Permanent Art at Plain City Elementary

Here's the finished collaborate puzzle piece that will hang in Mrs. Luker's Art Room. I plan to have 8 x 10 photos for all of he Art Enrichment Students in Group 1 to have as a keepsake.

Group One's Amazing Collaborate Puzzle Mural  24" x 36",  Mixed Media

Underneath this piece, Mrs. Luker had vinyl letters made to put underneath it that say "Every Child is an Artist. - Pablo Picasso."

For the past two session, Group 1 is finishing up their time in Art Enrichment by working on yet another permanent piece for the school lobby.  They've been hard at work rolling Quill Paper on wooden dowels to create colorful circles.  Group 2 will also create circles for the mural.  In a couple of weeks, we'll call Group 1 back to come in and help assemble the circles on a large canvas.  

Two students having fun with Quill Paper Circles

Stop Motion Video Project

A few weeks ago, I attended a stop-motion video workshop that was taught by video artist Jenn Deafenbaugh of Itty Bitty Studios.  Mrs. Luker and I thought stop-motion videos would be a perfect project for our 4th grade Art Enrichment students.  I connected with Jenn and we discussed possible themes.  We decided to go with holiday greetings, which we thought had some really fun possibilities.  So, last week we got started brainstorming ideas.  The students divided themselves into four groups, as Jenn had 4 platforms to shoot videos on.  Each group came up with a message and concept, using letters and other props.

This week, we began shooting.  Jenn told the kids how stop motion works and how to take pictures using the Droid Galaxy's stop motion app.

Jenn Deafenbaugh demonstrating how the Droid Galaxy takes photos

Stop motion is a somewhat labor intensive process.  You can't move your objects too much, or they'll look like they are jumping around.  The idea is to make the objects look like they are moving on their own.  Jenn brought refrigerator magnet letters for the students to create messages and the students brought in items from home, such as small toys, ornaments, and pictures.  

Each time you take a picture, that creates a frame for the stop motion movie.  Students learned to wait for a "click" sound on the Droid Galaxy to know that a photo was taken.  

Students practicing taking photos and moving objects.

A student group working through the animation process.

Mrs. Luker looks on as students create their stop motion video

The students did a great job of working together on this project.  They had to take turns moving objects and taking the photos.  This project took a lot of patience, cooperation and of course, creativity.  I'll post the finished videos as soon as they are edited together.