Altered Arts... Week 15

This week students began by researching Altered Arts, specifically Artist Trading Cards (ATCs) and Altered Books. Students gathered information online and found lots of images and examples to spur ideas. As usual, students recorded their findings and resources in the Developmental Workbooks, or DW's (the books formerly known as sketchbooks). This is a class joke; ask your student. :)

Students will begin exploring Altered arts by creating their own Altered Book as a quarter exam project, which we will be working on in class for the next two weeks. The book will be based on the lyrics of a song or quote of the student's choice. They will be required to have at least 15 two-page spreads, including 5 required techniques from the list I provided students. Students must make choices as to which media, techniques, and images will best express the ideas, feelings and message of their chosen words. They must use the knowledge of materials and processes they have gained throughout the semester  to communicate a specific idea.

Students will also have the opportunity to create an ATC to submit for the Hamilton County Art Students' ATC Swap this month*. Students can create a high-quality ATC to submit for the swap using any medium using a landscape as the subject matter. If a student's ATC is deemed appropriate and strong enough for submission to the Swap, the student will receive an additional quiz grade of 100! *This is an extra credit assignment, it is not required.*

REMINDER: HOMEWORK ASSIGNS 11 AND 12 DUE WEDNESDAY!!!

Self Critiques on the Wiki... Week 14

For our two day week prior to Thanksgiving, students are completing critiques of their own work. Using the self critique questions I provide as a guideline, students write reflective short essays describing their work. After giving full descriptions of the work, students then analyze and evaluate their work. For this critique, students are focusing on the Andy Goldsworthy inspired sculptures they created last week. They are creating wiki pages to present their work.

Happy Thanksgiving and enjoy the break!

Andy Goldsworthy Studies... Week 13

This week students spent time researching environmental artist Andy Goldsworthy. Noted for his inventive use of natural materials in specific settings, Goldsworthy's work is exciting to students. Creating sculptures from natural materials found on site using no man made adhesives or tools, Goldsworthy's work involves ideas such as time, change, and permanence in his sculptures. Often times the only way to experience his sculptures are through the photographs he takes, as the sculptures are often in remote locations or are changed by weather and natural disintegration.

Students used the information they researched to create informational wiki pages about Goldsworthy's art, including a brief critique of his work in general. Students wrote three paragraphs and included images in their pages, completed during class time in the Fine Arts Mac lab.

Later in the week (if the rain stops!), students will take a hike in the woods around the school to evaluate their materials and resources, eventually creating their own outdoor environmental sculptures!

Link to wiki page with student responses to Goldsworthy's work found here.

Calder Mobiles... Week 12

Students asked themselves how Physiscs relates to Art this week as they learned about Alexander Calder and kinetic sculptures. After researching the artist and art form, the students watched a brief demonstration video detailing how to make three different styles of mobile sculptures. Students then designed and created their own tree, articulated, or spiral mobiles out of sculpture wire and found objects or painted cardboard.

Progress Reports go out Friday, November 13!

CD Cover Designs... Week 11

Students played the role of graphic designers this week as they took on the task

 of redesigning existing CD covers by their favorite bands. After analyzing previous album artwork by the bands, students selected one album cover to redesign. Students not only focused on interesting typography, images, and layout, but also on creating a mood or feeling that would inform the consumer about the music before listening. 

This lesson required students to communicate important information 

about the music while creating an interesting visual design. 

Recycled Sculptures... Week 10

After researching the life and work of sculptor Louise Nevelson, students worked in pairs to create their own sculpture inspired by her work. We collected everyday "trash" and discarded items such as soda bottles, paper towel rolls, old cardboard, and boxes which the students then transformed into beautiful sculptures. Groups painted the items within their found object sculptures in monochromatic color schemes, drawing attention to the interesting shapes and forms of these everyday objects. 

Students not only had a good environmental lesson in creative reuse of materials, but also focused on the Human Ingenuity required to create an interesting work of art.

Wrapping up 1st Quarter... Week 9

Students spent this week finishing up all projects, organizing their materials, and participating in Community and Service activities. Students in the HS Art room created ceramic pieces inspired by leaves which they will donate to i-Fest for sale. You can purchase one at the celebration in April!

Have a great Fall Break!

Keith Haring Murals... Week 8

Students spent this week learning about the artist Keith Haring and studying his artwork. Students were particularly interested in Haring's beginnings as a graffiti artist in New York and his chalk drawings in the NYC subways. Noting Haring's use of semiotics, or symbolic language, students created their own Haring style symbols to communicate ideas they found important in their lives. Students chose ideas like family, sports, religion, friends, music, and

Using the simplified figures typical of Haring's work, students combined their ideas with their classmates in small groups to create murals which they hung around school. The resulting murals were bright, bold, and continue to communicate the ideas students wanted to the entire school on a daily basis!

Georgia O'Keeffe studies... Week 7

Students spent Monday gathering information about Georgia O'Keeffe and her artwork. Noting O'Keeffe's monumental style, focusing on organic objects and bright, bold colors, students created sketches reproducing the artist's bold compositional style and use of negative space.

After gathering natural objects from our local setting, students created their own monumental drawings in O'Keeffe's style and used chalk pastel to add bright, smoothly blended colors.

Initial Designs & Color Schemes... Week 6

Students created their own logos this week, inspired by the lines and shapes of their initials. After creating small sketches of at least 6 different designs, students chose one design and drew it three times. Each design was then painted in a different color scheme, changing the effect of the identical designs based on the colors used.

Progress Reports were also given out this week!

Romare Bearden Collages... Week 5

Students learned about Harlem Renaissance artist Romare Bearden this week. Noted for his inventive use of paper in collages, his focus on the themes of everyday life of African Americans, and his involvement in the art world, Bearden is an influential figure in art history.

Inspired by Bearden's work, students used his style and techniques of paper collage to create their own images of everyday life.

Color Theory and Painting: Week 4

Our final Element to explore is Color!

Students learned new color vocabulary this week, including color schemes, mixing and theory vocabulary. Students also learned the practice of color mixing by creating their own color wheels including primary, secondary, and tertiary colors, as well as tints and shades of each hue.

We're going to sing the Elements of Art... Week 3

Students sang and quizzed on the Elements of Art all week... much to their chagrin, but it worked! All students had passing grades on the quizzes by week 3. Students also continued introductory projects focusing on each Element and allowing them to become familiar with different art media as well. 

Students created drawings with colored pencils focusing on Shape. After creating a 2 inch border (and flexing some math skills) on their papers, students divided their compositional space in to geometric and organic shapes. Next they used the principle of Repetition to create patterns within each shape. The resulting pieces were bright, colorful, and fun!

Students also created projects focusing on Texture. After collecting both actual and implied textures (through crayon rubbings), students created collages of their textures. It was amazing to see the different smooth, rough, prickly, sticky, fluffy kinds of textures they found and created!

Students explored Value by creating their own value scales. After an introduction to drawing pencil categories, students used soft ebony graphite pencils to create a range of at least 7 values using one pencil. Students explored how different amounts of pressure and layers of graphite can affect the value created with a single drawing instrument.

Students explored Space by creating drawings of chairs in class close up and from different angles. They focused on positive/negative space and creating dynamic compositions. After creating 6 different 3x3 inch drawings in their sketchbooks, they colored each one in an interesting way to focus on the lines and shapes created by the positive/negative space.

Hard at work: Week 2

Sketchbooks, songs, and silliness, oh my!

This week was full of all three. Students continued work on creating their own sketchbooks from a simple bookbinding technique they learned in class. Their covers really reflected their personalities and interests and helped me get to know them even better!

Once finished, we began learning about the Elements of Art and Principles of Design. Here is a link to a great site that explains what these terms are and their significance. The terms and ideas are the basic language of Art, so it is important that students learn those early and quickly. After an intense note-taking session, I taught them a song to help them remember the Elements of Art and an acronym to help them remember the Principles of Design. And yes, I made them all sing it! Although it's a silly song to the tune of Row Your Boat, it really helps students remember and reminds us all we are not as cool as we think we are! :) We also listened to one student's new version created on Garage Band software to more of a Caribbean beat. Props to Baxter for the great new version! We will be quizzing on those terms until I feel everyone knows them by heart!

We also began our first project concentrating on the Elements and Principles. Our Line sculptures used simple cut white paper lines of varying thickness, lengths, and directions to create interesting forms on our white paper background. Since the sculptures were wall hangings, we created them in a style of relief sculpture. They look fantastic under the gallery lights in our hallway; the shadows created by the raised lines make them even more interesting!

Week 1: Introduction to the Course

Our first week of class was very busy! We began with lots of forms: pretests, surveys, syllabi, parent signature forms, and more. We went over class logistics and expectations and got a feel for how the class will be run on a daily basis. Students began watching the CNN Student News podcast as their daily starter, and already they have a new appreciation for puns!

Students also began their first projects this week. All students created a nametag for their storage cubbies. After looking at typography, the study of type as design, students created designs which showed their style and personality through their font choices. Students hung their nametags on their cubbie drawers for identification.

Students also began the creation of their sketchbooks at the end of this week. Using a simple bookbinding method and readily available materials, students made their own sketchbooks to use in class and at home for the semester. They decorated the front and back covers with images, words, and ideas which they felt represented them and their interests. They created some colorful covers which really reflect their personalities!

Welcome Back!

Welcome back to school and back to the Atelier!

School starts Wednesday, so I hope you're ready for some fun; we're going to learn and do so much this year! Some things have changed in the art room, and some have stayed the same... come see how many differences you can spot!

In class this week, we will be covering the syllabus, forms/fees, expectations, policies, procedues, logistics, pretests and lots of other really exciting housekeeping issues like that. We may even get to make some art! My goal as always is to know your name within the first week; I am 5 years undefeated! I am excited for a new year in our awesome school. I hope you'll enjoy this year in the Atelier with me!

Stay tuned for lots of info and annoucements this week as I will be starting my daily blog posts back up.

1,000 Paper Cranes

Tuesday's class time was spent learning about the 1,000 Paper Cranes project and the story of Sadako, as well as learning to make origami paper cranes. After watching a brief video on the Sadako Story found online, students watched a step-by-step tutorial video showing each fold in making a paper crane. Along with my demonstration, students were able to feel comfortable with the steps and technique by the second crane they made.

Students must make 10 cranes each by Friday (regardless of absences, field trips, etc). Five origami cranes can be plain white paper, but AT LEAST five must be colored paper (watercolored, colored w/ pencils, etc).

As part of our 1,000 Paper Cranes project, a few students will be volunteering to teach visitors to our i-Fest celebration how to fold cranes and help us in our pursuit of making 1,000.

Wiki work

Students used Monday's class time in the computer lab adding new wiki pages to the site. Based on their work from Friday on the Voting for Public Art at the Hunter Museum Website, students transferred their ideas from their sketchbooks to finished wiki pages. All students created their own new pages in their class folder to present their work.

Check out the wiki page here to see the work they did in the Student Responses folders.

Voting on Public Art

Students participated in the voting for Public Art in Chattanooga today. We spent the class in the computer lab looking at the Hunter Museum's Website. The site has a section on the art now under review for the public to choose for placement in Miller Plaza downtown. That link is here. Chattanooga has a great history of supporting Public Art, and this opportunity to participate in choosing the work is a fantastic learning opportunity for students.


After researching a little about each piece of art and the three artists, students wrote a paragraph about each piece of art being proposed. Students then wrote a fourth paragraph describing their choice and why it's the best piece of art for that spot.


One of the proposed works of art above:
LET'S GIVE CHATTANOOGA A BIG HAND, A COMMISSION BY DONALD LIPSKI
Stainless steel, 36 feet high x 12 feet wide x 6 inches deep

Finishing Self Portraits

Students spent their class time finishing the realistic self portraits they began yesterday. Students worked quietly throughout the period, allowing them to focus more clearly on observation and detail and excercise their right brains a bit more. Students continued applying their new knowledge of facial proportions to guide them in creating these drawings.

The students' work from today was quite impressive. I know these portraits will be a source of pride for many of the students. It is easy to tell the effort and skills students applied to their work by the outcome and beauty of these drawings!

Self Portrait by Nathan L.

Applying our knowledge

Today students finished their guided instruction on facial proportions and drawing the human face. I was really amazed with the quality of drawings the students created on their first attempt this quarter at this tight, realistic drawing style. Students finished up their drawings by adding ears and necks to their faces and learning to draw hair. Students noted that the neck is usually the width from outside of the eye straight down, and that the hair line generally starts half way from the eyebrow to the top of the head.

Students also began a self portrait today based on their new knowledge of facial proportions. Students were challenged to adapt their knowledge of general placement of features while observing and recording the specifics of their own faces. Students, although very wary, are beginning the best self portraits most of them will have ever drawn!


(Shout out to the student who is making me an Oreo Ball dessert; here is a recipe!)

Drawing the Face

Students learned the general proportions of the human face today. Following a step-by-step video, students analyzed features and their relationships in creating their own realistic drawings. Students learned that the head is generally an upside-down egg shape, and that the "Eye line" is half way down the head. Students also learned the placement of the "mouth line" at 1/3 up from the chin, and the "nose line" 1/3 up from the mouth line. Students learned the general max width of a nose is the width from tear duct to tear duct, and that the mouth is generally as wide as the distance from pupil to pupil.






Although difficult, students were encouraged to erase and correct at all times in order to prefect their drawings. We noted that many features on the face can be created by shading to look more 3-D rather than drawing harsh outlines. Students got through the features of the face today and will move on to adding ears and hair to their portraits tomorrow. The drawings are going to be great, even if they are just practice!

Printing blocks

Students spent Thursday and Monday making prints of their personal logos from the carved blocks the created. Students turned in both a single black print on small paper and a large sheet with a series of 5 prints in color. We plan on mounting the strips into a large collaborative piece of art!

PROGRESS REPORTS went home today! Please sign and return the report by Wed (4/15) to earn an extra credit!

Carving Day

Students carved their personal logo designs into small cork blocks today and began printing. After addressing safety, process, and watching a demonstration, students went to work. Students must turn in one clean print of their personal logo.

Personal Logos

Today students studied logo design and a sampling of historic and current logos. Aspects such as simplicity, boldness and ease of recognition were discussed, noting the primary function of the logo being to indentify and make an introductory statement about the person/business/organization the logo represents. Notable logos we discussed were Nike and Apple among others.

We also looked at the well-known German artist Albrecht Dürer, part of the Northern Renaissance, who had a distinctive monogram. Using his initials AD, he created an interesting logo which he included in most of his artwork.

In addition to this historic artist, we also looked at a current graphic designer's sketches in creating his own personal logo which I found online.

Students spent the period creating at least 9 different personal logo design ideas before selecting one final design. Students used initials, numbers, and images which meant something to them in creating their own logo to identify themselves.

Altered Art research

Students spent today's class time in the computer lab researching two different art forms: Artist Trading Cards (ATCs) and Altered Books. Students gathered information in their sketchbooks based on questions I gave them. Students were encouraged to look at lots of images of both Altered art forms and get plenty of ideas, as they will get to choose which one of these projects they want to do.

Oil pastel study

On April 2 & 3, students explored oil pastels in a simple project using geometric shapes.

On a 12x18 piece of paper, students used a ruler to draw 7 lines anywhere that touched two sides. After drawing the lines, students used the cropping squares to trace 5 perfect squares anywhere on the paper. Using oil pastels, students first colored in the 5 squares different colors. Next, looking only at the rectilinear shapes made by the lines, students colored in each shape with a different color of oil pastel, blending with any colored square the shape may encompass.

Student noted the specific way oil pastels are applied and can be mixed and layered with other colors, so that they may understand the properties of that medium for use in later projects.

The resulting projects are bold, non-objective, beautifully simple works of art.

Georgia O'Keeffe studies

Students spent March 30-April 1 learning about the artist Georgia O'Keeffe and exploring chalk pastels. After viewing O'Keeffe's work and noting the major characteristics of her style, students spent their time creating their own masterpieces.

After a short hike in the woods, students selected natural objects to bring back in the room and draw. Using a cropping square as a tool for dynamic compositions, students drew close up views of their leaves, flowers, branches, and grasses in pencil on 18x18" paper. Focusing on interesting negative space, sharp details, and bold, blended color, students created beautiful pieces using chalk pastels inspired by the work of O'Keeffe.

Water for Wotera Posters

Students spent the week of March 23-27 creating posters for our Talent Show/Prom fair. 

After looking at a sampling of poster design history, including everything from WWII propaganda posters to 1960's psychedelic concert posters, students noted the fundamental issues of graphic design: creating interesting art while serving a specific purpose. In the case of our project, students had to create an interesting design for the event poster while including all the necessary information for the audience. Students were asked to not only give date/time/place type information, but also to give a feel for the atmosphere and purpose of the event.

The proceeds from the event were to benefit our school-wide effort called Water for Wotera. One of our exchange students, Desta Bume, is an extraordinary young man from a village near Wotera, Ethiopia who, although facing immeasurable odds, has excelled in his education. See our school Website for more information.  

Sophomore student Baxter Whittenberg's poster design was chosen for the cover of the Talent Show/Prom Fair program and posters!

Spring Break '09

My hiatus from the site is due in part to our taking Spring Break March 13-22.

I took a group of students, parents, and teachers to Greece this year for an outstanding tour of Athens and the Greek Isles, even stopping in one port in Turkey. It was an amazing trip, with far too much beauty and history to absorb in one week!

I will continue my Spring Break trips with a tour of London and Paris next year!

Great Designs

The students spent the block finishing up their sketches for the Google doodle and many began transferring their best idea and design to the final paper. The theme, "What I Wish for the World," yielded some amazingly profound statements from the students on what they see as problems with the world and so many innovative ways to visually represent those ideas. Curing cancer, saving coral reefs and rainforests, ending pollution and hunger, affordable college education, and world peace were just a few of the things the students wished for the world.
I can only choose 6 designs to submit for the contest, and I can already tell I'm going to need lots of help choosing!
(Doodle above made for my fave artist- Rene Magritte's birthday!)

Brainstorming

Students used the period today to brainstorm ideas for their Google Doodle project. After listing 10 things they Wish for the World (the contest theme), students began working with images and ideas for this exam project. Examples of past winning designs and tips from Google's doodle creator were shown in class to inspire students' ideas. The project will be due Thursday before the students leave for Spring Break.

(Last year's winning doodle below.)

College Finale

Students finished up College Week by creating their final logo design for colleges on 9x12 paper. Using their choice of colored pencils or paints, students added color to their final designs. Some colleges really need to buy some of these designs to use; they're outstanding!
Students were asked to be brainstorming for their final project of this quarter- their EXAM project- the Doodle 4 Google contest. The theme is "What I Wish for the World." Students should be thinking of ideas and how they could incorporate images into the Google logo to demonstrate their vision for our world! We will begin working on these logos Monday!

College logo designs

Students continued to enjoy College Week today with an art project surrounding college logos. Students pre-selected a college logo to redesign and brought in a copy of the original today. After spending the first part of class in the computer lab to research college logos and find information about the college they chose, students worked on several sketches of possible new designs for the logo. Prompts for new ideas were given to consider, such as mascots, initials, geographical features, and notable programs of study at the college. By the end of the period, all students should have created several design ideas in their sketchbooks and given color to the best logo. Tomorrow students will finish College Week by creating their best logo design on 9x12 paper and add color using their choice of colored pencils or paint.

Art majors and colleges

Students continued their studies about college and arts-related majors today with a speaker from the Art Institute of Tennessee in Nashville. Students were presented with programs of study including Graphic Design, Fashion Design, Culinary Arts, Video Production, Interior Design, Video Game design, and Photography, among others. Students were shown sample portfolios and work from students in each program; it was quite impressive to see what you learn and how quickly you learn it! Students got information on scholarships, admissions requirements, and other information to help them understand the college admission process. Check out http://www.artinstitutes.edu/ for more info on the Art Institutes!

Students were also briefed on our final 2 assignments of the quarter: a College logo re-design and the Doodle 4 Google contest. For the college logo redesign, students must have a copy of an original college logo tomorrow(3/5). Students who do not bring their original logos will complete bookwork instead of the project. Students will use the established color scheme and mascot (if any) to redesign the existing logo for the college.
The Doodle 4 Google contest will be their quarter exam project, testing their ability to generate ideas, select appropriate materials, and execute their idea. See http://www.google.com/doodle4google/ for more info on the contest. Although each student will create a design for the exam grade, only 6 works of art can be chosen for entry into the contest! Students should begin brainstorming on the theme "What I wish for the World."

College Bound

In honor of College Week at SMMHS, students spent today's class in the computer lab doing online research on colleges. Students generated a list of 25 different majors which require visual arts or design classes, along with a list of 25 different colleges which offer an arts-related major. While conducting this research, students also created a list of 5 different Websites where they found good information on colleges.
When finished, students responded to 5 questions about their dream majors, colleges and careers, then used their remaining time in class to find out what education, experience, and skills are necessary to make their dream careers a reality.

Happy Monday

Today was a great start to a new week. Students presented their wikis today in class. There were some outstanding presentations, and many students had some great insight on the artwork they chose. Many students made connections to their knowledge of American history and shared some outstanding interpretations of the works of art. I was impressed by how much biographical information the students found about the artist to deepen their peers understanding of the artwork.

In honor of College Week at SMMHS, students also contributed a major and college they are interested in to our wall of "Colleges and Careers." We will spend the week looking more closely at Art and Design- related majors and colleges which offer these programs!

TGIF!

Although we planned to present our wikis today, we had a day of interuptions and preoccupied students. 1st block was able to get through a few presentations before the first interruption, other classes did not. After having lengthy discussions in each class, our presentations were postponed until Monday. It seemed a fitting time to teach and learn about personal responsibility and the consequences of apathy and disrespect on all of us.

Students instead used the period to voice and discuss concerns they have at school with their teachers, administration, and their peers. One class even made posters to illustrate concerns and proposed solutions. It was a good exercise in accepting responsibility and productive criticism instead of whining, defensiveness and apathy. I was quite proud at many of the students' frank responses to my questions about our student body's attitude about school, and I hope I gave a few students something to think about. We truly have great students at SMHS, and I hope they'll see that, too!

Lab work

Today was the final day students spent in the computer lab working on their wikis. Many student groups were completely finished with their Art critiques and had them posted by the end of the period. A few students should be finishing up tonight at home in preparation of their presentations tomorrow. I am extremely excited to see what our students have to say about the artwork they chose and see what they thought about the use of the wiki for this unit of study.

When several students were finished, I showed them www.bubbl.us. What a fun Website for creating concept maps and brainstorming! The students that tried it loved playing around and seeing the color change and manipulation that was possible with the concept maps.

Looking forward to presentations tomorrow!

Approaching Works of Art

Today we worked more on creating our art critiques for our Harlem Renaisance wiki pages. After orally critiquing a famous work of art as a class, students were more comfortable with their critiquing skills and phrases. We also discussed the 5 categories of Aesthetic Judgement that can be applied to a critique, noting that Formalism and Emotionalism is what we usually focus on in a school setting. The class spent several minutes answering the questions about the masterwork that our Approaching Works of Art wiki page prompts us to ask in order to lead us through a critique. Students were reminded that art critiques are not biographical reports about artists, but instead looking closely at that's artist's chosen work of art. Because of this fact, anyone can critique a work of art, whether they know anything about the artist or not!

Students spent the remainder of the block working with their partners on writing the critique and organizing their thoughts. We noted that students within a group can certainly have different judgements or interpretations of the artwork, and that those discrepancies could be noted in the critique. We reminded ourselves that even though we may not like something, that does not mean the thing is "no good" or unsuccessful. Students were told that they will have one more computer lab day before presenting their wikis to the class this Friday for a test grade. Students were also reminded they have open access to the wiki at home to work if they are behind or need more time! I can't wait to see the outstanding work our students have created!

Today was the last day to turn in a signed progress report for extra credit and sketchbook HW#5 was due today!

In the Lab

Students spent today's class period in the library computer lab doing research with their partners for their wiki assignment. Folders for each block were pointed out, as well as the group numbers and pages already created. Students were also asked to make sure their name on the wiki account was First Name & 2 initials of Last name (ex. AllisonMu for me) for privacy purposes. This Art Critique wiki assignment will count as a test grade.

After choosing a piece of art by a Harlem Renaissance artist, students searched the web for an image to add to the wiki. Using the Online Assignment page for an explanation of this assignment, as well as the Approaching Works of Art page as a step-by-step guide for writing the critique, partners used the period to collect pertinent information from reliable Websites and test their group's wiki page. Students were reminded of the timetable for this assignment (Presentations ready by Friday) and of their one additional day in class to work on computers, but were encouraged to do as much work at home as they can!

Students were again reminded of the writing portion of this week's homework assignment.

Harlem Renaissance Artists intro

Progress reports were handed out- due Wed signed for extra credit!

Today we watched a video about artist Jacob Lawrence and wrote 15 facts we learned about him and his art. After the video, we each shared the facts we found interesting. We also talked about the Italian Renaissance, noting the "rebirth" of intellect, creativity, and the pursuit of knowledge during this time. We connected those ideas to the "rebirth" of the African American community in Harlem which involved not only artists, but also writers, poets, musicians, and intellectuals. We discussed the Harlem Renaissance artists' interest in depicting the lives and stories of both prominent figures in African American history, as well as those of everday people. Jacob Lawrence was especially intersted in this type of 'Historical Narrative' and 'genre' painting. Check out this collection of links for more info!

After copying a list of Harlem Renaissance artists' information into our sketchbooks, we chose partners for our Art Criticism Wiki project. Each group of students will complete a 4-paragraph Art Critique on a work of art by the Harlem Renaissance artist of their choice. Following the steps and instructions given on the wiki and in class, groups will design and create an original wiki page to present their critique. This week students will be given time in the library to gather information and images needed for the critique, as well as working in class with partners to write and prepare the information to place on wiki. Students will hopefully be ready to present their group wikis to class Friday!

Sketchbook assignment #5 (due Wednesday, as always) was also clarified. Students compared this assignment to the Shape & Pattern drawing they made in week 2 as an example of a non-objective drawing. Students were reminded that this week's homework also requires a writing exercise.