A mini walking tour of the Digital Art Studio Lab Classroom

I always showcase things of the studio art classroom but rarely do you see anything of the digital art studio classroom/lab other than finished artwork on occasion. So, here is a mini walking tour of that classroom.

The two courses that I teach in the digital art studio computer lab classroom are Graphic Design (which utilizes Photoshop) and Digital Studio (which uses Illustrator). Despite what the names of the courses imply or suggest, the Graphic Design is basically Digital Art I and Digital Studio is Digital Art II. One of my goals for this year is to change that within the course catalog so it makes a little bit more sense and there is better clarity with regard to how the two classes are connected.

Something else that you might have noted from the video is that I use a classroom management tool that is something I found from Pinterest. It's an "am I done" sort of check-list and I have it printed in color and laminated and then tacked in strategically decided upon places all around the classroom. The art teacher who originally designed it deserves so much credit for it and MORE because it is beautifully designed and created and BRILLIANT for the purposes of answering the question that the students always have of, "Am I done (yet)?" If you are interested in it, I wish I had the direct link to it but I cannot find it but the blog is HERE and it's called "The Lost Sock."

The ROYGBIV Project :: Put a fork in it! :: Pt. 5 of 5

Without further adieu... I present to you The ROYGBIV project in all of it's finished glory!!!!

The installation makes the gallery hallway such a happy place!

Once the students got to the point where they were able to start installing their individual sections of the total installation and they got to see it all come together they were really motivated to get the whole project DONE and it took only a matter of a few days for them to all really pitch in and get things hung up and adjusted no matter what subdivisions they originally volunteered themselves for.

One element that was a final "finishing touch" was hanging painted (with tempera) sheets of acetate sheeting on alternating window panels all the way down the hallway. The hope was that the natural light could shine through the painted sheeting and then cast colored light into the hallway. It didn't work but it did look pretty interesting from the outside and it has served as great encouragement for people to see it across the "quad" and then come walk through the gallery hallway when they otherwise didn't have a reason to venture that way in the first place.

Next  year when we do a different ROYGBIV installation I will allot money in the budget for colorful cellophane.

The sun group had some serious challenges with trying to rig up something that would support the overall structure, girth, and unexpected weight of the finished work. Fishing line did not work after trying it multiple times so the winning solution was to use 14 gauge aluminum sculpture wire that supported the sun from three different points. It doesn't look like a literal interpretation of what the sun looks like but I think it works being abstract the way it is.

The sun is suspended at one end of the hallway where it can hang the highest from the ground.

Obviously a good number of the rainbow drops didn't hold their shape perfectly but I think it's OK. The student artists who worked on them weren't totally disappointed and I was really proud with the way they pushed through to the end even when it was very VERY challenging and discouraging at times. Their perseverance is so commendable and they really pulled things together in the end.

And the clouds group? Well, they had a bit of an unexpected advantage from the get-go because they didn't have to figure things out since they followed some directions found online. *shrug* They did have one of the messiest portions of the whole installation though so they had their fair share of challenge at times. Their original plan was to shade the clouds a little to make them look "stormy" but in the end that wasn't necessary and they simply used some of the natural darkness that was cast from the inside out that derived from the newspaper that they used for the center form of the sculpturing!

For a second try at studying installation art with the 3D Design class, I would say this attempt was successful. So many people - students and faculty/staff alike - have commented really positively on the entire installation and part way through the hanging of everything I already had inspiration come upon me for what will be done for next year's endeavor! If you can believe it it will be much of what you see here PLUS a little bit of some extra that is pure fun and lightheartedness. Hard to believe it can be bigger than this? I guess you'll have to hold me to that and visit me next year to see what it will be all about.

Thanks so much for sticking with me for this week long series! Next week is Spring Break for my school but I will be queuing up some postings that have been waiting around for their chance to be shared in addition to working on graduate school assignments and also (FINALLY!!!) doing some painting at the easel at my home studio.

Have a great weekend! See you next week!

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This installation art study was student-centered and collaboratively designed and constructed (across two classes). It utilized paper sculpting and papier mache, string wrapping, spray painting and brush painting, fiber application in order to create a sun, clouds, and rainbow display suspended from the ceiling of the student art gallery hallway. It was originally presented in a week long series that showed the planning and creative processing, the beginning part of the sculpting/working stage, the point just about when everything was done being sculpted, and then some notes about when things went awry and how those things were dealt with. The final view of it can be found HERE. This project was meant to be a re-imagining of The Ombre Experience project idea.

The ROYGBIV Project :: Pulling it All Together :: Pt. 3 of 5

A view of the sun and some clouds without embellishments

The sculpting/fabrication process for this project went surprisingly quick despite how much work needed to be done. Before we got started I predicted that the clouds and the sun group would progress faster than the rainbow group and I was indeed right.

Every day I would have a brief discussion at the start of the class and give them feedback and also insight about how and why things were going as they were during the sculpting process both from my own observations as well as from the perspective of me being the "expert consultant" or the mentor to all of them. I would also remind them of the timeline that we were attempting to keep to and I would offer them suggestions about what could be done in order to either speed things up of the whole process OR attend to issues that might be arising. They also had the opportunity to ask me questions or present concerns about the overall scope of things and I was able to address things in some reasonably timely ways.

The second most exciting thing for them to do was to take each of their different elements to the next stage beyond just the foundational sculpting phase. The sun group needed to do some careful cutting work and then paint their object before embellishing it...

And the clouds group had to use a glue mixture to adhere the cotton batting and fiberfill to the cloud forms in order for them to look more realistic and have real texture...

The rainbow group? They plugged away wrapping more and more balloons in glue covered string while they also took breaks to spray paint what they had already made and dried completely...

One of the greatest challenges for me apart from managing some expected challenges betwixt and between them (and I will be address this in tomorrow's installment) was the fact that all of the fumes from the glue mixtures and spray paints being used were not fun to contend with in the studio classroom that I have which was never intended to be the studio art classroom that it is today. After about a week of me doing the best I could to air out the classroom just by propping open the door and then having all of the fumes waft out into the hallway, the building maintenance finally gave me my own window key!!!

The coveted GOLDEN key to the windows!!!

I am on pretty decent terms with the building maintenance team/management AND custodial staff because my path crosses with them in so many endeavors I might have but they like me enough because while I can present challenges to them, I am also one of the folks who can take care of their own messes and I frequently do so in such a way that I don't create a huge amount of extra work for them to do. For this endeavor? They finally just slipped me a window key and told me to be responsible with it - meaning, don't go opening everyone else's windows who might be asking for such a thing and also only use it in the art room when absolutely necessary!

Tomorrow I will share with you some hiccups and snafus of this whole endeavor chock full of some serious teachable moments before Friday when I will share with you all the final view/unveiling of everything as it is all installed in the art gallery.

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This installation art study was student-centered and collaboratively designed and constructed (across two classes). It utilized paper sculpting and papier mache, string wrapping, spray painting and brush painting, fiber application in order to create a sun, clouds, and rainbow display suspended from the ceiling of the student art gallery hallway. It was originally presented in a week long series that showed the planning and creative processing, the beginning part of the sculpting/working stage, the point just about when everything was done being sculpted, and then some notes about when things went awry and how those things were dealt with. The final view of it can be found HERE. This project was meant to be a re-imagining of The Ombre Experience project idea.

The ROYGBIV Project :: Making it happen :: Pt. 2 of 5

This stage was the absolute messiest of all of the stages but it also was the one that the students really enjoyed because it allowed them to really explore and experiment with the creative process and truly give life to the ideas that they were tasked with. Here is a little of what each of the groups were attempting to work with...

Sun group

Idea was pretty close to THIS idea that I had originally shown them

• Wanted to paper mache in order to sculpt a single extra-large spherical structure
• Needed an exercise/yoga ball for their form
• Wanted to pull in some texture by adhering muffin/cupcake paper cups to the outside of the structure after it was completely sculpted
• Wanted to use lighting in order to illuminate the structure from the inside out

Clouds group

Idea derived from THIS I found and showed them during the lesson intro

•  Required them to do paper mache to sculpt multiple different but similar structures
• Needed lots of balloons for the form of each structure
• Required cotton batting/stuffing for the texture of the clouds
• Wanted to do at least seven clouds in order to fill out the gallery hallway space

Rainbow group

Idea was inspired by THIS that I found and showed them during the lesson intro

• Required them to use watered down glue mixture to soak string so that it could adhere to individual forms
• Needed lots of balloons for what would be over 100 individual forms suspended from the ceiling
• Required paint in Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, and Violet

We spent at least a week and a half total of class time doing just the fabrication/sculpting of all of the different elements of the total installation. It was definitely messy and that's not something that all of the students were keen on but with lots of encouragement and redirection from me that this was a GROUP effort and we needed to be unified in order for it to really be successful, it became a rare thing for any of them to sit and be idle for too long. Most all of the students wanted to play an active role because they fully understood that the effort we had to put forth was major and collective. They truly started understanding that if one person didn't invest themselves, the whole of the project would ultimately suffer.

Two groups needed newspaper for papier mache so they banded together to create triangles - because that's the best shape for seamless and smooth coverage - in order to prep the paper.

The sun group gets started on the first of many layers!

The clouds group also got to work but they had an easier time than the sun because there were multiple cloud clusters to work on.

The rainbow group had perhaps the most challenging of all of the elements of the installation to work on both because of the sheer number of items that needed to be sculpted - they were shooting for about 100 total to fill the space we have - and because working with string coated in glue mixture? Well... it's just way messier than papier mache. Surprising that anything could be that way compared to papier mache but it was true! Also, wrapping and layering the string had to be done a little more strategically (read: it was less forgiving than papier mache) so there was a bit of a learning curve for everyone in the sun group.

The sun group discovered it required at least two people to coat the string and then wrap a balloon with the glue coated string. They tried to have at least two stations of this going at once.

One of the balloons that they did as a "prototype" to figure out if it would work, how long it would take to dry, etc.

One of the major challenges from this stage (as with almost every project endeavor I do) is dealing with how to store things when they are in the WiP (work-in-progress) phase. I share the studio art classroom with a part-time faculty member and while it might sometimes seem like I have a pretty cushy set-up (based on what I share on the blog) the room I share with the other teacher is about 2/3 the size of what I know most art classrooms are that are not shared. This always creates problems when it comes to storing supplies or student works on top of the fact that I know my colleague is not usually thrilled with some of my zany endeavors. (They are much more neat and tidy than I am.)

For this project I solved some of the project by storing some of the bags of balloons behind this huge canvas that another student has been trying to work on when they can...

Far from ideal but making the best of what I have is all I can do

Tomorrow I will show you the next phase of the project when we were getting to the stage of finishing up the sculpting and fabrication of the different elements and starting to install it all in the student gallery hallway.

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This installation art study was student-centered and collaboratively designed and constructed (across two classes). It utilized paper sculpting and papier mache, string wrapping, spray painting and brush painting, fiber application in order to create a sun, clouds, and rainbow display suspended from the ceiling of the student art gallery hallway. It was originally presented in a week long series that showed the planning and creative processing, the beginning part of the sculpting/working stage, the point just about when everything was done being sculpted, and then some notes about when things went awry and how those things were dealt with. The final view of it can be found HERE. This project was meant to be a re-imagining of The Ombre Experience project idea.

The ROYGBIV Project :: Kicking it off :: Pt. 1 of 5

 Last year one of the big winners of all of project endeavors was The Ombre Exprience that sought to allow my student artists to study installation art. It was a lot of work but it was very well received not only by the blog audience I serve but also the school community as well! People couldn't say enough about it and the success inspired me to make an installation art study a regular thing that I would do at least every Spring with the 3D Design class. The big challenge for me would be to do something that was just enough of the same thing to start a tradition but just different enough that it would offer something unexpected as well.

This year I think I really managed to do what I set out to do by focusing on the idea of hanging a rainbow of some sort in the student gallery hallway but rather than me coming up with all of the ways it would be done, I decided to make the project completely student centered and have them come up with how it would all play itself out. The only stipulation I made was that (unlike last year) there had to be representations not only of a rainbow but also the clouds and a sun.

In order to help them be inspired and have ideas start to take root, I showed them examples of installation art and otherwise "outside the box" art via youtube...

And then I conducted class discussions and friendly debate about what was most important in order to accomplish what we were setting out to accomplish and then each of the students spent a day or so coming up with individual proposals about what we could possibly do - either for the whole she-bang or for specific elements like focusing on the sun and clouds. Students were not allowed to put their names on their proposals - that were drawings with brief narrations and explanations - and I presented them using a document camera and projector to the two different classes that were doing this jointly for everyone to vote anonymously with post-it notes that I simply collected and adhered directly to the paper proposals. The ideas with the most ideas automatically became the actual inspiration of what we would end up doing with the three elements of the total installation.

Once voting was done, I presented the final selections to the two classes and then I had them sign-up for the three different ideas/inspirations offering them both the pros and cons presented by each idea. I challenged them to not pick portions of the project where they would be working alongside their friends and I also told them to not let the difficulty that might be presented to dissuade them from working on the element of the project that they really wanted. They all did a great job at divvying themselves up and I was very pleased with not having to make that decision for them. I wanted there to be some real ownership of the creative decisions and actions they were making and taking and doing things this way established it from the get-go.

Good ol' fashioned sign-up sheets! Nothing beats doing it like this.

After the subdivisions of teams were established in BOTH classes that met during two totally different times of the day, I took each class to the school's computer lab for them to do research about materials and supplies that would help facilitate the ideas established with the class voting process. I invested a total of about $75 for the project of my own money and gave each subdivision (rainbow, sun, clouds) $25 to stretch as they needed. I had things like paper mache powder and newspapers and some raw materials already in the art room inventory but felt that a $25 cap was reasonable for them to be both challenged to use wisely and also get what was needed in order to bring life to the idea overall. Each class had about one class period in the computer lab and then they collaborated and coordinated their ideas for a "shopping list" for me at the local Wal-mart for me to get what was needed.

Another part of the process was letting them have some time in the actual space were the installation would be hung. Basically, they got to have a site visit so they could take real measurements and have a better visual understanding of taking the idea of paper and placing it in a physical space. It was helpful for them and "mini field trips" are always a welcome change from staying in the studio classroom.

The planning stage was capped off with me having full confidence in them because they provided me with pretty comprehensive plans WITH supplies lists that also included pricing information in order for me to ensure that I wouldn't end up spending more than I told them I was willing to. I told them to think of me as being a client of theirs who had a zany idea that I wanted to make happen but no manpower or know-how to be able to do it. They were really able to imagine this scenario and treat with some real-world type interaction and appropriate reaction for what needed to be done.

 

Tomorrow I will show you what happened when we actually got our hands on the materials and start bring life to the ideas that they came up with and were working towards.

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This installation art study was student-centered and collaboratively designed and constructed (across two classes). It utilized paper sculpting and papier mache, string wrapping, spray painting and brush painting, fiber application in order to create a sun, clouds, and rainbow display suspended from the ceiling of the student art gallery hallway. It was originally presented in a week long series that showed the planning and creative processing, the beginning part of the sculpting/working stage, the point just about when everything was done being sculpted, and then some notes about when things went awry and how those things were dealt with. The final view of it can be found HERE. This project was meant to be a re-imagining of The Ombre Experience project idea.

The ROYGBIV Project :: Sneak Peek of a series!!!

I am so delighted to bring a whole week/full series starting next Monday of a look at the start-to-finish of an installation art study and project I just completed last week with the 3D Design students. Two classes did the project together and it took about a solid month to do it and while collaborative learning can sometimes be a bit of a nightmare for both the teacher and the students involved, this project was a HUGE winner overall. Not one student felt excluded and wasn't whole-heartedly invested and I also didn't feel like I was ever trying to push or shove the efforts of the over 45 students that did the project together.

This project is one not totally different from what I did last year with The Ombre Experience endeavor but it twisted and expanded it some with the intention for it to be totally student-centered in how it established and unfolded itself. It was quite intense and consuming and for that reason I don't feel like I could come close to sharing it and discussing it with you all in just one or even two blog postings so that's why I am stretching it out. Anyway, come back and check in on Monday! That's when I will be kicking everything off. 

Project ROYGBIV :: Studying Installation Art :: 3D Design

By far and away one of the most successful lesson ideas/project endeavors that I have done from the start of my art education career was one that is affectionately known as "The Ombre Experience." Perhaps you know about it because it is the thing that brought you here to this blogsite in the first place. Per my blogstats and that tally over there to the right ------------------------------------------------->
The Ombre Experience lesson idea is the most popular and frequently looked at by way of google searches and Pinterest. The lesson idea coupled with the ROYGBIV day 500+ balloon release event is hard to forget and just as hard to top. Or... is it?

 I can't let go of what we had last year with The Ombre Experience. It was so awesome and fun and encouraged such a beautiful type of connection and interaction - it's no wonder that it's been one of the most popular things I have shared on this blog. And because of that the two sections of 3D Design of this Spring 2013 semester are going to attempt to do it again and even bigger than that.

What are they going to do and HOW are they going to do it? Well... honestly, I don't really know. Why? Because I am leaving it largely in their very capable hands and in their very imaginative and visionary minds. As it works, they already know what we have done before and they liked it much like you kind blogsite readers and supporters but in order for us to do it all up this year? They are very much being encouraged to go beyond the beyonds of what last year was in order for us to do something that is just as unforgettable as last year and just as hard to top for next year. (Because I feel like this is a worth while endeavor for us to do every year and have it be a bit of a traditional thing!)

Now before I look like some completely crazy teacher who has lost her marbles completely and is letting her student artists just plain go CRAZY, let me present what I am doing in a different way: I am acting as a bit of a captain for a big giant ship (think of it even as a space shuttle if you'd like!) and my job is definitely to steer the ship to where it needs to go - that being to get to an end point and have everyone arrive safely and soundly - but for the most part? The journey could include any number of things and it's my job to ensure those things provide a memorable trip as much as possible.

So far this week (and a little bit of last week) my adventure with the classes has been pretty successful and even organized despite how loosely I might have already suggested they are.

Last week our focus was on getting ideas brainstormed and down on paper and in order for me to be able to present them to everyone for voting/selection purposes and then this week we voted on them all, divvied off into self-selected groups (meaning the students got to go where they wanted to go)...

We did self-selecting of groups the good ol' fashioned way with sign-up sheets!

... and then working together within those groups so that we had a solid enough idea for each area of the sun, clouds, AND rainbow in order to actual start giving them real physical form starting this week. Each group tossed around ideas about how they were going to accomplish their area of the installation and then at the end of last week they each gave me a heavily debated (my input included) shopping list so that they would actually have materials to work with and be done with this project within the next three weeks.

The shopping lists I have been requested to help fill! Not bad actually. 

This project is coming out to be one that is almost completely student-centered and I have had very little input in what goes on other than when a group/students are obviously off-course with what they are seeking to do and I simply redirect them to refocus themselves by reiterating any of the following:

• We are on a time crunch
• The success of the group's effort is hugely dependent upon each person's individual effort
• This is a very unique opportunity and HONOR that they get to be a part of and be able to remember back on for the rest of their lives (this is almost the most motivating reminder of all of them if you can believe it!)

While most teachers might be a little iffy about this idea of how and what I am doing, I have done some seriously extensive research about this age-group/generation of students (the Millenials) to know that what I have been able to orchestrate for their working situation is the most ideal and will produce the largest return on my investment (as a teacher) of my time and general instruction. 

I will, of course, keep you abreast of how and what is going on with this all but if you don't like to wait, you are always encouraged to get sneak peeks of things by way of my instagram stream - DreamPrayCreate is my username. Don't be afraid to connect with me that way and offer feedback of either questions OR critiques of how/what I am doing as an art educator.

Lesson Idea: The Deconstructed Book | 3D Design

This lesson idea is actually from my personal archives and is a project that I did my very first year of teaching at my current school but then I did it only one or two more semesters (out of a total of nearly eight that I have worked so far) after I did it the first time. I stumbled upon the original idea on Etsy probably at least five years ago but probably more and (like I always do) I mentally bookmarked it for the purposes of knowing that I would need it again in the future.

When the Lord was finally so gracious to put me in the classroom as an art teacher? Well... I got right to work with it and every student artist of 3D Design I had (of three sections total) did this project and we filled the student gallery hallway with these and it was, in a word? INCREDIBLE. It was like exploding books were simply raining from the sky and without me even realizing it I had essentially facilitated the first installation art exhibit I of my life. In the history of the school where I teach nobody had ever endeavored to hang student work from the ceiling so it was quite a bit of something to behold and (thankfully) I didn't get in trouble for drilling holes in the ceiling. (Sometimes it's better to ask for forgiveness than permission, right?) I wish I had some pictures to share of what it looked like but I don't and to show you what it really looks like we all are just going to have to wait for this coming semester's 3D Design installation exhibit endeavor because I plan to do the idea with them but put a bit of a spin on it. (You'll have to wait for the details of that!)

Still, I wanted to share this with you now because a parent of a student at my school is an art teacher at a local amazing public high school and she sent me an email asking me how I did this project. I started to respond to her email but then I realize that what I was about to respond with to her is something that others might enjoy knowing about as well and why don't I just put it on the blog? So... here I am! And here it goes... this is how I went about teaching my student artists how to do this deconstructed book project.



(My husband was so nice to keep the yelling at bay during the filming of this video. He knew I was going to be doing it and I hardly paid attention to him and the fact that he turned the TV down and kept a lid on the yelling specifically because I was filming the video! He is such a good guy that husband of mine.)

(Also and again, please pardon the ridiculous book that I was forced to use because I didn't have any other book in the house that I otherwise would have wanted to deconstruct. I still cannot figure out where the book came from in the first place and I am completely embarrassed to have it in my house for the language that was used in it alone! I mean, I don't consider myself a type who lacks a sense of humor and there was a stage in my life when I definitely did use some rather colorful language (like that found in the book) but still! Anyway...)

 So that's the deconstructed book art education project and lesson idea! Hope this was helpful to you and if you end up giving this a try, please let me know how it goes because I really love seeing how other people do things differently than I do.

Lesson idea: Extra-dimensional | 3D Design OpArt study

It's been quite a while since I shared a lesson idea and/or a video with you all so you all are in for some real treats today!! ;)

This lesson idea is a spin on something I have been doing with the 2D Design classes (OpArt studies) that pairs with things I have seen on Pinterest as well as it being something that has made the rounds on the art education blog circuit. It takes the geometric 3D form (the cube) and  expands on the idea of dimension by applying Op-art patterns and designs on the different faces of the cube so that the finished piece looks incredibly dimensional. You can see some of the works-in-progress of this project HERE and also HERE.

This project was incredibly labor intensive for all of the student artists because OpArt needs to be so carefully thought through and then even more carefully created and colored. Whenever I do OpArt projects it always takes me a lot time to evaluate the work because looking at it makes my head spin and I have to take a whole lot of breaks. I told the students this and they thought I was being dramatic but when they started working on their pieces? Well... they totally understood. Ultimately, the project ended up taking almost a solid month for us to complete (including a bunch of random days when our class time got shorted for one reason or another). Just the same, I was fine with it. I'm doing my best to just go with the flow these days.

While I could show you only still photos of the finished pieces of student work, I don't feel like still photos will do the presentation of this lesson idea the justice it deserves. As a collective and the way it is being displayed is quite something to see in real life and the closest way I can come up with to show it to you would be to do a video. And so? Here it is! The school's senior visual art prefect joined me for this one and in the video I will be sharing with you some of the inspiration behind the overall collective of work. It's quite thought provoking in the way it all came together and it might be my most favorite exhibit we have done so far. Go figure - it's pretty much another exhibit of installation art!! (It just happened like that.)



Just in case it was hard to see the student work, here are two stills I also took in the midst of taking the video...

And because outtakes are always fun and it IS Monday, here is a quick outtake that otherwise would have ended up on the "cutting room" floor because I am so bad at using my video camera on my phone. *shrug* ENJOY!!! (at my expense)

Just for Fun: Make your own (mobile) Refrigerator (door) ART gallery!!!

So, yesterday I teased you all with a long drawn out story about my quest to obtain a refrigerator door for a uniquely creative personal project I have been working on for a year and a half for my school. I absolutely want to pick up the story where I left it off but I also don't want to be a meanie and delay you from knowing where I am going any longer than I have to. I mean, forcing you all to sit through ANOTHER diatribe of unnecessary verbosity is just cruel - agreed?

SO! Without further adieu, here is a video explaining the saga of the refrigerator door a whole lot better...



And if you aren't keen on videos? Here is a picture from my instagram feed that might clue you in a little better until I tell the whole rest of the story next week (or something).

This will be a gallery within the student gallery that requires people to put their own artwork on it freely!!! Top picture shows the back of the door (on wheels) with a place to archive work that has been displayed for a while and a storage bin for cool magnets. The bottom left shows a full-length view of the whole front of the door. The bottom right picture shows the full-length view of the back of the door.

While I have named this gallery after a specific scripture, I see no reason that this idea couldn't be adapted to have a more secular vibe by using a quote like, "Every child is an artist..." by Picasso or the like. As far as I am concerned I think EVERY SCHOOL (or art museum or street corner for that matter) could use something like this. Don't you?

For that matter if you do agree with me and you decide to join me in this endeavor? Please PLEASE contact me and let me know how it goes for you!!!! I'd love to see pictures of your journey making it happen as well as pictures of the final product.

And I didn't even get arrested!

A week or so ago I briefly mentioned something about a (sort of secret) personal project that I have been diligently working on and I shared the below picture from my instagram feed.

When I took that picture, I was sitting in my car in the middle of a local (county-run) refuse/recycling yard while I was actually contemplating the possibility of lifting at least one set of refrigerator doors (pictured above) despite the fact that I had already been threatened with the possibility of being arrested.  Why? Well... because for the past year and a half, I have been on a quest to acquire a refrigerator door. No... no... not the whole refrigerator! I just wanted the front part - the DOOR(s) off the hinges.

(o_O)

Is this you right now?

That's right. You heard me. I just wanted the door(s)! I JUST WANTED THE DOORS. What of it?

[Warning: this is a long drawn out story that has an end but doesn't seem like it]

RoyGBiv day still on my mind

Technically this is day-old news here on the blog but this is a great shot (not taken by me) that is currently parked front and center on my school's homepage...

*sigh*

What a wonderful day and opportunity for fellowship it was!!!

I have been able to speak with a number of folks (administration, faculty, and students alike) about what they took away from it and I have gotten nothing but super positive feedback. Administration has even said that they would fully support (meaning funding and all) for this to be a recurring event at the end of every single year!!!! *SCOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRE!!!!!!!*

You must realize something: This idea originate from my own "crazy" imagination in the midst of winter when I was also working on getting the ombre experience lesson idea together while also juggling everything needed to do the sound of music set design and fabrication. I casually mentioned it to the one senior student who spearheaded this with me with (sort of) the expectation that he was absolutely "crazy" enough to want to do it. (He's just that kind of awesome and so I kind of wasn't surprised that he wanted to do it.)

Here are some more shots and things to note of how we got from start to finish on the whole thing.

We did a number of trial runs with inflated balloons to see how long they would maintain their ability to self-levitate. We determined that we had a max of 8-10 hours before they would lose their ability so in order to fully utilize that ability, we determined we would have to inflate the balloons the morning/day of the release. Our preferred time frame would have been mid-morning but we ended up being given the tail-end of the school day in the way of the last two periods - so about 1:30-2pm was when we would do the release.

In order to accommodate both the inflating of the balloons, storage until the release, etc. etc. etc., we used our school's performance arts center/venue and gathered over 20 students to help inflate, tie off, and attach balloon clips (with strings pre-attached) to the balloons. We estimated it might take us as long as five hours with two tanks of helium based on some balloon inflating that had been done weeks before for another event for around 300 balloons. We ordered 600 (100 of each color from Oriental Trading) but ended up with less than 550 because of shoddy balloon quality, balloons that burst from being overinflated ("pilot" error, if you will), and ones that just got away from us and floated up to the ceiling while we were trying to inflate them. We had the students come in at 5:15am to do the inflating and we were done and cleaned up by 8am when school started. (Note: EVERY student that came in said it was "totally worth it" and other students that missed out were disappointed that they didn't take the opportunity to join in!!!)

We stored the balloons in this venue until they students would all gather together for the presentation and instructions about how this whole event would go down...

We did provide lots of coffee and other yummy breakfast food as extra incentive for those who got themselves up and into school so early. 

 At the last period of the day, all of the students were gathered in the venue for the presentation about color theory (done by my senior student partner-in-crime) and he capped off the presentation with specific instructions about how each student was to get their balloon off the balloon clips/strings and out to the school quad in formation in order to release them. There were diagrams/maps that showed the path they were to walk and volunteers on-hand to facilitate traffic control and flow. Volunteers were wearing rainbow tie-dyed shirts so though would be easy to pick out from the crowd.

 Once the students got out to the quad, there were more volunteers (donning the requisite tie-dyed shirts) who were holding large poster board signs corresponding with all six colors of the balloons we had.

Students stood in their color group (away from other groups) until they were given the "OK" that every single student had exited the building with a balloon and was ready for the release.

 

 The center of the color "wheel" formation was marked with a duo of balloons (in black and white) where my senior student stood with an electronic megaphone and I was with my camera to document the action.

 When all was clear and everyone was confirmed to be outside with a balloon in hand, the volunteers were given the "yes" to bring their groups toward the center and we all bunch together as closed as we could. A countdown was given from 20 and then the balloons were finally released.

Again, I'm sorry I don't have any video of the actually release but it was truly (for lack of better words) MAGICAL to experience. Even now just looking at the stills of the event above with all of those colorful balloons floating up to the sun, I can hardly put into words how it felt to be there. And that, my friends, was/is the whole point of such a thing as RoyGBiv day in the first place!!!

It's about not just telling but SHOWING the students the gift that is an experience, that gift that is visual art, the gift that is being a part of the creation of visual art, and the gift that is being a part of something so much larger than itself.

A lovely blog reader (Hi, Cynthia S!) left a wonderfully supportive comment on my original posting about this event saying that she was going to "copy" this for her school next year. Friends, folks, blog readers, WORLD - PLEASE COPY THIS IDEA!!!!! Like I said before, to my knowledge (and per Google) no single day like RoyGBiv day exists at all AND IT SHOULD.

My own personal thoughts about this are to maybe not make it one single day that is the same day every year (though the last day of school is a good one for it to be) but perhaps making it a "surprise" experience - so you never know when RoyGBiv day will be - is better since that type of thing better adheres to the whole way that rainbows happen to begin with. Rainbows are kind of surprise to come upon, right? But they are always welcome. Now, for something like a balloon release? Well, that takes some planning so you would certainly require a select group of folks that would have to be "in the know" about it but my thoughts are that it could happen in other ways too. Like, perhaps, one day at lunch rainbow cupcakes could be made and served to surprise all of the students. (BTW - this is also another significant undertaking to make happen. I know from experience!) or you could figure out a way to get a sno-cone truck to come in and serve up those pre-fab rainbow sno-cones (I know, whatever, it would definitely cut down on the labor to make RoyGBiv happen in the first place).

Whatever the case, I'm actually leaning towards making RoyGBiv day a regular occurrence at my school. My reasoning also harkens back to the fact that I teach and live by an establishment of faith and the rainbow is SO sacred as it is featured in scripture. I love being able to draw students back to scripture to remind them of how much of this present-day world still contains the makings of scripture from way back when because it helps them to see how timeless the words of the Bible truly are. For purposes not of faith though? Well, RoyGBiv day is just awesome and that's all there is to it.

So all of this is to say that if it can be done at my school? It can be done at YOURS too and I encourage you to help make this happen because you just have no idea the enormity of the gift that you will be giving your school/students/self/colleagues/administration/community when they witness it. :)

RoyGBiv day should be every day

Photo credit: One of my amazing colleagues who was NOT stuck in the middle of the crowd like me!

"And God said:  'This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:

"'I set My RAINBOW in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth.  It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the RAINBOW shall be seen in the cloud;  and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh;  the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.  The RAINBOW shall be in the cloud, and I will look on it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.' ” (Genesis 9:12-16, NKJV throughout)

Yesterday was the last day of classes for the beloved seniors at my school. Today is their last day to be on campus (other than for graduation activities) and I can hardly believe that the year is really drawing to a close and they won't be here anymore. I don't know what it is about this particular group of seniors but I completely adore so many of them. They have been the MOST creative, the MOST energetic, and the MOST FUN of all classes I have had so far. While teachers shouldn't (but certainly do) play favorites, some of my most favorite students ever have been members of this class. That being said? It was a rather monumental day to partake in and I've spent months and weeks working on the very event you see pictured above.

You see, yesterday at my school, we did something that I have affectionately named "RoyGBiv Day." As far as I can tell (and as far as what Google has told me) a day like this doesn't exist but that didn't stop me from dreaming and scheming of a way (with a "partner-in-crime" graduating senior) to orchestrate a 500+ balloon release/launch with balloons of the whole rainbow spectrum.

This particular senior is a VERY advanced art student who has exhausted the ranks of the art program here (both visual and performing) and while I've never actually had him in a class of mine, I have managed to work pretty close with him on a number of different occasions so much that even my (almost) four year-old daughter calls him "Mr. Treasure." (Not his name but her mispronounciation is so close and CUTE because I do think he is the kind of student that is just that special.)

While I normally never show pictures of my students on here in order to keep it about the art, I'm going to go ahead and show you two pictures of him: one where you can see him "in action" of his presentation before the launch and the other one at the epicenter of the launch itself only moments before the balloons were released.

While it  might be tiresome for you to read how blessed I feel by having this job and working with the amazing students I do every single day, it is the absolutely TRUTH. It is SUCH an amazing blessing and I am thankful every single day to not just have a job in the first place but one that allows me all that it does. And ultimately? That's what RoyGBiv day was kind of about to begin with. Definitely my student (probably one of the few who could pull something like this off) was majorly responsible for pulling it all off the way he did by doing things like getting over 20 students plus faculty members (myself included) here to school at 5am to inflate the over 500 balloons that we needed in order to make this work...

Contained within each of the balloons was a single note with messages ranging from words of encouragement, wisdom, and general well wishes. While some of the students referenced scriptures, all of them were reminded that their message didn't have to be that specifically and could be anything that could help uplift whomever might find it. The goal was (for us) to have faith that we were sending something out there into the world that someone, somewhere would need to find and the Lord would help them to find it in the exact moment and at the exact place they needed to find it.

Wish I had some video footage to share with you to help better illustrate (and punctuate) how amazing it was to behold such a sight as all of those balloons in all of their rainbow glory floating up to the sky and stretching farther and farther but I don't. (I do still photography and not motion picture.)  Just trust that it was AMAZING and if you ever have the opportunity to participate in a balloon launch? It will be an incredibly blessing.