Cascade Canyon

Visual Art

As our guiding principles for this art class, we borrow from An Incomplete Manifesto for Growth by Bruce Mau. Written in 1998, the Incomplete Manifesto is an articulation of statements that exemplify Bruce Mau's beliefs, motivations and strategies. It also articulates how the BMD studio works: 1. Process is more important than outcome. When the outcome drives the process we will only ever go to where we've already been. If process drives outcome we may not know where we're going, but we will know we want to be there. 2. Love your experiments (as you would an ugly child). Joy is the engine of growth. Exploit the liberty in casting your work as beautiful experiments, iterations, attempts, trials, and errors. Take the long view and allow yourself the fun of failure every day. 3. Capture accidents. The wrong answer is the right answer in search of a different question. Collect wrong answers as part of the process. Ask different questions. 4. Drift. Allow yourself to wander aimlessly. Explore adjacencies. Lack judgment. Postpone criticism. 5. Don't be cool. Free yourself from limits of this sort. 6. Ask questions. Growth is fueled by desire and innocence. Assess the answer, not the question. Imagine learning throughout your life at the rate of an infant.   7. _______. Intentionally left blank. Allow space for the ideas you haven't had yet, and for the ideas of others. Of course, in our classes, we use different language, but we always honor the creative spark with open-ended questions and an attitude of curiosity as we explore the school-wide theme of Sustainability. In our self-portrait unit, we will be looking at who we are in the world and how that relates to our self-expression in art class. First / second and third / fourth grades will: *explore color and shape as metaphor for feeling while learning color theory in painted self-portraits * learn a bit about media literacy as they use borrowed images to collage pictures of who they would like to be in the future *use recycled materials to make found object sculpture of themselves as the animal that best represents them Fifth / sixth and seventh / eighth grades will: * learn about classical proportion and explore who they are as they use borrowed images to collage their self-portrait using images of things they love * use Van Gogh's painterly style to alter photos of themselves and, using his bold color scheme, learn about color theory *Experiment with illuminated manuscripts, identity and symbolism by using their names to create a unique word picture that represents them In our ecological arts unit, students will explore their relationship with natural materials for making art. All art classes will: * make paper using silk fibers embedded with seeds that will actually grow * do a weaving project * explore the ancient art of making fish prints We move the context of art from the personal to the historical in an investigation of various indigenous art traditions. Using a variety of age appropriate materials, all grades will: * make Dream Time paintings after the contemporary and historical efforts of the Indigenous Australians *craft kente cloth-inspired printed fabric from Africa * create Inuit animal carvings Building on the indigenous notion that art is important for the community's well being, we will enter the holiday season with a unit on art and giving. The lower grades will: * make simple tops, dolls, and puppets Older grades will: * construct wooden toys capable of dynamic movement All grades will create cards and wrapping paper will make use of various printing processes for a unique effect. Finally, we will use sustainable materials to explore design. The lower grades will use recycled materials to create costumes: * paper bags become wigs, vests, and accessories * papier maché combined with plates, tubes and other assorted recycled materials will make fantastic masks Older students will explore design and architecture with two projects: * using adobe, sticks, and hand-made paper, we will create small-scale fairy/ woodland creature houses * with the book The Green Dollhouse as our guide, we will build multi-story mini-homes using nothing but recycled items

 

Next >