End of Year Group Sculpture Projects

Students collaborated in groups of four to five people to plan, design, and paint a 3D sculpture. Students used cardboard and paper mache and paint to construct their ideas into works of art. Students then voted on their favorite projects from an exhibit of 20 projects. Below are three examples. The winning group project was the cheeseburger! Students were very competitive during this art lesson, and it was fun to see the winners faces when they realized they won!

When Art Was an Olympic Event!

My art students are getting ready to watch the winter Olympics by making art based on their favorite sport. Students learned that there was a time when art was an Olympic event! From 1912 until 1952, 151 medals were given for painting, sculpture, writing and more! Will this idea ever return? We will have to see. Students also learned about drawing with multiple values and how shading tools can help an artist to draw even better when realism is the goal. Here is an interesting link about art and the Olympics.

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Halloween Paper Collage

Happy Halloween collage! Students learned about silhouettes and created cats cut out with construction paper. Students were encouraged to give their cats a unique personality/attitude based upon eye expressions and posture.

My art students collaborated in groups to create a 3D sculpture. Students first had to agree on a an idea and then began working in teams to create their fun paper mache' sculptures. They were put on display and then votes were casts for the favorite overall designs. It's always fun to see who takes the leadership role as I walk around the groups in the classroom. I provide advice, encouragement and support to each group.

 

Our Visit To The Mint Museum

My art students enjoyed seeing the Picasso landscape exhibit at the Mint Museum Uptown. There was also an area where students could sit and draw in their sketchbooks while looking at the Picasso paintings. Students were able to see Romare Bearden works of art too. The docents and staff were welcoming and very knowledgeable. The weather was perfect today so students enjoyed eating lunch outside. After a walk through the gift shop, we returned to school. Thank you to everyone involved with the Mint Museum for this opportunity. I highly recommend this exhibit before it moves to another city. Parents have told me that my students continue to talk about this experience. It was a childhood museum visit that created my interest in art so I feel as though I have come full circle. And as Picasso said, “All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up.”
Thank you again to the City of Charlotte, the exhibit sponsors and everyone at The Mint Museum.

Stacy C. Bottoms

Art Educator

Native American Horse Masks

To recognize Native American Heritage Month, my 8th grade art students worked in groups to create realistic Native American Horse masks. They first used an empty 2 liter plastic bottle for the horse head. Students then selected from various cloth fabrics, created layered textures, colors and beadwork for their project. A wooden dowel rod was inserted into the bottle to support their sculpture. Eye openings were either cut out, painted over or darker fabric was put in place. When I saw a horse mask exhibit at the National Museum of the American Indian, I thought my art students would enjoy making these. They did enjoy working on this each day and I'm proud of their teamwork. Our mascot is the Colts and some of our students ride horses so this made the project even more fun to display.

My 6th, 7th and 8th art students.

It's been a busy start to the semester. This post will include student work from my 6th,7th and 8th grade art students. You'll see Caves of Lascaux art from my 6th, state fish art and neurographic art from my 7th. And then artwork from my 8th who completed their celebrity portrait drawings. One of my students was drawing the Queen of England as news broke regarding the Queen's passing. The Rock was also drawn.

Art Exhibit at the City of Locust Library

It's time for our annual exhibit at the Locust, NC library. The art below was framed for the exhibit and will be on display from December 10th until February 2021. We've been using Google slides to share student art during the semester and this will be an opportunity for the library to fill their gallery with student art. Being fully remote has been a challenge but both recorded and live demonstrations have helped students with the art making process. I'm proud of their hard work and I look forward to our next semester. I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a very Happy New Year!