needs updated.

One of my big plans for this school year is to start a Art Parent Volunteer program. As art teachers we know that there is so much to do, and very little free time in our rooms to get it done. I am hoping to have the Art Parents help hang artwork through out the school, and help keep it rotated on a regular basis. I am also hoping that some will be able to help during the school day on big projects, or assisting with supplies and the student art organization.

To help attract parents to the my room during our Back to School night, I decided to make an eye catching display in the art case by the office. I placed QR codes on the glass, redirecting parents to a Google Form on this blog.

It worked by the way, I had several parents sign up at the Mayo Mingle (meet and greet before school starts), and I hope to have more sign up at our upcoming Back to School night.

Here is the Art Display.

The white rectangles at the bottom are random boxes that I covered with white kraft paper. I use them through out the year as stands in the show case. The letters are wood, and can be found at most craft stores. Lastly all of the cut stripes of paper are from my No Name Bin from last year. I will explain my procedures for no name art later.