Drawing the Viewer In

This is Glenn Ligon. He is an artist. He is alive. He is young. He is working (a lot). His work is in museums all over the world, including the National Gallery of Art. His message is powerful. His art is rooted in history and literature and it begs the viewer to look deeper–past the familiar sight of words on a page–to find meaning from words not his own, but words said by others and given new meaning through his art.

He is a man and so were these guys…

This is a photo of black sanitation workers who went on strike in Memphis, Tennessee in 1968. Dangerous conditions, mistreatment, and discrimination led to this ongoing protest that Martin Luther King Jr. spoke about in his “I’ve been to the Mountaintop” speech. Glenn Ligon was inspired by the simple yet powerful signs and reinvented them in his own piece, Untiled (I Am a Man), in 1988.

Ligon’s work tells a story. His work is inspired by the writings of  Zora Neale Hurston, Jesse Jackson, and Richard Pryor, as well as historic events like the Million Man March, the Civil Rights movement and the aftermath of slavery.

In celebration of Black History Month, our 3rd graders are learning about what it means to be a contemporary artist. We are exploring what it means to make art that is more than just beautiful–art that has a message to share, an opinion, an idea.

We discussed oxymorons as a literary concept as well as an artistic one. We explored the way you can juxtapose two words of opposite meanings to create something completely new. We maturely discussed antiquated words that no longer belong in our language and that feel harmful due to the history attached to them. We observed the ways artists such as Ligon embrace these words to help reshape new identity.

We better understand now why an artist like Ligon would choose to make works of art full of powerful text and then choose to make them illegible. We decided that the harder something is to see, the more we want to try and see it. The more invisible it appears, the more powerful the words become when we are able to uncover them.

Original text from How It Feels To Be Colored Me- Zora Neale Hurston

The 3rd graders worked hard to begin understanding the more complex goals of conceptual art. We wanted to see if we could work in the same style as Glenn Ligon so we found famous quotes by African Americans and set to work on stenciling the text. The goal was to use color, size, or design to take the already powerful words of the quote and make them even more impacting through our unique compositions.

We worked in the same media used by Ligon to better understand his process–oil pastels and stenciled text. The way the pastels smear across the paper when you lift the stencil help to create the illegible feel that is a signature of Ligon’s work.

This project proved to be quite collaborative.

Notice how this student used color and size to emphasize the word NEVER.

This student explained the the YES was made green to express progress moving forward, like a green light on a stop light.

This artist has begun watercolor painting on top of his text to further conceal the words on his page, forcing you to look deeper to uncover the message.

Here are the quotes that served as inspiration for our 3rd grade black history month project Read until you find a quote that inspires you. Select the words you would choose to add color or larger text to in order to express deeper meaning. Be able to defend your reasons.

Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek. – Barack Obama

 Yes we can. – Barack Obama

There is not a Black America and a White America and Latino America and Asian America; there’s the United States of America. – Barack Obama

He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life. – Muhammad Ali

Don’t count the days, make the days count. – Muhammad Ali

If my mind can conceive it; and my heart can believe it – then I can achieve it. – Muhammad Ali

When you do the common things in life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world. – George Washington Carver

Without a struggle, there can be no progress. – Frederick Douglass

If you don’t understand yourself you don’t understand anybody else. – Nikki Giovanni

Man, if you gotta ask you’ll never know. – Louis Armstrong

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.- Martin Luther King, Jr.

I decided I wasn’t going to come down. I was going to fly. I was going to stay up in the air forever. –Jesse Owens

Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree. – Martin Luther King, Jr.

I believe that every single event in life happens is an opportunity to choose love over fear. – Oprah Winfrey

If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude. - Maya Angelou

Life is short, and it’s up to you to make it sweet.– Sadie Delany

You can fall, but you can rise also. - Angelique Kidjo

Success doesn’t come to you…you go to it. - Marva Collins

It isn’t where you come from; it’s where you’re going that counts. – Ella Fitzgerald

I have discovered in life that there are ways of getting almost anywhere you want to go, if you really want to go. -Langston Hughes

It’s a long old road, but I know I’m gonna find the end. -Bessie Smith

Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, “What are you doing for others?” -Martin Luther King, Jr.

I don’t know what the future may hold, but I know who holds the future. – Ralph Abernathy

As I give, I get. – Mary McLeod Bethune

Truth knows no color; it appeals to intelligence. – James Cone

Don’t play what’s there, play what’s not there. – Miles Davis

When I discover who I am, I’ll be free. – Ralph Ellison

Question everything. Every stripe, every star, every word spoken. Everything. – Ernest J. Gaines

Do not call for black power or green power. Call for brain power.- Barbara Jordan

The strong man is the man who can stand up for his rights and not hit back. – Martin Luther King, Jr.

The time is always right to do what is right. – Martin Luther King, Jr.

The only safe ship in a storm is leadership. – Faye Wattleton

Patience, Persistence, and Huichol Yarn Paintings

Let me start off by saying our 3rd graders have developed far more than the skills needed to create masterful yarn paintings in the folk tradition of the Huichol Indians of Mexico. These kids have practiced patience, persistence and dedication in the (almost) completion of these masterpieces. Forevermore, the 3rd graders and I will value and respect the effort that goes into creating the beautiful craft traditions of different cultures around the world. What at first glance appears to be a colorful souvenir from a foreign country is now a masterful work of art containing hours of patience and the  blood, sweat, and tears of the artist. Never again will a piece of folk art be taken for granted. Luckily in our case, our Huichol yarn paintings will not be sold to a visiting tourists for less than it is surely worth. Phew.

The Huichol are highly creative people who reflect their strong ceremonial traditions and rich mythology in their visionary art work.  They live in the Sierra Madre Occidental mountain range in West Central Mexico.

Through their art work, whether it be beaded art, yarn paintings, or their embroidery, the Huichol encode and document their spiritual beliefs through visual symbols. Anthropologists consider this a significant part of their culture, for the Huichol have never developed a written language.

Maury artists studied the symbols used in Huichol art making and chose one or two symbols that spoke to them personally. Some chose the corn, promising health and prosperity, or the sun for power. Some related to the good luck butterfly, or the serpent, god of the ocean. I personally liked the wolf, keeper of knowledge and wisdom. After selecting an studying the design of the Huichol symbol, students were asked to come up with a personal symbol to represent their own interests. We got lots of footballs and soccer balls. Some students chose paintbrushes, mountain ranges and tidal waves. Others picked metaphorical symbols like the turtle to represent their quiet, relaxed nature. Then they had to design a way to combine these two symbols into one new composition. The objects could not be simply next to one another, they had to incorporate one another to create a new logo or symbol altogether. This is where things got fun!

Kerry’s turtle has the lotus growing out of the shell!

We started by drawing our evolved symbol on cardboard (this is when those cereal boxes come in handy!). We colored in crayon so that any of our background image that was not covered in yarn would blend in. Crayon was key. The waxy surface of the crayon would repel the wet glue and not cause bleeding like markers.

I wonder if the Huichol artists look this intense when they concentrate?

Carefully measured strips of yarn had to be placed neatly, side by side, to create a painterly effect. It took a lot of patience to master the most efficient rhythm for this kind of work. Everyone developed their own unique style but true patience and un-rushed work was rewarded with a  magnificent finished product.

The red table getting into a groove.

I had to double check that some students weren’t descendants of the Huichol  Indians based on their precision.

Silly yarn! Students came up with a clever Q-Tip technique to keep the yarn down on their cardboard while working with wet glue.

A rainbow colored butterfly painter’s palate symbol in the making.

These gorgeous and painstakingly precise works of art will also be on display in the New Year!

Student Art Night a la Mode!

What else can be said that hasn’t already been stated about the fabulous student art night that took place throughout the halls of Maury Elementary School a few short weeks ago? The culminating event with our fantastic partners at the National Gallery of Art only proved further why collaboration among schools and institutions such as the National Gallery are so important. The ladies of the gallery have showered our students with the most quality, rigorous and entertaining art education imaginable. As an art educator myself, I can vouch for how lucky and unique an opportunity our students get to be able to experience a world class art education with one of the most esteemed art museums in the world.

Jeff Hopkins, a visiting artist from New York, put on a wildly entertaining and interactive performance summing up our student’s knowledge of the many artists and art styles introduced throughout our tenure with the Gallery.

My favorite part of the evening, apart from the dessert buffet and model magic, was watching parents learn from their children. Students have become so fluent in the ways of the museum that their knowledge far surpasses that of the average person. Families were so eager to soak up the stories and facts our students had to share. The level of engagement from everyone involved was at an all time high.

I loved seeing the faces of our third graders, knowing that next year, the beautiful gallery of work that hung before them would be theirs to share with the rest of the school.

Until next year, keep visiting the enlightening museums that DC has to offer and check out many of the free education programs out there.

Digging Deep

The feeling of accomplishment that many Maury students and staff members were experiencing around 10:30 this morning was unreal. Before homeroom was over, we had already broken ground with shovels and pickaxes in the front yard of Maury and begun planting 6 trees with the amazing Casey Trees organization. Under the leadership of our amazing Mrs. Ford, the entire third grade and a few second graders from our Be Water Wise team were rocking neon orange vests and getting down and dirty in the name of school yard greening and beautification!

I think Mrs. Bonds in the main office said it best when she expressed how much joy it gave her to watch our students from the office window, working together, smiling, and truly enjoying the experience of contributing to something so authentic, so important, and something so long lasting as the planting of a young tree in their elementary school yard. There is something very profound about knowing that the hole you dug will house and protect strong roots, a sturdy trunk, blossoming petals, and swaying leaves for years and years to come.

I was proud to see no conflict among peers, only encouragement, kindness, and congratulations. We are lucky that our students and staff members are encouraged to participate and initiate the kind of activities that promote such stewardship.

Look at us go and watch us grow!

Members of our 2nd Grade Be Water Wise Team

Active listening in the ceremonial tool circle

Technique baby!

Flexing her muscle

Go Mrs. Fritze! Show that root who’s boss!

Breaking ground!

Lalava lalava oh lalalalalva lalava lalava oh lalalalava lalava dududumdum

To the South Pacific Islands of Tonga and New Zealand we go!

With this guy——-> Filipe Tohi!

To do this thing—->lashing!

There is a peculiar third grade art standard that reads as follows:

3.3.5 Describe the function and meaning of specific works of art and objects from the Pacific Islands

Interesting.

Art standards such as these invite me to do a little research and stretch beyond the great artistic masters of the past to find new and interesting artists who are tapping into their culture and heritage to preserve tradition. Such is the case with our artist, Filipe Tohi. Tohi  moved from Tonga to New Zealand and has been working as a full time artist since 1992. He is the leading contemporary Pacific visual artists and dabbles in media ranging from stone, wood, steel and digital arts. He is most famous in our studio for his art of lalava. Lalava, the art of Polynesian lashing, or joining materials together, is a way for Tohi to “demonstrate how geometric patterns, formed by the layers of wrapped coconut sennit, were a well-established part of daily life, and a mnemonic device for representing a life philosophy that Lalava patterns advocate balance in daily living and were metaphorical and physical ties to cultural knowledge.”

We practiced locating the South Pacific on a globe and a map, demonstrating the difference between 2D and 3D geographical representations.

We are using colored raffia, instead of coconut skins, to lash our lalavas. This brought up an important conversation about the materials artists choose to work with and why. Price, convenience, functionality, etc. all play into it.

Preliminary sketches are a good habit to get into. We spent a day mapping out our geometric designs with rulers.

Wonderful craft and colors! I tried to stress the importance of sketching a design that would translate well to three dimension, like this one.

I love a good old fashioned collaborative project. Students had the option to work alone on their lalava or with a partner.

Reverse taping the body of the lalava was the first step. This part was tricky and having a partner to help was a bonus.

The dynamic duo!

These girls were very strategic in implementing their design. Many classmates took time out to complement their neat and precise work.

It’s nice when a project lends itself to a little physical hard work.

Because I can’t get this song out of my head every time I say the word lalava…

TbxToX7pHIUo

Pop Art: An Occasion for Pop Corn

3rd grade is still exploring pop art and beginning drawing techniques and what better way than with POP corn? In an attempt to get students to really look at what they’re drawing, we focused on the minute details of an individual kernal of corn. Like a snowflake, each piece of popcorn is unique…unlike a snowflake, yellow popcorn equals more butter, yellow snow…well, avoid the yellow snow.

They are really starting to understand the importance of defining the contour of the object.

Next week we’ll be drawing the “pop object”  of our choice. The possibilities are endless.

You gotta HAND it to them…

Many aspiring artists seek instant gratification when it comes to their art making. They have an impossible time thinking that there are artists out there who spend 12-40 years working on one single painting. They want to come to class, paint, and take their work home with them the same day. I understand this desire. When I had art class just once a week, I too expected to walk in the door and leave with a finished product that I could take home and show my family. I am trying very hard to teach my students that art is often  much more about the process and that it takes hours of practice to leave the studio not only with something tangible, but with a skill that you can take with you for life.

In 3rd grade, I am applying this concept cold turkey with drawing. However frustrating and challenged these kids feel, I know for a fact that if they stick with it for a few more lessons, they will be able to leave 3rd grade knowing, that was the year I learned to draw!

In preparation for our pop art project, we are starting off with good old contour line drawings, continuous line drawings, and blind contour line drawings of the hand. It takes some practice and the ability to let the need for perfection fly out the window. Sketches are sketches and are meant to look silly and imperfect, especially when done without looking at the paper!

Ms. George even spent last class with us, showing her students that even she is a student at some things and always a life long learner.

High five, Ms. George!

Finger Weaving–tough but worth it.

When Mrs. Smoker, a third grade mother extraordinaire, found out that I was deep in the midst of a school-wide weaving unit, she generously donated a variety of looms to the Maury art studio. I spent the afternoon brushing up on my pot holder making skills with Mr. Rogers after school one day so that I would be prepared to teach my students the way of the weave or the law of the loom. Let’s just say, on this project, the music teacher’s skills far surpassed the crafty art teacher’s skills. Above is an example of my struggle. I did eventually finish the job but was humbled to feel how some of my students must feel when I thrust a new and challenging project upon them.

Mr. Roger’s well crafted pot holder. He plans to put this baby into action once I am finished using it as a successful demo for our students.

Speaking of challenging projects…I taught the third graders how to finger weave last week. I forgot how difficult it is to get going on a project like that but how fun it is one you get the hang of it.  I was very impressed by our student’s dedication and commitment to learning the new skill. Fine motor skills are a must when manipulating the tough cloth and weaving it around your fingers, which served as our loom.

A plethora of Jersey loops!

Weaving is such a social activity, much like sewing or knitting. Once we got the hang of it, the third graders and I were able to circle up and get into a rhythm. It felt like a true knitting circle.

Students created patterns. They were excited to go home and share their new skills with siblings and their parents.

Tints, Shades, and Smocks, Oh My!

This student is sporting a dashing, over-sized, blue smock donated by a generous Maury parent. I bet his mom is thanking you right now. So am I!

Artists use tints and shades to create different values. We are each painting 2 fence posts, one to display tints and the other to display shades. Once finished, we will create a collaborative sculpture from our colorful wooden posts. Hammers and nails–two of my favorite tools next to a power drill.

I wonder what people would say if the Washington Monument was magically transformed into a giant, purple value scale? That would sure spice up the city.

3rd Grade Open Studio Participants Raise Flags for Diversity Night

This Thursday, Maury will host an eclectic Diversity Night celebration from 6:30-8:00pm. The main event will take place in the Multipurpose room with food tastings and contact tables representing different continents and countries from around the world. We have many international families represented at Maury and many parents have been kind enough to educate us all at a booth during our celebration. Don’t forget to get your passport stamped as you travel from place to place.

Mr. Rogers will be hosting music from around the world in his room. There will be cultural dances, costumes, games, language lessons, as well as a collaborative Australian aboriginal art mural project in the studio.

We’ll be making dot paintings with our fingerprints

Our 3rd graders are so excited to come up to the studio during their open studio time. This week, they really chipped in and helped create flags from around the world to string across the entryway of the downstairs lobby for Diversity Night. Thanks to Ms. Sweeney for having such a wide-array of multicultural books for us to learn from.

Students: “Hey Ms. Bomba, do you think we could work together to create a large flag?”

Ms. Bomba: “I don’t know, KENYA? Get it? Can ya? Kenya! I crack myself up!

Pretty much an exact replica of the Kenyan flag. Way to go guys!