Unit Three: Stories
Artists: Thomas Hart Benton & Diego Rivera
Group Murals: Drawing and/or collage
Boy: "Hmmm How do you spell 'cat'?"
Girl: "I think it's 'K-A-T'."
Boy: "Hmmm How do you spell 'cat'?"
Girl: "I think it's 'K-A-T'."
Artist: Faith Ringgold
Story Quilts: Watercolor
Artist: Jean Shin
Mini Sculptures from Found Objects
Reflection
Each of these studios is a representation of some type of story. The first studio represents a story of education and how students are not very good spellers, especially for higher grade levels. This picture shows a third grad boy asking how to spell "cat," while looking into a third grade spelling guide that has nothing spelled correctly in it, and a third grade girl telling him how to spell cat though she does not spell it correctly for him. Obviously most third graders know how to spell cat, but this is an exaggeration about how many students still do not know how to spell words that are common words or their "no mistake" words. Today, many people are not very good spellers because all of the technology that tells us how to spell most words. The idea of using a dictionary is almost nonexistent today because they use spellcheck or other spelling tools online. They don't really worry about if they are misspelling a word either because the technology will do it for them.
Studio two is a representation of something that is exclusive to my life. The Mizzou tiger and Mickey Mouse heads together signify Mizzou Homecoming this year and my sorority's (Chi O) theme of Orlando. Homecoming this year was a big deal for Chi O because we were really hoping to win for the second year in a row, so I worked on homecoming things a lot, like pomping, painting, and the float. Homecoming is my favorite time of the year and I love being so involved in it. This year homecoming was especially important to me because it was my last time being a part in it since I will be student teaching in Saint Louis next year. I used only the colors black, yellow, and red because black and yellow are the colors of Mizzou, black and red and the colors of Mickey Mouse, and red and yellow are the colors of Chi O, so all of these colors really tied in all the main aspects of Homecoming 2013!
The last studio depicts a story of consumerism. The mini sculpture is painted and glittered tampons with pennies glued to the bottom. The tampons are hanging on a copper circle and are meant to represent a chandelier type structure and the pennies are like the lights and actually shine in different lights. We chose the idea of this chandelier and the paint and glitter because we wanted to glamorize something that is not at all glamorous. A chandelier is also something that is expensive, while at the same time the pennies are almost worthless. These two contradicting parts were to present the idea that tampons are expensive though they should not be. There are so many things that people get for free when they go to the bathroom in a public place, like toilet paper, soap, paper towels, toilet seat covers, so why shouldn't tampons be free? I mean most women use them, so why do we have to pay for them? In other countries, some girls have to miss a whole week of school or work because they do not have access or money to tampons or pads. Making this tampon chandelier is a stand against the price and narrow access of tampons.
These studios would be great to use in the classroom! The big idea of stories would get students excited because they love to tell stories. Being able to tell their own stories in the class would help them make a deep connection with what subject they are learning. As Bang (2000) states, "it is these emotions attached to remembered experiences that seem to largely determine our present responses." So bringing about these stories would bring about emotions that they may connect with in the lessons. Using art to tell stories about all different things is also a good way for kids to share their stories in creative ways. Like these studios, they could be prompted to tell stories about their lives, things happening in the world, about school, their families, really anything could be a topic that students could tell a story about. In history, kids could tell a story about the past using the story quilt studio. In science, they could use the mini sculpture studio. Using the big idea of stories is a fun and easy way to incorporate art into all of the other subjects. According to Pink (2006), "stories...encapsulate, into one compact package, information, knowledge, context, and emotion" (p. 103). This idea is seen to be true through the studios that we did for stories. There is a lot of emotion, information, and deeper meaning in each of these works of art.
Bang, M. (2000). Picture this: How pictures work. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books
Pink, D.P. (2006). A whole new mind: Why right-brainers will rule the future. New York, NY: Penguin Group
Studio two is a representation of something that is exclusive to my life. The Mizzou tiger and Mickey Mouse heads together signify Mizzou Homecoming this year and my sorority's (Chi O) theme of Orlando. Homecoming this year was a big deal for Chi O because we were really hoping to win for the second year in a row, so I worked on homecoming things a lot, like pomping, painting, and the float. Homecoming is my favorite time of the year and I love being so involved in it. This year homecoming was especially important to me because it was my last time being a part in it since I will be student teaching in Saint Louis next year. I used only the colors black, yellow, and red because black and yellow are the colors of Mizzou, black and red and the colors of Mickey Mouse, and red and yellow are the colors of Chi O, so all of these colors really tied in all the main aspects of Homecoming 2013!
The last studio depicts a story of consumerism. The mini sculpture is painted and glittered tampons with pennies glued to the bottom. The tampons are hanging on a copper circle and are meant to represent a chandelier type structure and the pennies are like the lights and actually shine in different lights. We chose the idea of this chandelier and the paint and glitter because we wanted to glamorize something that is not at all glamorous. A chandelier is also something that is expensive, while at the same time the pennies are almost worthless. These two contradicting parts were to present the idea that tampons are expensive though they should not be. There are so many things that people get for free when they go to the bathroom in a public place, like toilet paper, soap, paper towels, toilet seat covers, so why shouldn't tampons be free? I mean most women use them, so why do we have to pay for them? In other countries, some girls have to miss a whole week of school or work because they do not have access or money to tampons or pads. Making this tampon chandelier is a stand against the price and narrow access of tampons.
These studios would be great to use in the classroom! The big idea of stories would get students excited because they love to tell stories. Being able to tell their own stories in the class would help them make a deep connection with what subject they are learning. As Bang (2000) states, "it is these emotions attached to remembered experiences that seem to largely determine our present responses." So bringing about these stories would bring about emotions that they may connect with in the lessons. Using art to tell stories about all different things is also a good way for kids to share their stories in creative ways. Like these studios, they could be prompted to tell stories about their lives, things happening in the world, about school, their families, really anything could be a topic that students could tell a story about. In history, kids could tell a story about the past using the story quilt studio. In science, they could use the mini sculpture studio. Using the big idea of stories is a fun and easy way to incorporate art into all of the other subjects. According to Pink (2006), "stories...encapsulate, into one compact package, information, knowledge, context, and emotion" (p. 103). This idea is seen to be true through the studios that we did for stories. There is a lot of emotion, information, and deeper meaning in each of these works of art.
Bang, M. (2000). Picture this: How pictures work. San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books
Pink, D.P. (2006). A whole new mind: Why right-brainers will rule the future. New York, NY: Penguin Group