SchoolArts - May/June 2009

Mother’s Day Fashion Design Early Childhood

The Art Problem

Combine fashion design, Mother’s

Day, and a meaningful art lesson.

Objectives

Students will learn that fashion design is an art career and make an

article of clothing for their mothers.

Materials

air-dry clay like Crayola Model

Magic, twenty-eight-gauge wire (available at hardware stores), pliers

and wire cutters (teacher use)

Procedures

1. Prior to class, cut and bend a

small wire hanger for each student. Collect advertisements that display

dresses or tops and display a real

dress on a hanger. Discuss the importance people place on the

clothing they buy. Point out that

clothing is designed by a designer in the fashion industry.

2. Have students shape a dress

with a golf-ball-sized piece of air-

dry clay. Model the dress over the teacher-made wire hanger.

3. Have students add details with

other colors of air-dry clay, such as belts, hems, etc.

4. Ruffles or designs may be

impressed with a toothpick or craft

stick.

5. Have students write Mother’s

Day poems to accompany the

dresses.

By Craig Hinshaw, an elementary art teacher in the Lamphere School District in Madison Heights, Wisconsin, and author of Clay Connections (Poodle Press, 2007).

Styrofoam Creations Middle School

The Art Problem Motivate students to perform as real-life sculptors to create proposals for a variety of settings.

Objectives

Students will individually transform cardboard into a three-dimensional sculpture proposal and then cooperatively work in groups to transform Styrofoam into a large-scale sculpture proposal.

Materials

4" (10 cm) pieces of corrugated cardboard, Styrofoam pieces, craft sticks, craft glue, masking tape

Procedures

1. Discuss the differences between two-dimensional and three-dimensional art and view sculptures that are designed to complement buildings. Explain that the planning process for such sculptures includes consideration of scale and proportion, subject matter, materials, and tools. 2. Give each student a 4" piece of corrugated cardboard and

instruct them to turn it into a three-dimensional proposal for a large sculpture. Share and critique. 3. Assign students to teams and have them work together to share their ideas to create a large-scale sculpture proposal made primarily with Styrofoam held together with craft sticks, craft glue, and masking tape.

Assessment

Display and critique the proposals. The overall focus should be placed on the primary materials with the secondary materials being used only as enhancing details. The sculptures should stand on their own with neat and sturdy construction and be visually balanced. Additional criteria include quality artistry, visual unity, and innovative design.

By Margarete Hyer, visual arts teacher at Benjamin Franklin Middle School in Ridgewood, New Jersey.

Pendant Design Elementary

The Art Problem Explore jewelry design and create a pendant.

Materials

images of jewelry from different cultures and times, scrap paper for planning, pencils, assorted pieces of meltable designer’s plastic (like Friendly Plastics^®) pre-cut into different shapes, warming tray, aluminum pans, tools for blending plastic (paper clips, craft sticks), yarn cut to lengths for necklaces, beads (optional)

Procedures

1. Give a brief introduction to jewelrymaking and how people from around the world and from different times have created beautiful objects to adorn themselves. 2. Provide an assortment of pre-cut pieces of meltable designer’s plastic. Allow students to select three or four pieces. 3. Distribute scrap paper and ask students to plan how they would like to arrange their pieces to create a pendant. Remind students

that they will need to create an open area to hang the pendant and that designs with no more than two layers work best. 4. When a suitable design is achieved, move the plastics to an aluminum pan and place the pan on a warming tray. Adult supervision is required. 5. After a few minutes, the plastic will soften. At this time, use tools to whirl, stir, and comb through the material to create designs. 6. Remove the aluminum pans from the warming tray and run cool water over the jewelry to set the plastic. 7. String the pendant on yarn and add beads if desired.

Assessment How effective is the pendant design?

By Heather Elliott, a pre-service art educator at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona.

Introduction to Form High School

The Art Problem Students will create sculpture that utilizes organic and geometric forms. Students will focus on how positive and negative space can create an interesting work of art.

Materials variety of strings or twines, white glue, balloons, petroleum jelly

Procedures This assignment is an inexpensive introduction to form and how three-dimensional space is used in creating a sculpture. 1. To begin, discuss how round works of art are viewed from a variety of vantage points. 2. Ask students to bring in a pack of balloons. Each student should bring in a different shape or size. 3. Ask students to create three quick thumbnails by combining several repeated shapes. Review the

thumbnails and ask each student to choose the best design. 4. Students should begin their sculptures by rubbing their balloons with petroleum jelly so that the string will not stick. 5. Have students dip string in a mixture of glue and water and begin wrapping the balloons. Let the balloons sit overnight to dry. 6. Pop the balloon and tie the units together to create a cohesive design.