Treasures From The PMA & Delphi, Part 3: The Product

by Elizabeth Van Allen  for scribblesbyartteachervanallen.blogspot.com

My students loved drawing from 
and learning about works by Monet 
and other Impressionist masters!

All field trips are special, but visiting a world-famous art museum and seeing your own artwork on display really makes the experience one to remember. With the arrival of 2016 came our final field trip to the Philadelphia Museum of Art.  This trip was the culmination of our 2015 8th grade experience with artist-in-residence Doris Nogueira-Rogers, made possible through the generosity of the Delphi Program Foundation.  When the big day arrived my students tried to play it cool, but they were just as bad at hiding their excitement as they are at trying to convince me that they can't draw.

Our CityYear corps member
'Mr. Marc' conversing with a few
of our budding young scholars

These young teens were treated to a wonderful "greatest hits"-style tour, viewing Impressionist landscapes, The Moorish Chief (my personal favorite painting), Medieval armor, and a real Japanese teahouse.  They impressed me with their drawings, intelligent questions, curiosity, and genuine interest in the exhibits we viewed.  I was one proud art teacher, and the best was yet to come. 

 

This young artist's use of shape,
texture and pattern really
brought their box to the next level!

When I first started teaching these students three years ago I never dreamed that they would come this far.  I knew that they were capable of greatness, but when it came to this long-term project these young artists far exceeded my (high) expectations.  When we came into view of our exhibit the students (and teachers) were so excited.  I loved hearing the exclamations of "that one's mine" and "look there's your box!"  Many a contraband cell phone appeared for pictures of friends at the exhibit and selfies with their projects.  I must admit that I was no different.  Instead of a vigilant teacher and chaperone I transformed into the proud mama of 20 young artists, snapping pictures like it was my mission in life. 

A happy & excited
student poses for
yet another picture

To all of those out there who work with children: if you keep your standards high and your outlook positive, most kids will exceed your expectations most of the time.  These students succeeded because we believed they could.  Sometimes it just takes one person to convince us that success is possible.  If you tell someone enough times that they can achieve, they will start to believe it.  I put myself out there for my students with this opportunity because I believed that they were up to this challenge, and I told them that from day one.  They succeeded because we as adults made our actions match our words.

Top: The outside and inside of a well planned and constructed, six-sided box

Bottom: I love how these two students interpreted the 
same set of directions in such different ways!

I would like to thank several of the other adults who also made their actions match their words. A big thank you goes out to Doris Nogueira-Rogers and Lisa Bowe.  Without their hard work, unwavering dedication and support, this experience would not have been possible.  A big shout out to Teyona Jackson and Tammy Salvadore for their flexibility and positive outlook when our road got a little bumpy.  Thanks to Rasheed Clark for his encouragement and for always having my back.  Thank you to Dr. Andrea Coleman-Hill for giving me the support and space needed to provide an environment that is truly conducive to teaching and learning art.  Lastly, I would like to extend a huge thank you to the students of Ms. Bowe's homeroom, A1.  Without your willingness to work with us crazy adults towards trying something new, none of this would have been possible.  

My students' work on view
in the Education Gallery at the Philadelphia Museum of Art

To access the first two installments in the series

 Treasures From The PMA & Delphi:

Click here for Part 1: The Program

Click here for Part 2: The Project

Disclaimer: Normally I don't show any students in my articles due to privacy & legal considerations. 

These students and their guardians all signed waivers allowing for their images to be used.

Treasures From The PMA & Delphi, Part 2: The Project

by Elizabeth Van Allen  for scribblesbyartteachervanallen.blogspot.com

Sculpture has never been my go-to art form 

Weeks 4-5: Assemble & Gesso

for student projects.  It's not that it intimidates me or that I'm not good at it, sculpture just doesn't come to me as naturally as drawing does.  When I first started brainstorming project ideas for the PMA-Delphi Art Partners Project with my artist-in-residence, Doris Nogueira-Rogers, I was delighted to discover that sculpture is one of her areas of expertise!  We chose to focus our efforts on a three-dimensional project that the students could actually use.  Doris took our project idea and fleshed it out into a 12-week masterpiece!

The Project: Treasure Boxes

Project Objectives: 
Students will create treasure boxes by constructing and decorating them with hand-made tiles.  They will use inspirational words, quotes, or original poems as part of the design. 

Inspiration/Resources:

Containers, chests, trunks, and boxes designed to hold items of value or importance from various collections of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Cross-Curricular Connections: 
History (compare & contrast historical objects in the museum), 
Math (geometry & measurement), 
Language Arts (composition, poetry)

Field Trip #1- merging art & writing 

Time Budget: 
12 90-minute periods and 2 field trips

Timeline:
Week 1: Facilitate the creation of a student-designed behavioral contract, introduce Artist-in-Residence, discuss our project with highlight on mosaic art.

Field Trip #1: First field trip to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, focus on containers designed to hold items of value or importance from their 

Week 2-3: Plan, design, make prototype

various collections.

Week 2: Design a 3D box, make a 
prototype using poster board and 
masking tape.

Week 3: Transfer box shapes to 
board (artist will cut them out),
develop ideas for inspirational words/writing activity focusing on 
student strengths, design tile shapes.

Week 3: Trace prototype onto board

Week 4-5: Assemble boxes using 
archival tape. Paint the inside of
boxes and gesso the outside. 

Week 6-8: Paint the outside of boxes, polymer clay 
demonstration, start tile making. 

Week 9: Tile Painting

Weeks 4-5: Assemble boxes 

Week 10-12: Tile assembly & adhere to boxes,writing final draft in and on boxes, final varnish, 
deliver to museum.

Field Trip #2: 
Final field trip to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, view the exhibition, reception.

Weeks 6-8: Polymer clay tile making

Join us again next week for the exciting conclusion to our Treasures from the PMA & Delphi series and see the treasure boxes created by our talented students!

Weeks 9-12: Paint & attach tiles to boxes 

To access the other installments in the series

 Treasures From The PMA & Delphi

Click here for Part 1: The Program

Click here for Part 3: The Product

Disclaimer: Normally I don't show any students in my articles due to privacy & legal considerations. These students and their guardians all signed waivers allowing for their images to be used.

Treasures From The PMA & Delphi, Part 1: The Program

by Elizabeth Van Allen  for scribblesbyartteachervanallen.blogspot.com

Selfie with Students on the Rocky steps 
at the Philadelphia Museum of Art 

I've always believed that being respected in your field is the greatest professional honor that you could have, but  when actions reflect that respect, it means even more.  This year I was fortunate enough to receive a nomination from my district's Director of Art Education to participate in the Delphi Art Partners Program at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, proving to me that I am definitely doing something right in my classroom.  

Our artist-in-residence, Doris 

Nogueira-Rogers, in conversation 

with a student at the PMA

Out of 300 public schools in Philadelphia, I was selected as one of 6 art teachers to participate in this fun and intensive 30-hour artist-in-residency program.  Plus, of those 6 only 3 of us teach in a traditional, non-charter school!  When I was given the responsibility of starting my school's art program back in 2012 I certainly didn't see this coming.  From early October through the end of December 2015, one specially selected eighth grade class was able to spend a block of 90 minutes every Monday morning with our wonderful artist-in-residence, Doris Nogueira-Rogers.  Using the collection of the Philadelphia Museum of Art as inspiration, she and I brainstormed a residency plan for an engaging project that built connections between art and literacy.

Learning about types of treasures
from different cultures and the boxes
that were created to keep them safe.

Over the next few months, our 'Treasure Boxes' project transformed my students from kids in an art class into motivated young artists. Through the generosity of the Delphi Project Foundation, we were able to bring 20 eighth graders on two trips to the PMA and we were given an amazing budget to buy the types of supplies that us art teachers only dream of ordering- things like binding tape and polymer clay.  The icing on this cake was seeing my students' work is on display in the Education Gallery of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Inspired by the work of Dave, a slave from
the American South, we experimented
with introducing writing into our artwork.

These images are from our first museum visit, the event that began this very special experience.  I am so excited to be able to share our journey with you, stay tuned for highlights and a step-by step guide through our Treasure Box project! 

Disclaimer: Normally I don't show any student faces in my articles due to privacy and legal considerations.  These students all signed waivers allowing for their images to be used.

Special thanks to the following people for their part in making this project possible: Lisa Bowe (8th grade teacher), Dr. Andrea Coleman-Hill (School Principal), Deb Klose (Director of Art Education, School District of Philadelphia), Doris Nogueira-Rogers (Artist-in-residence), Teyona Jackson (PMA Delphi Coordinator), Marc Rowell (CityYear Corps Member), Rebecca Hoenig (PMA Museum Educator), and -of course- Tammy Salvadore (Executive Director, Delphi Project Foundation).

Enjoying a spectacular view during lunch at the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

To access the other installments in the series

 Treasures From The PMA & Delphi:

Click here for Part 2: The Project
Click here for Part 3: The Product

Best Compliment Ever

On Wednesday I brought a group of 30 photography camp kids to the Reading Terminal Market in downtown Philadelphia.  Later when I got back to PaFA, the camp director pulled me aside during camper pick up.  Apparently someone saw us there and was so impressed that they called to find out how they could get their kids into the photo camp.  Now that's a real compliment!