During the last week my darling artlings have been hard at work applying what they've learned in our current unit " Artists Solve Problems." We started the unit with the newspaper challenge, where I gave them the problem of making art out of a very unfamiliar material. They did all the thinking and planning for the work over the course of three class periods. Then we had a TASK party. To keep challenging them the next short project involved them foraging for materials in the context of earth art and found object art. 

For the unit's summative assessment I had the kids select their own problem, in the form of a physical limitation or supply restriction, and use it as the jumping off point for artwork. It's been incredibly freeing for them to have play and experimentation be required. In fact, for the last few days I overhear multiple conversations where students talk about wishing they could spend the day in art - and they aren't students who I'd classify as "art kids". A great by-product of a project where no one knows how to use the materials starting out is that they all feel like art kids - right at home and successful. 

The most interesting thing about the production component of this project for me has been the sort of organic loosening of style and the inclination to work abstractly - not forced like projects in the past where I've required abstract work. Check out some in progress pics below. :)

We're continuing to work on solving problems in Art 1. I've been giving them problems, like specific supply limitations, with the end goal of students independently selecting a limitation they choose and planning a project around it. 

First they could only make art with newspaper, then we had a TASK party, next they had to forage for used or natural materials. All fun and all working toward a deeper understanding of how to working through problems and developing the confidence to take risks. 

Today was our last mini-lesson before we start the unit's final project. I started with a short presentation about artists who work with physical limitations, asking students to identify three potential limitations to work with during class. I talked briefly about the potential of experimentation and playing for planning art and made sure kids knew that no final product was expected. 

I thought that they would have fun and play. What I didn't expect was for many of them to embrace abstraction, experimenting with mark-making, color and texture. They told me it was freeing to make art without worrying about the final product or making mistakes. They found methods that were new and unexpected. It ended up being a FUN and a powerful lesson, which is pretty great. :)
 

So, new unit "Artists Solve Problems". I'm in love. We kicked it off with this awesome TED Talk (are there un-awesome TED Talks?). The goal here is to teach my students to understand that sometimes the things that limit us can inspire our greatest work. BIG stuff! We're also working on the idea of identifying problems, then finding solutions. So, because I care, I gave my little artlings a problem. Art 1 students had to figure out how to make art out of newspaper. And, because I'm crazy, I didn't give them any examples - we reviewed some ways they've learned to plan but they had to find their own ideas.  Here's some of what they did - and this was just a three day assignment!

"What are they thinking!?" If you're like me you constantly wonder what is going through your student's minds. That's why I love blogging. It gives me the opportunity to see what they think and feel about their work. 
The following are exerpts from my student's blogs about our reciently finished unit Artists Steal, where we examined how ideas are formed - from the concept of plagerism to inspiration. Here's what they wrote - the example of work are from the unit's various lessons :

Social justice is a difficult subject. I discussed it with my Art 1 students, even though I was a bit terrified, because the subject came up during class. We were planning for the final project of our Artists Steal unit, where I asked them to pick a subject, identify important themes from it and use those ideas as the starting point for a self-directed art adventure. 

In preparation we did a group planning activity where students were to identify different subjects and brainstorm things that they associate with them. It was all going so well until one group picked "prejudice" as a subject then proceeded to brainstorm terms they associated with it - which were basically a list of ethnic and cultural groups - and I didn't handle it as well as I could have. Because I kind of froze. Sigh.

I rallied and showed them the work of two artists the next day - Kehinde Wiley, who's work (in my opinion) transcends racism and these images of microagressions. I had students respond to the work by writing down an opinion or a connection and they all found something deep or meaningful or personal about it. 

I was proud and I thought it would end there but two of my girls decided to abandon their current projects and create this collection of photos:

They did a few things I find amazing. First, they took a hard subject and made successful artwork out of it. They also took an idea from art they were inspired by and changed it to apply to them and their community, plus got people to participate. One of the things I love about incorporating a high level of choice in projects is the room it gives students - sometimes they do such big things with it.