Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Computer Art - Kites


The After School Program students at my work created computer art using the program Microsoft Paint.  Then we made a box kite frame out of dowels bound together with thin wire and taped the printed Paint art onto it to showcase the students' designs. The blue kite is a real kite. We hung them up to decorate the top of the stairs. There are some extra dowels remaining so we'll make another kite to showcase more Paint art!




Here are the other "kites" the students made. The one below made out of triangles and using Paint art in red, yellow, black, and white.




And this, Paint creations in blues, greens, and pink, attached to a dowel frame that is similar to the spokes of a wheel:



Here are the three "kites" together, along with the real blue kite in the lower right.






Sunday, July 28, 2013

Jeff Larson, Crystal Allen, & Alyson Yee: Heartfelt Rationale for Art Education

The following video features Art Animation Instructor: Jeff Larson; Engineer: Crystal Allen; and high school art student: Alyson Yee's heartfelt and intellectual rationale for why we need art education in schools:


 
Should Art Be Taken Away? from DP Video on Vimeo.


It's very interesting to see the three different peoples' perspectives on why art education is important. A common theme here is that art is part of our daily lives. Art surrounds us. And Engineer Crystal Allen states that she was hired at her current position at Manaki Power specifically because she is an artist, proof that art creation leads to creative thinking and innovation - what we need in the world!

Friday, July 5, 2013

Job Coaching - ODS

Another volunteer gig with Chicago Cares at ODS: Open Door Youth Shelter is run by a non-profit organization called the Night Ministry, "a Chicago-based organization that works to provide housing, health care and human connection to members of our community struggling with poverty or homelessness."  http://www.thenightministry.org

ODS serves youth ages 14-20 who are not wards of the state and provides or refers them to various services including job training, medical care, social services, and support for pregnant teens and teen parents. The shelter is housed in this building located near the intersection of Division and Milwaukee in Chicago.




I am not sure of the history of the building but it is a very well-maintained building hosting a beautiful garden upon entering through the wrought iron fence. The interior is very professional, with incredible mosaics, and great amenities for the clients and residents. 

Job Coaching, the training I volunteered for, took place on the second floor. The volunteers and volunteer leader rode the elevator to a multipurpose common area. The group of volunteers consisted of equal parts men and women, all professionals, though I'm not sure I would call myself a professional, I work as an art teacher at a non-profit school. I do believe that teaching is an honorable profession but that unfortunately it is somewhat marginalized in this country. I understand, some people do not have kids, and I think most people feel that their property taxes and state and federal taxes which fund public schools, are already too high. (So far I've never heard of anyone volunteering to pay higher taxes.. ) I think there is a problem with reliance on property taxes to fund public schools for the fact that lower real estate prices resulting in lower property taxes mean less funding for schools in those areas. Schools should have equal funding across the board. Just my opinion.

Back to volunteering: Job Coaching at ODS began with introductions around a large table, where residents sat interspersed with volunteers, followed by forming small groups of two or three residents per volunteer. We followed with an ice breaker of finding ten things we had in common with each other and then reported back to the whole group. We continued the coaching by going back into our small groups and talking about interviewing, conflict resolution, and furthering education and training. Job Coaching was well-organized by the volunteer leader, a school psychologist, who even sent a "thank you - any suggestions" email a day later. I felt like I got a lot out of it too!



The Night Ministry additionally serves:
  • Homeless and runaway youth
  • Homeless adults
  • Working poor adults
  • Uninsured and underinsured individuals seeking medical assistance
  • Individuals who lack access to or distrust of traditional systems of healthcare
  • Children living in public housing who need a place to gather in safety
  • The chronically lonely
  • Other who have "fallen through the cracks" of our social service system



Thursday, July 4, 2013

Found Object Art Continued: Trash Art and the Art of Upcycling


Here is my Prezi "Trash Art and the Art of Upcycling" in continuing the students found object art lesson:




I will present this next time in class as well as bring in some more objects - this time some parts of games/toys that were on their way to Goodwill. They can become part of the students' sculptures.

I have to say I love using Prezi!!

Sunday, June 30, 2013

Found Object Art Lesson


Found Object Art lesson at work this week: the following Prezi is to introduce the kids to the project, mainly boys, 3rd - middle school:





To work with we have the insides of the following computers that I salvaged on their way to the recycle bin... as well as various hardware and parts that I've saved (I'm a saver!): 



To attach pieces together we'll use soft armature wire and a hot glue gun. I have some two part epoxy but I think it's a bit too fumey for the kids and perhaps too slow curing (I have the 20 minute kind, there's a lot faster). A soldering iron would be great for this.




This soldering iron costs $13.50 and heats to 750ºF. Hmm.. maybe an early birthday gift.. But definitely not good for work for the younger ones. The older ones maybe..



Some of the students' work. The Prezi worked really well as a conversation starter. We used hot glue to attach the pieces. They were excited about what they made and wanted to keep working on them even when I needed to get going. We will continue working on them this week. I will probably include another Prezi having to do with Trash/Junk Art, a sub-genre of found object art and include the notion of "upcycling."








In Progress...





Saturday, June 29, 2013

Volunteer: ESL Coaching


ESL Coaching took place at Erie House in Chicago. Located in Chicago's Little Village Neighborhood, Erie House is a non-profit organization that supports the Latino community and other communities as well through skill-building, advocacy, collaboration, and connections. 



When I left for the volunteering at Erie House, ESL Coaching, it had started to storm, one of our dramatic Midwest rainstorms, so I left my camera at home - I would have gotten a better shot of the front of the Erie House, in Chicago's Little Village. As I was driving there the storm grew to full force, during rush hour traffic, and I actually arrived right on time to this volunteer project (as opposed to very early like the other ones). Erie House is located in a brick building in a neighborhood of houses near a school and also near the major streets of West 26th Street and Pulaski. I entered through the front door and walked down a long corridor to the back of the building where there was a room set up with tables. Some of the volunteers were already there. I found out later that the building had previously been a convent. Erie House was founded in 1870 and serves predominantly Latino families with a broad spectrum of educational services, job-training, health services, and social advocacy. Find out more on their Facebook page.

Erie House's educational courses include free ESL (English as a Second Language) classes four nights a week. I arrived on the last class of a session where the class participants were enjoying a pizza party and conversations having to do with dining out, ordering from a menu, and discussing food (always a favorite topic for me). I sat a table with a couple other Chicago Cares volunteers, and we sat alternately with members of the ESL class. We talked about some of our favorite foods, what we liked to cook, and what we liked to eat out in restaurants. I suggested we do a mock reservation by holding our cell phones and pretending to make a reservation in  a restaurant. I know by my own experience that it can be challenging and intimidating to speak in a language other than one's native language over the phone because you're missing a lot of physical cues and other things one uses when speaking. It was funny, we laughed about it, but I think practicing things like that is helpful, such as "Mock Interviews" another Chicago Cares volunteer project that I'd attended earlier. 

During the class I got to know some of the participants and would love the opportunity to work with them again some time. This was the last class of the current session. The next session begins in September. I will be full into student teaching at that time (I am currently an MAT, Masters in the Art of Teaching, for Art K-12, candidate and will finish in December). I am not sure how much time I will have in the Fall Semester with student teaching and additionally holding onto some of my current job. But a couple of things I would like to do at Erie House's ESL Coaching would be to volunteer in their Technology classes for participants and also be something of a "Crafts Lady" - bring a craft in to some of their ESL Coachings where people could elect to make friendship bracelets, sewing, beadwork, or some other type of craft while we practice English. I think doing things like that can be relaxing for some and conducive to conversation at the same time. I will be done with student teaching in December and will have more time for extracurriculars after that. But for now, next up:

Job Coaching - Open Door Shelter
Adult Computer Skills - Grace House




Thursday, June 27, 2013

Found Object Art


Question: 


If you find a building, is it ART?    







Lou Revo Center for Brain Health by Frank Gehry




In thinking about some of the information in the book Half the Sky, by Nicholas Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn,  


I wondered what could be done about some of the slum areas around the world described in the book, and also pictured here in a video clip from the Half the Sky Film with a segment with Nicholas Kristof and actress Olivia Wilde:





Here's an image from a simple Google search of Africa Slums:


Check out this link as well:  Africa slums.




Found Object Art:  Art that is made from found objects
Subgenre of Found Object Art:  Trash Art or Junk Art 

Here's a couple of examples of fine art created from found objects:




"Atık materyallerden yapılmış dev kelebekler harika görünüyorlar.."
Giant butterflies made ​​from waste materials look great ..


Picasso's "Bull Head," made from bicycle seat and handle bars:






Is this ART?



Manna Project International Guatemala
http://guatemala.mannaproject.org/2010_11_01_archive.html



"UPYCLING is the process of converting waste materials or useless products into new materials or products of better quality or for better environmental value.  "


Building from waste materials.. This building above is used as a school.




Some possibilities:
BBC Future: Turning Waste into Building Blocks of the Future City


There are groups which "Upcycle" in developing areas by building schools and other structures out of trash. They create things which people need while utilizing materials from the terrain - and cleaning up the area. It is labor intensive, but practical and very low-cost. It kills two birds with one stone.