A.R.T.

A.R.T. Artist Tim Branson has been working hard with the teachers of Dewey Academy on their American Art Partners residency. (read a comment from Nicki attached to this post!) Dewey’s final field trip to the Art Institute is coming up on December 19th. We’ll have some photos of the trip to share shortly!

In the meantime, go to the “More Plans” page of this blog to see a large unit plan that was created by Nicki and Dewey school that connects to multiple academic areas. A lesson in progress is seen here.

A.R.T. Artist Gail Wolf has been working hard with the teachers of Garvy Elementary on their American Art Partners residencies. As more lesson plans and photos come in, we’ll post them for you here to view. In the meantime….feel free to read the comments on how the residency is going at Garvy.

A.R.T. Artist Kaja Overstreet is wrapping up her residency at Daniel J. Corkery school, where they’ve embarked on a multiple session paper mache project that recreates the style and materials American Artist Jasper Johns (who is currently on display at the Art Institute) used in creating his layered “flag” paintings. We’ll post pictures of this project in action soon, but until then, check out some images from Corkery’s recent field trip to the Art Institute. Students spent time working on another drawing activity, colored pencil landscapes, directly from the museum’s own collection! Here’s what Cynthia had to say about the trip: “I had a fantastic time at the museum and the kids did as well. They can’t wait to take their families there and show off how much they know about the artwork….. What a wonderful thing for a teacher to hear, students who have knowledge about art, and now look at it more in depth and for meaning. We are actually planning to look at some pieces of art and the students will create a writing about their interpretation of it.” Way to go, Corkery, on finding ways to incorporate writing exercises in response to art-making!

We thought you might interested in seeing an oil pastel project that A.R.T. Artist William Estrada has recently concluded at Harold Washington Elementary School. Using a black piece of construction paper, students re-interpret some local Chicago-based landscapes with colorful oil pastels. (A project using similar media was led by A.R.T. Artist Tim Branson during an observational drawing activity on Day 5 of the American Art Summer Institute at the Art Institute). One can always use this activity to help students illustrate their ideas and notion of events (from Language Arts writing assignments, to Social Science time-lines, etc.) Enjoy!

Autumnal greetings to you, teachers!

Almost a month has gone by in the new school year, and I hope you are settling in with your students. A.R.T. is in full gear working to provide artist-in-residency program across the city, and of course, to the participants of the 2007 American Art Summer Institute.

As most of you know, A.R.T. created this blog to share the experiences of teachers that have been involved in the Summer Institute (both during the summers of 2006 and 2007), and in the subsequent residencies that are offered to the participating teachers’ schools. Each of you have gained a wealth of knowledge and resources from staff at A.R.T., the Terra Foundation, the Art Institute and from one another. This blog can now share those connections and ideas with other teachers!

We encourage anyone that has had American Art Partners in the past to contribute their thoughts on the residency so that others might benefit from your hard won knowledge. Conversely, if you’re new to the program, post a question to a teacher who sounds like they’ve run into similar challenges. If another classroom teacher can’t help, we’re sure an A.R.T. Artist can!

We’d like this to be a positive, open forum full of information on what to stress, what to avoid, where to find help, and a place to share photos, suggestions and comments — and last but not least, lesson plans and learning activities!

If you would like to post photos, or if you have any questions or concerns regarding how to use this blog, please email bneiman@artresourcesinteaching.org.

Until then, we look forward to hearing your comments to this post, and others to come, throughout the year!

Everyone here at A.R.T wants to congratulate you — and thank you! — for your completion of the 2007 American Art Summer Institute, funded by the Terra Foundation for American Art.

We hope during the last five days that you’re understanding of American Art has expanded, and that we’ve pushed you past your comfort areas in making art — and we hope you’re all the better for it!

We’ll be here on the blog throughout the summer, and of course throughout the school year. Feel free to contribute with your comments (suggestions, ideas, resources, links, and more!) as we go along. The fall American Art Partners residency is bound to provide you with new opportunities to use the knowledge and techniques you’ve acquired this summer, and we want to hear all about them.

We’ll be checking back often, and hope you’ll do the same. Have a great Summer and see you in the Fall!