Arts Explorer 10: Community Arts Project

The social justice issue that we are passionate about is low income families/priority neighbourhoods. “Despite Canada’s considerable wealth, many families face the challenges, and even the stigma, associated with poverty in a context of relative affluence and economic prosperity” (Cheal, 2010, p. 147). A lot of programs are already out there to help homeless children, youth, and adults. For example: Food drives and shelters. However neighbourhoods like Flemingdon are priority neighbourhoods that need more support in terms of providing clothes (Toronto Star, 2010). To raise awareness of this matter we have created a one week challenge as our big idea. We will introduce this one week challenge first to teachers who will then introduce it to the children. The idea is to work collaboratively with the teachers at the school and get children to bring in pieces of clothing that they own at this assembly. We will get the teachers to tell the children before hand what they will have to do with these clothes (I.E: Figure out different ways to wear it for the week). It is important for us to be working very closely with the teachers in this matter. After the teachers have talked to the children, we will conduct an assembly in which children are to bring their two pieces of clothing. Teachers and organizers will then model examples of how to do this. Example of this is having a Sari and modelling different ways of wearing that. I.E: Skirt, Shawl, Head scarf, Scarf and a dress. Having a sari as our example shows inclusiveness for the various different backgrounds. Our first launch of assembly will be held at Grenoble Public school and will carry on with the other elementary, middle and high schools. 

We will be using the schools newsletter to pass on information to parents about the one week challenge. As our next step, we have used Facebook as a means to communicate our project information to the youth and we have also made little cute pins to create awareness. We made a Facebook event as well as a Facebook page.
The links to the following are below:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Like-This-Page-to-Raise-Awareness-About-Homelessness/209496235744907

 The presentation went very smoothly; it was organized and had all the necessary information. At the end of the presentation, we did not receive any questions, however when we had originally presented this idea to our professor, she thought it was flawless!

Arts Explorer 9: Guerilla Art

Art Word of the Week: Design or Composition

The way something is designed or composed and then carried out, definitely has an impact on the overall end result. It either attracts the attention of the public or it doesn't.

For this specific blog entry, my friends and I decided to stick up positive, happy messages on the tinted mirrors of the POD Building at Ryerson University - right where you enter into the building from. This area is visible and open to the public, thus we figured what better place to present our Guirella Art Project then here!

For this particular assignment, we got together in the cafeteria and got down right to business! We had come up with another idea where we were going to use pennies and make something out of them, but then we realized we didn't have enough! So we went back to the original idea of writing up positive messages on Post it notes and then making a HUGE heart out of those (ie. sticking them up in a heart shape)! And in the middle of the heart, we decided to write the message : Take One and Pass it On! Messages included You are Beautiful, You Make My Day, You have Beautiful Eyes, Know... That You Make a Difference in My Life ... and the list goes on!

While we were sticking up Post its, two girls came up to me and asked me what this was for, they seemed really interested! They asked if they were allowed to take the Post its with them! :) We had many bystanders, and people who were passing by us and curiously looking at us trying to figure out what we were doing.I have to say, this assignment was by far the best one I have done and I feel like I had a lot of fun doing it as well - it could be because the weather was soooo beautiful today as well! I really enjoyed this assignment. I remember when it was first assigned I was frustrated and angry, but after doing it today I realized it was such an amazing experience! I also came to realize that this was because I did it with four other people, I know I would not have been able to do this on my own!

For children, having fun and being spontaneous is all that matters. Let them be, and see the amazing things they are able to produce.

Below is a link of a video showing the process and product we went through!

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/7894443/gorilla%20Arts.wmv

Arts Explorer 8: Pretend Play and Magical Thinking

My name is Lappy. I am three years old, turning four in October. My favorite color is blue, and occasionally I like black as well. I love my Mommy, she is very nice. She takes care of me a lot, and is always with me. When she goes away from me for even a little bit, I feel sad; but when she comes home to me, I get very happy and excited to see her! She is the best! I like to sleep, but there are times when I am sleep-deprived. I get to take a quick nap in the night, but that's not enough for me to function properly. My whole system needs rest, but it's not always possible.

I am my Mommy's baby, and I don't like it when she gives attention to someone else instead of me; I feel like she doesn't care about me anymore. But I also know, that she can't live without me because she loves me too much. My favorite food is electricity! I love it when the charger is plugged into me, that way I can work to my best ability. I also don't like when Mommy is mad, because then she starts hurting me. I don't know if she realizes it, but when she types really hard, it hurts and I get a Boo Boo. But I know she doesn't mean it, because then she comes and says Sorry to me and tells me that she loves me. I heard her saying she can't live without me. There was a time in the December Break when I got really sick so I had to go to the hospital. And Mommy was really sad, she was crying. She stayed up the whole night and stayed right beside me. She gave me medicine although I did not like it, but then I got better! And the medicine gave me energy and I was running, and Mommy was happy too!

"In play, a child is always above his average age, above his daily behaviour; in play, it is as though he were a head taller than himself." – Lev Vygotsky

Fantasy play helps children in separating meaning from objects for which they stand. Play is a vital preparation for the later development of abstract thinking.

References

Schirrmacher R., and Fox, J.E. (2009). Arts & Creative Development for Young Children. US: Thomson Delmar Learning.

Arts Explorer 7: Grocery Shopping with a Twist

Art word of the week: Texture

Texture is used to define "three-dimensional things or activities. It refers to the surface quality of a work of art" (Schirrmacher & Fox, 2009, p144).

Fruits:

1. Apple

2. Banana

3. Kiwi

4. Grape

5. Watermelon

6. Grapefruit

7.Orange

8. Pear

9. Cherry

10. Blueberry

11. Raspberry

12. Pineapple

13.Strawberry

 14. Mango

15. Guava

Fruits can be described by texture as well. For example, the banana feels soft to the touch, where as the strawberry is bumpy, and the pear is smooth.
There are many activities that can be made to foster and develop the tactile senses of children. Making an activity around layers of paint, or dried finger paint, or something involving the sand and water table, or even bringing out sandpaper to the table - all these involve some sort of texture and feel to them, and this will allow children to learn about the different textures.

References

Schirrmacher R., and Fox, J.E. (2009). Arts & Creative Development for Young Children. US: Thomson Delmar Learning.

Arts Explorer 6: Collaging with Scissors

Art Word of the Week:  Color

Activity : The World and I

Materials:

• Large piece poster board
• Scissors
• Glue stick
• Photographs
• Magazines
• Any other material your child might need

Directions:

1. Look through magazines and photographs for things that describe your understanding of the world
2. Cut them out in whatever shape you like and glue these pictures/photographs on the poster board (such that the poster board is full with no background color showing)
3. Now look through the magazines and photographs again but this time for things that describe you 
4. Cut these images out and glue them on the same poster board (ie. on top of the things that describe your understanding of the world), in whatever direction, shape, position you prefer
5.  Use whatever else you need (glitter, cards, paper clips etc) that would show a better understanding of who you are and what you think of the world

To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Color :

the quality of an object or substance with respect to light reflected by the object, usually determined visually by measurement of hue, saturation, and brightness of the reflected light; saturation or chroma; hue.

Without color, our life would just be black and 

white - boring. Color brings in the adventure, the beauty, the life in our world. The world is filled with vibrant hues, color puts emotion in our life. Over the decades, we have started to associate certain feelings and emotions to certain colors. For example, red describes love and warmth whereas blue describes cool and calm. 

Life without color is unimaginable. We see color and we automatically become happy. Imagine having to choose from a black and white version of movie and a colorful one. Which one would you choose? The colorful one, right?! Our eyes have become used to see color all around us, it has become a need for us; without color we would probably die. Color sets the mood of the place. Color ... excites us, amazes us, attracts us. 

The brighter the color, the greater the attraction. Like for example, if we see the above picture, the focus of that image becomes the pink color. Our eyes automatically see the pink first, then the yellow and then the little bit of red. The black, white, and gray are what they eye sees the last. The same goes for the flowers on the left - the focus or the attention is given to the red rose, where as all the other flowers 
sort of become the background. The red rose sticks out from the rest of the flowers.

The same goes for this image. Here we see different colors of the crayons, and we also see gray crayons (rather crayons which have been grayed out to blend in with the mat). It's like these four crayons are the spotlight of this image!

Childhood is the period where life is full of different colors, excitement, and  adventure.Children like seeing different colors. I remember as one of my activities for placement I had taken crayons, dipped them in different colored paint and then put them in the show box. The box was then shook up and down, side to side by the children, and when the lid was opened, the picture/image that came forth was beautiful. The children saw it and were amazed at what the plain white paper had become! They started naming the colors they each saw. Colors make children happy, colors make everyone happy!

References

Schirrmacher R., and Fox, J.E. (2009). Arts & Creative Development for Young Children. US: Thomson Delmar Learning.

Arts Explorer 5: Movie, Popcorn, Chat!

Art word of the week: Balance


Yes, it's exactly what it sounds like! For this Arts Explorer I watched Richard Kelly's Donnie Darko : which is about "a troubled teenager, Donnie Darko, escapes death when a jet-engine crashes in his bedroom, because he follows a giant bunny leading him outside. The bunny, called Frank, tells him that the world will end in 28 days. As the final date comes closer and closer Donnie is drawn into an alarming series of events that may or may not be a product of growing insanity" (Mio, 2001).


The following is the chat I had with a friend after watching the movie:

me: hey u

 ok lets talk!

 Aisha: ok

  so the movie shud have been PG 16

  and it used to many inapproprate language

 me: maybe it was and we didnt check the rating

 Aisha: and it was scary

 me: lol we should have checked first

 Aisha: and the ending wuz a total flop

 me: lol!

yaa it wass scarryy

  especially that rabbit bunny woman

 Aisha: and i didnt understand wut wus up with the dude at the end

 me: what dude?

 Aisha: the guy who donald ddarooo shot

how did he end up being the bunny

  it wus soo confusing

 me: ohh yaa

  i didnt get that either :S

  that was confusingg

  and remember that old woman

 Aisha: she wuz scary

 me: they totally didnt show her story properly

Aisha: and at the end she was still walking when the car ran over the dudez girlfriend

 me: ya.. thats what i'm sayingg i didnt quite understand her role

  :S

anywayss so yaa explain me that ending again

 Aisha: so remeber how when the cycatrist asks the guy why hes ruining his life

 me: ohh and ya i was telling u before.. it was all those things he feared that he ended up doing

 Aisha: and y is he listening to the bunny

me: lol the bunny's name is frank!

 Aisha: yaya

  listen

  and then the donald dude says im have to listen to the bunny bcuz he saved me

me: ya

 Aisha: at the end we find out that in the beginning when the bunny called the dude out he was saving his life

 me: ya but i thought the countdown was like for the end of the world or something?

 Aisha: and at the end the bunny lets the donald dude sleep bcuz he shot him

 me: what was all that about then?

 Aisha: ya the countdown wuz for how long donald wuz gonna live for

  and when the last day happened he died

  and...

 me: what?!?! thats confusingg

 Aisha: my thinking wuz confirmed by this movie

95%on teenage guys have disgusting messed up wrong minds

  and all think of the same nasty stuff

 me: loll!!

  haha

  ok the movie was about emotions and how to handle them

  soo ya it makes sense :P

Aisha: yup


Balance does not have to be limited to art. In this movie, the balance was directed towards emotions and how to regulate them. When an imbalance of emotions happens, the flood can be so strong that you may lose control, despite your better judgment.

In order to function at your best, it’s important that you learn to balance your emotions. Learning how to express upset, hurt, anger without condemning others, without blaming, without alienating others will help you fit in with others, create relationships, make choices based on what you need and want. Same goes for children, they need to be shown/taught how to express themselves without hurting others; they can be provided with alternate ways to expressing themselves, for example art!

References

Mio. (2001) Plot Summary for Donnie Darko.  The Internet Movie Database. Retrieved February 21, 2011 from http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0246578/plotsummary

Arts Explorer 4: Patterns in Urban Settigns and Nature

Art Word of the Week: Pattern

A pattern is anything that repeats itself. Patterns can be fancy or simple, regular or irregular, symmetrical or asymmetrical, sequenced or alternating.

Patterns can be seen all around us, whether they be on the fence post or the fresh falling snow landing on the ground. As I was looking around my house, I came across various different patterns. I opened the curtains of the window in my room and saw the unique patterns made out of bricks used make the house in front of ours. Here are two pictures of the same house, from the same view/perspective, but a different zoom level:  

As I headed towards my closet, I came across some very neat patterns - ones I would never have recognized or paid attention to had I not been doing this assignment: I saw patterns on my clothes!

As I headed down the stairs, I saw more patterns! The steps and railings of the staircase made a unique pattern as well :

I looked outside and the flooring had a certain pattern, the fencepost had its own pattern.

There was pattern all around! Patterns can be what the children choose to enrich their artwork or the different styles of lines used on the tiles of the bathroom - it all depends on what perspective you choose to look at it from.

Children love making patterns. As random as our world sometimes seems, a great deal of it contains repetitive elements. Before a child is able to understand basic mathematical functions, he needs to have a solid understanding of how to identify and create patterns. There are a number of fun and creative ways to teach a child patterns.When a number of materials are provided to them (for example a bunch of counting bears), some choose to categorize them by color, some by size.