Ready for a new school year!

                                  

                    

After a wonderfully relaxing summer, it's time for those big yellow buses to roll! I will miss my lazy mornings on the deck and the precious time with family and friends, that's for sure, but the coffee is on and the halls are ready and waiting for another group of young artists. It's been a busy few days...prepping the art room and halls, teacher in service day, new student orientation, and Sunday's Open House for parents and students...and now it's showtime!

Over the years I've learned to save work in May to display in August, which makes preparation much, much faster...got it down to just three days this year!

                  

Third grade sunrise/sunset water colors





Yummy ice cream cones by last year's second graders



                          

  

                              

A variety of framed art work by students in grades 2, 3, and 4!

 

An eye-catching display based on a study of Louise Nevelson,  

created by last year's seventh grade students

 

And a featured work by one of my sixth grade students whose portfolio won her an opportunity to attend the Dorothy Myers Yeck Scholarship Studio at the Dayton Art Institute!

 

Thanks to the stenciling by a talented staff member, our students climbed to the second floor to begin the year inspired by the words of Mother Theresa.

 

I hope your year is off to a great start!

 

 

K12 Gallery Exhibit 2015

March was a very busy month in the art room! Our school has an Open House/Learning Fair on the first Sunday of the month, which means lots of artwork up for display. Fortunately, I had a lot of work ready to go since some had just come back from the Cross Point exhibit, so this was an easy show to hang at school. Adding some fresh art completed during the winter months gave me plenty of student work for this final exhibit of the school year at K12 Gallery & TEJAS. 

Twelve area Catholic schools are participating in the exhibit, which runs through the month of April. At the opening reception on March 25, several of our students won awards, which is always fun! I especially like that the gallery staff doesn't use traditional "first, second, third" place awards Instead they award Creative Thinkers, Colorful Design, and similar such compliments directly related to the art work. There are "Best in Grade" but other than that, it's all about the art.

The evening also included performances by various musical groups, including a trio from my school's band. All in all, a special evening for many talented young artists!

OMG! Is it August already???

After responding to a FB post from the NAEA Elementary Division inviting art teachers to post their blog URLs, I decided to create a post to get the new school year started, and was rather stunned to see that my last post was from way back in February. I know it was a rough winter, with way too many missed days, but I had no idea how much time had passed!

So here is a quick recap of the past school year...

The year began with my very sparkly, clean art classroom in mid- August and ended with piles of debris outside the door as I spent several days after school was out purging every closet and corner of the room.

In between there were art shows....

 

Clay projects in the repaired kiln...

Weavings and fabric paintings...

iPad adventures...

 

Drawing....and painting....and so much more!

 

 

And now we're back where we started...another summer coming to an end and another school year set to begin in just a few days. 

New Year...New Children's Art Gallery!

I am so excited about the new look in our Children's Art Gallery! There is a long hallway connecting the old wing of our building to the newer wing, fondly referred to by most of us as "the ramp" because it slopes downward due to the a change in the elevation of the building site. Over ten years ago, some student artwork was professionally framed and hung on the walls of this hallway, along with two large bulletin boards. The boards change constantly, but the artwork has remained the same for all these years. Don't get me wrong, the artwork is excellent, but those students long ago moved on and are now adults, some possibly even with children of their own!

Last spring, while on Amazon looking for frames for my own home, I came across some fantastic cabinet-style frames with built-in mats. Perfect for a school, I thought! Fortunately, my principal agreed and told me to go ahead and order a sample in each size. They arrived in late May and we knew they were perfect! She found the funds to purchase 22 more, so we now have a total of 27 frames in several different sizes. At the end of last year, I chose some student work for the first exhibit of our new Children's Art Gallery. The week before school started, two members of our maintenance staff, Mike and Suzanne, graciously took the time to mount all the frames to the walls of the new gallery. Suzanne even did the beautiful stenciling above the entrance to the gallery!

The entrance to our gallery

One of the best things about these new frames is the way they can be reused over and over again, making them well-worth the initial expense. Some like the one below, have corkboard backing, which is perfect for canvas panels, relief work, and weavings.

 

My plan is to change the art gallery display every quarter, giving more students a chance to have a special place for their work to be displayed. When the work is removed, it will be returned to the student artist, along with a certificate to commemorate the honor.

 

If anyone is interested in having similar frames, these can be purchased from Dynamic Frames. I chose frames to hold 18x24", 12x18", 12x12", and 9x12" paper because those are the sizes I use the most in the art room. Most of the frames come in black, white, or cherry finishes.

 

At our Meet the Teachers Open House last Sunday, so many parents and students commented on how much they liked the "new look" in our Children's Art Gallery and I must say, I agree!