This week was a particularly short one in terms of time at the Mix. They were closed Monday, which meant I only went in on Wednesday and Thursday. I will be staying late for their Fall Fest coming up soon, though, so the time missed will be made up.
I planned a lesson for the high school students to give them something more challenging, centered on the theme of community. I wanted to get them thinking about connections and sharing artwork with others, since a big part of many careers is communication and sharing ideas with one another in order to come up with better ideas or plans. I wanted to foster a reason for positive communications among them and give them an easy way they can include some art-making in their lives, even if it is nothing but a passing hobby. I chose to introduce artist trading cards to them because it is an easy way to create meaningful art that is intended to be shared with others. They are easy to make and have endless possibilities, meaning they can make them out of fairly cheap materials and still be making meaningful art. I also wanted to bring in some materials from my personal stash for them to experiment with. For some of the students there, that was the only time they will ever touch supplies like stamps, paint pens, or scrapbooking paper, either by choice or by situation. I still made sure they got the chance.
Wednesday was an early dismissal day, which meant that they got to the Mix early and left early. Because a bunch of teachers weren't able to make it, it ended up being a fun day, where the students could watch a movie, play in the courtyard outside, or in the gym. I played frisbee and kickball with the students. It was a fun day of connecting with the students.
Thursday was a regular day, and the day I taught the students about artist trading cards. I took the lead in the classes, showing them the examples, explaining the materials, and making sure they got cleaned up in time. The students had fun creating and trading cards. Some of them even continued trading with each other in the cafeteria at dinner time. With their permission, I photographed their favorite cards before they left. I made sure to let them know the picture was being posted to a blog, and possibly going to be used as part of a report later on. They were excited about it. I suspect it made them feel like their art is worth more than just a simple project for the fun of it. They proceeded to show their cards to other staff members, their parents, and their friends. I'm glad they enjoyed the project and are showing off their art like I hoped they would.
Artist Trading Cards from the first group of students. They were told that I wanted to take a picture for my blog and asked if they would like to offer a card to take a picture of. The students who made the cards above readily agreed.
Artist Trading Cards from the second group of students. Like the first group, only cards from students who agreed are depicted. This group had lots of fun using the washi-tape and stickers.
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