Tuesday, December 11, 2012

Confluence Project


At the end of last school year, I taught a 4 week after school project in Cascade Locks and Parkdale as part of a grant from the Confluence Project.  The students learned about Celilo Falls which used to be be located on the Columbia River and is now underwater after the Bonneville Dam was constructed in the 1960's.  The students learned about the importance of fishing to people living in the area and how the flooding of Celilo Falls changed the lives of many people who had fishing as a huge part of their lives.  My students used recycled sweaters to make fish.   

An example of the art projects that were made by area children are currently on display at the Columbia Art Center in an exhibit called Gifts From our Ancestors.







Friday, December 7, 2012

November Challenge- Used Volleyballs

I had a friend ask if I would like old volleyballs that could no longer be used by her high school volleyball team.  Of course I said yes to the challenge of using them for the November Repurposing Challenge.

Volleyball planter


Volleyball wallet front

Volleyball wallet back


Volleyball snowman ornament

 My favorite volleyball project was made by my husband.  A volleyball hat... with mullet and sideburns.

Volleyball hat, front

V
Volleyball hat, side (notice the sideburns and mullet)


Art Week 2012


I was asked to be an artist during Art Week, one of my favorite weeks at my children's school.  This year I decided to focus on weaving with recycled materials since it was so successful during Peace Village last summer.  I taught the students to weave with t-shirts, plastic bags and on CD's.  


Art Week is a week devoted to arts and crafts.  Each student spends 4 half days working with one artist and creating 4 crafts.  This gives the students a chance to learn one art form in depth and create 4 smaller craft projects during the week.  The students get to vote on the type of art they would like to learn.  This year there was print making, ceramics, tai-chi, drumming, painting and weaving.


My group started the week weaving with t-shirts on cardboard looms.  This was the same project we did at Peace Village.


The best part about this project was that all kids (Kindergarten through 5th grade) were successful.   


The next project was weaving with yarn on CD's.  This proved a bit more difficult than t-shirt weaving, but the students worked hard and made beautiful pieces of art.




CD weaving was a way to use up the balls of yarn from previous projects. 


I wanted find a project that could make use of plastic bags.  I cut plastic grocery bags in to 2 inch strips and had the students weave them into plastic fencing I bought from Home Depot.  Some students wove a mat, while others folded and sewed their mats into wallets.




The final day of Art Week was a time to finish up projects.  The students who finished early worked together to create a collaborative piece of art.  The only instruction I gave them was to recreate a painting as a weaving.  I gave them a stack of paintings to choose from and set them free to create.  I provided a sack full of materials to weave with including ribbon, raffia, tshirt scraps, yarn and plastic.  We did not have enough time to complete a group weaving, but I loved what they were able to accomplish together in a short time.  





October Challenge- Used CDs

Creating with used CD's ended up being a little harder than I expected.  I was at a loss for ideas, but here is what I was able to create this month.


CD Coasters

CD Disco Ball


CD Mirror