Arts After School

Part Three: The Continuation 

This is the time where I get to show what I learned in my studies and experience with this specific patron group. My supervisor and I created an after school program for children ages 5 to 10. This class would be once a week on Wednesdays and go from 3p to 5:30p. This class would mainly focus on curriculum centered around methodology, art movements, and artists that have made a major impact in the world of art. 

The first semester was all about methodologies and art movements. I believe this is a good way to introduce art and its relation to society. I taught them about space versus place, transforming 2D to 3D, line exploration, color theory, and the experimental ways of going about art composition. I wanted to broaden understanding of the terminology and methods that artists come across while interacting with the art world. I also wanted a basic knowledge of design elements and important principles and interpreting these skills into their own daily lives. The second semester (my favorite) was concentrated on artists from different parts of the world and time period throughout history. It was interesting and impressive that some of my students were actually familiar with some of these artists. Most of them were acquainted with specific works and have heard certain artists names, even the younger children. I was pleased to find this out and willing to explore what they know on top of my interpretation and knowledge on the subject. We learned critique and introduction to constructive ways to describe and interpret our classmates' work, especially in comparison to the artists we were learning about. For example, we learned about fauvism, suprematism, dadaism, and futurism. I think these movements are not mainly focused on in traditional education of art history. I would give the students "a upper hand", so to speak, on the spectrum of viable movements that correspond with society and its history. We discussed (yes, back to Dadaism) Tristan Tzara, Hannah Höch, and Hugo Ball's self-discovery at a time where censorship and government were at the height of history. I explained how anti-art made a huge impact in the art world and in the eyes of leaders and the academics of the time. We experimented with collage, sound poems, and fashion. I had a lot of fun teaching these topics and I think my students did too. 

Color Theory lesson

Fauvism at its finest

Abstract Expressionism

Hugo Ball's Karawane (I found this in Special Collections)

Of course I am going to collaborate
(that is Emily, my assistant) 

My favorite interpretation

This is Noah and his Hugo Ball inspired sound poem