Teaching History through Art History

This weekend I attended the Upper Peninsula History Conference in Iron River. Each summer it is located in a different town across the U.P. During one of the keynotes about World War I polar bear soldiers the presenter talked about how little history students know. There are always greater and greater amounts of history to cover and given the many demands of the school day and calendar I'm sure much like when I was a high school student much is skimmed over. It reminded me of what I love about teaching Art History, the historical events that often times shaped what artists of that time period were creating. The same can be said for the contemporary artists creating work as I write about the events occurring all around the world. I decided to begin a list of artists I love to draw inspiration from for Studio Art as well as Art History lessons. I hope that you find some inspiration here as well for your future teachings. We are guiding the artists of the future that will use their art to document and comment on events of the years yet to come.

Ai WeiWei

His 2016 collection of work focused his activist efforts on the refugee crisis.

Aaron Douglas

Douglas was a leader of the Harlem Renaissance art movement. His work with the Harlem Artist Guild paved the way for many future African-American artists.

Ethan Murrow

Murrow's more recent work focuses on the way America presents itself to the rest of the world.

Dorothea Lange

Lange's work documented America with photographs of bread lines, poverty across the country, the Dust Bowl and Great Depression, as well as the Japanese American Internment Camps during World War II.

Diego Rivera

Rivera was a Mexican muralist hired to create murals in Mexico as well as in the United States. His works commented on Mexican history and world events.

Fun Places In Michigan To Check Out This Summer

Now that we've all settled into summer a bit it's time to think about some fun, interesting, and unusual places you may want to consider checking out during the upcoming months.

1. Dinosaur Gardens - Ossineke, MI

My family and I are headed there this week on our way to visit family in the U.P. and this dinosaur lover is beyond excited! If you happen to also love dinosaurs or just like to check out those quirky places we have in our state please post your pictures in the comments. I'd love to see your dinosaur adventures at this dinosaur sculpture garden. Along with a collection of large dinosaur sculptures you can also dig for fossils, go on a miner's sluice, play mini golf, and enjoy some ice age frozen yogurt.

2. Garlyn Zoo - Naubinway, MI

On your travels through the Upper Peninsula along scenic U.S. 2 plan some time to visit the Garlyn Zoo. It holds the largest collection of live animals in the Eastern Upper Peninsula. They have native and exotic animals as well as ones you can feed.

3. Hamtramck Disneyland - Hamtramck, MI

If you enjoy assemblage art you have to check out Hamtramck Disneyland. Created by Ukrainian born folk artist Dymtro Szylak, this installation took about seven years to complete.

4. American Museum of Magic - Marshall, MI

Home to the largest collection of magic artifacts in the United States, the American Museum of Magic celebrates the greatest magicians of all time.

5. Motown Historical Museum - Detroit, MI

Start exploring Detroit early in preparation for the 2017 MAEA Conference by visiting the Motown Historical Museum. Stand in Studio A where some of the greatest artists of that time recorded their hit songs. Explore the history of Motown music in the place where it was created.

5. Sanilac Petroglyphs State Park - Cass City, MI

Petroglyphs were discovered after a massive wild fires swept through central and eastern Michigan including all of the thumb in the 1880s. Created between 300 and 1,000 years ago likely made by either the Hopewell or Chippewa Indians. These are the only known prehistory carvings in Michigan.

Schools Out - Time To Rejuvenate Your Artistic Self!

Congratulations on making it through another school year! You've worked so hard this year planning curriculum, inspiring young artists, prepping supplies, preparing and hanging art shows, working on community art projects, and everything else that goes into all that we do as art educators. Now it's time to focus on you. Here are some ideas of ways you can begin the artist self rejuvenation process.


Reflect on the school year
Start a journal about your successes and ideas for change while the year is still fresh in your memory. That way you can set aside thoughts about school for a well deserved break but have those notes to read when you are ready to dive back into teaching in August.

Take a photo walk
Grab your camera or your cell phone and take a stroll somewhere new through your viewfinder. Zoom in and explore the familiar in a new way.

Go to a Museum or Explore a Virtual Museum Online
Look to those artists of the past and those creating in the present for some artistic inspiration.

Create Every Day
When you are ready start a routine of creating every day. It can be as simple as a thirty second doodle or choose a theme and use that as inspiration to art in any way you like on a regular basis.

Art with Others
Gather together your artist and artist art teacher friends and get together for a night or afternoon of creating at each other's house, a park, or another convenient location. It provides a support system for your creating and it's guaranteed you'll have a great time.

Choose An Art Medium And Start Playing
Sometimes the hardest part is just getting started. Pick a medium and begin playing around to see what comes of it.

Make Time For Yourself
In the end it doesn't matter what you do as long as you make time for yourself. As you look at your summer calendar schedule in some time on a regular basis for to do anything you like to. Before we know it the summer will be coming to an end and we'll back to curriculum planning, prepping, and inspiring the amazing artists we get to work with throughout the week.

Fun Ways To Wrap Up The School Year In The Art Room

I remember every year focusing really hard at the end of the year on getting my classes to finish those final projects, getting them graded so I could get it all passed back by the last day of school. Gradually putting away supplies for the summer and each day limited their art supply access as more difficult to clean up and put away supplies were no longer available in classes that had art supply choice for projects. I loved taking them outside whenever possible at the end of the year but that also took away from time I could work on cleaning the art room while they worked on their final artworks. However, it was also a great time to play and experiment in the art room. Most major assignments were completed for the year and we were all just counting down the days to summer vacation. Here are some fun final art projects and experiments to help inspire you to make it through the final week or so of school as well as make some neat memories with your students that will have them looking forward to seeing you in the fall.

Gel Soap Resist Acrylic Painting   (courtesy of Michelle East at createartwithme.com)
This looks like such a fun project. I love the idea of layering and a non-traditional way work with acrylic paint that creates some really interesting abstract images. It would be really interesting to then take this a step further and use the paintings in a collage, draw or paint into them after they dry, or use them to cover the surface of a sculpture piece.

Squirt Gun Painting   (courtesy of kidsplaybox.com)
Although this goes against my strong desire to remove the messier art supply options it is a project that I wish I had known about while I was still in the classroom and definitely plan to do with my own son one day as well as with future art classes.

 

Make a Giant Spirograph   (courtesy of myrtleandeunice.com)
Any child of the 90s remembers playing and creating with a spirograph. It's awesome that they are back on the shelves in the toy aisle. However, how about having your students become the spirograph in this kinetic art making activity.

Soufflage Mixed Media Paintings   (courtesy of Betsy Wellfare)

Soufflage is a Surrealism art technique invented by Max Ernst's son Jimmy Ernst that involves blowing thin paint across a surface. I have done it with my students using watered down acrylic as well as watercolor and straws. It is part of my Surrealism unit for an Art History class I used to teach at the high school level. After the students played with the soufflage technique they'd go back into their paintings with various media to take them even further and be inspired by what had happened when they had blown paint around the surface.

Popcorn Inspired Artwork   (courtesy of Betsy Wellfare)

This isn't one I would do at the end of the year but it would work well there too. I often did it leading up to a holiday break when we were often already done with the previous project but it didn't make sense to start another one only to have a week or two off from school. I always loved on creative my students were and how differently they all were with being inspired by the popcorn we ate and observed.

 

Printmaking with Found Objects and Inkblot Prints   (courtesy of Betsy Wellfare and theinkblotbook.com)

I love using various ways of getting my students interested in and exposed to printmaking processes. We often start with inkblot prints that they would then have to choose one of the minimum of three they created to go back into with any medium they liked. Many would look for what imagery the inkblot inspired and let the inkblot lead their creativity. Others would use it as texture or a starting point that would be added on to and often significantly altered. Other times we played with using fingerprints as our printmaking technique and using watercolor or acrylic start with the texture our fingerprints created as we built up an image or surface texture. And other times we worked with found objects as our printmaking means and acrylic paint. It was always fun to see where the various techniques led each student as they intuitively created. We did gradually work into block prints but I always loved the more experimental, non-traditional printmaking processes and creative experiments best. If you are interested in lessons that involve inkblots, The Inkblot Book website is a wonderful resources for all sorts of creative directions inkblots can take.

Best of luck in your final days of creating with your students! I hope you find some time to play with some of the ideas included above.