Equality Murals, Part 2
This is Part 2 in my blog posts about the Black Lives Matter murals in downtown Madison, WI. There were so many of them, lining the streets of State Street. See my first post with more murals here.
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Equality Murals
After the death of George Floyd, protests happened here in Madison, WI (as well as all over the country). Some businesses had windows broken. Artists covered the boarded-up windows with beautiful murals calling for justice and equality. I will have two posts of photos of some of these murals, because there were so many amazing artworks.
Anti-Racist Art Teachers Resources
I wanted to point you to this great place to start your journey on becoming a more inclusive, anti-racist art teacher. The new Anti-Racist Art Teachers website has loads of resources to get you started with reading, listening, learning and reflecting on how to remove stereotypes and false narratives in your art curriculum. They even are starting a collection of lesson plans specifically designed for the art classroom. You can now download these posters for FREE at these three TpT … Read more…
Fun Finds: Two Collage Books
I found two new collage books that I thought were pretty cool! If you know me, you might know that I love stickers! The first book I found is called the Antiquarian Sticker Book: Over 1000 Exquisite Victorian Stickers. (Amazon affiliate links have been used at no extra cost to you.) I made a video flip through of this book so you can see all the cool stickers inside. The next book I discovered is brand-new, just published. It is … Read more…
Art Choice Board- Distance Learning
Here is my Art Choice Board from last week for Distance Learning! Each week I am trying to do something a little different.
Nature Journaling- Distance Learning Activities
Like most of you, our in-person classes have been changed to distance learning and we need to come up with challenges and projects the kids can do on their own at home. The first week I had my students create stuffed animal still lifes or still lifes with objects that were meaningful to them (depending on the grade level). The following week we made found object color wheels, like this one below. This week it is all about going outside … Read more…
My Favorite Art Journaling Supplies
I was very excited to give a presentation on art journaling at the National Art Ed Conference, which had gotten cancelled due to reasons you can guess. I am presenting a similar presentation at the Call to Art Un-Conference, which is a virtual professional development un-conference going on now. You can watch the presentations for a week for free. Each day 9-10 new presentations are released. I wanted to give a big SHOUT OUT to the Blick Art, Nasco and … Read more…
Call to Art: Free Professional Development!
I wanted to let you know about some inspiring and informational professional development that is starting this week! I am recommending this Un-Conference to energize art teachers. While you are at home this week, be sure to check out this Call to Art: A Free Un-Conference for Art Educators. I know many of these presenters and they are amazing art educators with a passion for what they do. I’m sure you will leave with some new ideas to implement when you return to … Read more…
Notre Dame Watercolor and Ink Drawings
I realize I had never shared these amazing Notre Dame watercolor and ink drawings my 4th and 5th grade students made at the end of last year. We learned about the architecture of the building and the kids used watercolor and Sharpie pen to create these beautiful pictures. This technique can be used with any architectural lesson or perhaps a lesson on Medieval gargoyles.
Watercolor Circles- Expressive Faces or Flower Doodles
I haven’t posted much lately because I’ve been focusing on other things– I’m in charge of the cookies for our Girl Scout cookie sales and that is like a part-time job! Also, I’ve been getting ready for my presentation at NAEA. If you are going to the NAEA conference, let me know.. I would love to meet up with new people! I have a lot of fun art journaling exercises prepared, including this one- using watercolor circles as a launching … Read more…
Cardboard Shape Art Project
Happy New Year! I hope you all have had a relaxing and restful holidays and are ready for the new year. Today I have some cardboard shape pictures to share with you that my 2nd graders created. We first looked at the artist Marcus Oakley and his cardboard shape pictures for inspiration. Students could create an abstract picture or a picture that represented something. We used pre-cut shapes as well as shapes the students cut on their own. Thinner cardboard … Read more…
Thankful for… Mobiles
What kinds of artworks have you done with the theme of Thanksgiving? I wanted to do a mixed media fibers project with my students so we made these gratitude mobiles. Students wrapped and twisted strips of fabric, yarn and wire with beads on embroidery hoops to create hanging mobiles. They attached card stock tags with words written to show what they are thankful for. Have you made any “thankful for” art projects? Please leave a comment and share!
Birds Activity for Kids Free Printable Downloads
Hi! The winner of the Createures game is Karen Riehle. Congrats! I love GIVEAWAYS. Another one will be coming soon in the next couple of weeks! (Amazon Affiliate links have been used at no cost to you.) Candlewick Press sent me a review copy of the book Birds by Carme Lemniscates, along with a few free activity downloads to share with you. See the bottom of this blog post for the bird activity printable downloads. Birds is a thoughtful, poetic homage … Read more…
ABC Books for the Art Room
Don’t forget to enter for your chance to win the new drawing prompt game Createures. Enter by reading the details on the last blog post. I love using children’s books in the Art classroom. Over the years I have collected variety of books related to art, artists, themes we study or simply have inspiring pictures. This blog post is a round-up of several ABC books that I like to use in Art class. The first one is called B is … Read more…
Giveaway: Createures- Art-Generating Prompt Cards
Have you heard of the new art-generating prompt game called Createures? I received a review copy of the prompt cards and an EXTRA COPY to give away for FREE to one lucky reader! ($19.99 value) Here’s how it works. You can pick three “subject” cards and then 1 extra feature card, plus 1 background card. Then you use your creativity and imagination to draw a new creature that combines features from all 5 cards. I love that the creature cards … Read more…