Week 7 and the Art Show

On the last day of Saturday Art School, the preschoolers and I discussed that we were going to have an art show with all of the work we had been making over the past seven weeks in it. We discussed questions like: What is an art show? What might you find in an art show? Why would someone have an art show? Why is our class, in particular, having an art show? What will we find in our art show? The children all got an opportunity to create their own name cards for the works that were displayed in the show. We then discussed the idea of titles and our title, PERCEPTION, for our art show. Table groups worked together to decorate letters that made up the word PERCEPTION, which was displayed as the title on the wall of preschool's section of the art show.

It was so wonderful to see everyone that was able to make it to the art show this Saturday! I enjoyed seeing the reactions from all of the artists and the excitement they expressed when finding and talking about their pieces. I loved getting to know each and every one of the students in the preschool class, and I hope that you all return to Saturday Art School in the spring.

Please enjoy the photos of the art show posted below!

Week 6: Super-Senses

Saturday, November 12, 2016

Today in Saturday Art School, the preschool artists and I talked about all of our senses and how they work together to help us learn about the world around us, forming perception. We thought about our senses as superpowers, since they help us enjoy our lives and protect us from harm. They are our super-senses! We invented creatures with particular super-senses inspired by artist Allison Schulnik. We discussed ways to make that super-sense visible through the enhancing of body parts and features of the creatures. The creature creation process began with drawings and was followed by an investigation with plastalina, an oil-based clay.

Take it home!

1. What are examples of ways you use your senses at home? Is there one sense that is most important? How can you draw or sculpt something to show that sense? 
2. Do you think everyone uses their senses in the same way? How might a person without a sense of vision or a sense of hearing learn about the world around them in ways that are different or the same as you? 

Below are photos of the lesson taken by the teacher.

Week 5: Touchable Textures

Saturday, November 5, 2016

Today, we talked about our sense of TOUCH as part of our Perception unit. This happened through the exploration of various centers that were located around the room with strongly textured materials. Some of these centers served as an introduction to some of the materials we will use next week when creating perception creatures! The centers available this week were the Plastelina Sculpture Center, Self-Portrait Drawing Center (as a continuation of last week's lesson), Collage Center, Foil Sculpture Center, Photography Center, and Library Center.

Take it home!

1. What textures can you find around your house? Is the texture smooth, soft, hard, spikes, or another texture?
2. If the texture had a personality, what would that personality be like? Would it be happy, angry, sad, outgoing, shy, or have another personality? What can you make with that texture?

Below are pictures taken by both the teacher and students!

Week 4: Palatable Portraits

Saturday, October 29, 2016

This week, the preschool artists got to explore their sense of SMELL and TASTE as part of our unit about perception. We learned about self-portraits through the discussion of Kara Walker's large sculpture in the Domino Sugar Factory. We created our own self-portraits by first drawing with marker, then sculpting our heads out of foam, fondant, sprinkles, licorice, and marshmallows. There were also a few centers set up around the room where artists could visit during downtime or if they finished early. In one center, they could paint with raspberries and blackberries and in another center, they could sculpt with aluminum foil. At the end of the class, some artists that finished early sat on the rug with me and we used Makey Makey to see if our sculptures conducted electricity. It turned out that both the fondant from our self-portrait sculptures and the aluminum foil sculptures conducted electricity!

Take the lesson home!

1. What items around your house might conduct electricity? Why do you think that?
2. What materials do you have at home that could be used to make sculptures? Do you think these materials can conduct electricity? If you make something and want to test it to see if it conducts electricity, bring it to Saturday School next week and we can try it out with the Makey Makey! 

For a video about Kara Walker's sculptures in the Domino Sugar Factory, click here! (A word of caution: In class, we only talked about the head portion of the sculpture because it contains nudity, however this video provides an excellent visual about how this sculpture was created. I suggest watching the video yourself, first, to judge whether or not you would like to show it to your child.)

Below are photos of this week's class taken by the teacher!