Fine Arts Dessert Night | FADN 2014

McQueen High School in Reno, Nevada celebrated its young artists, actors, musicians, and singers in its annual fundraiser, Fine Arts Dessert Night. It's a wonderful community event of delicious sweet treats and a look at the amazing creative talent under one roof.

The McQueen families make this event happen; from the students to the parents purchasing tickets, making desserts, volunteering, and their overall support of the arts in our schools. Local businesses rallied and helped to make the event an even bigger success. Please support them in your purchases and entertainment choices:
Peppermill Resort, Boomtown Casino and Hotel, DAM Pottery, First Taekwondo, Arthur Murray Dance Studio, Portraits by Heidi Joy, Reno Academy of Combat, Nevada Museum of Art, Nothing Bundt Cakes, Twig and Turtle Photography, Batch Cupcakery, Scraps Dog Company, Campo, and Skye Snyder Photography.

The sounds of the Jazz Band, led by Rick Moffit gave the opening show the party atmosphere.

The halls were lined with student work from Freshman to Seniors and Beginners to Advanced. The show was totally student curated; they selected and displayed the art work on the boards. A special thanks to Tim Lane, Bailey Sack, Lewis Falconer, and Adam for their hard work in turning the halls into a special gallery space.

The little gym was standing room only for Kenny Baker and his Orchestra students.

The endless buffet of desserts provided by McQueen families, the Culinary Students, and Boomtown.

Thank you to all the parent volunteers helping in the kitchen, with ticket sales, raffle sales, accessory sales and donations. FADN couldn't be this big without you.

Until next year, FADN 2015. Thank you all for supporting the arts in our schools. 

Music Videos in the High School Art Classroom | Part II

This is part two of a previous post on tessellations. If you missed part one, click here.

I want to encourage the role of discovery and research in my students' learning experience. As a teacher we plan --a lot! I research and make connections and get lost as I lily pad through the internet from topic to related topic. The connections become so meaningful and relative. Unfortunately, as a teacher, it is practice to condense all this information into a powerpoint or hand out. By doing so, I feel I rob my students of the opportunity to discover and make learning meaningful to them through 'organic exploration'.

Let me share a single instance of how this unfolded for me.

I was driving to school and a song I had never heard came on the radio, Tessellate by Alt J. It was a sultry rhythmic song whose chorus struck a chord in me;


Triangles are my favorite shape
Three points where two lines meet
Toe to toe, back to back, let's go, my love; it's very late
'Til morning comes, let's tessellate

I had just completed a class unit on tessellations, so I was hyper aware. The sheer mention of the word piqued my interest.  I hurried into the studio (classroom) and Googled the song. What happened next propelled our class into what became known as Film Friday--a day of thought provoking issues and think tanks through art. Please watch before reading part III.

Without any backstory, they watched and I opened up the floor with this simple question:

"Would your parents have approved of this video being shown in class?"

Which led to, "Would they think it is educational? Why or Why not?"

Answer and share with someone else before moving to part III.

And we're back...with a focus on the high school art room

Yes--that's the first mach-up for
the Transporter  in Star Trek. Beam me up,
Scotty!

The 2013-2014 school year is underway and the NVartworks blog is back but with a big kid bent. I switched over to high school this year. I am thoroughly enjoying the discourse and talents of the high schoolers. As a newcomer onto this scene, other art teachers have been invaluable to the settling-in process. I am so grateful for their generous giving of knowledge and advice, especially upon learning after a quick Google search, that a disproportionate number of online lesson plans are geared for elementary art students.  Time to trust my gut and continue to make NVartworks a place for art educators, art lovers, and art students to gain inspiration and to celebrate our successes.

What's been going on?
My studio classes are 2D art from beginners to honors plus a couple of classes focusing on wearable arts such as clothing and jewelry. 

Getting the room together in the summer

Art 1/2 & 3/4 - Tessellations- Focus on line, pattern, value, and landscapes. A look at M.C. Escher and how Art is Math.

Art 5/6 Advanced 2D Art - What is student voice in art? How to focus on a concentration to create a collection. Students independently create the first piece in a portfolio of eight pieces.

Wearable Art -  How to hand-stitch and craft a custom purse--focusing on basic stitches, hemming, beading, inserting a panel, pattern making, design sketching, button sewing, and craftsmanship. A look at Linda Przybyszewski, Notre Dame Associate Professor of History discussing "A Nation of Slobs". Art is Math---how many yards of x fabric do we need for 70 students to create a purse x big.



Upcoming Projects from Studio 508

Art 1/2 - One and Two-point perspective with a look at Perugino, Da Vinci, and Estes and how Art is Math. During the Renaissance,  the Artist and the Scientist were the same person. How did they become so separated in our modern culture?
Art 3/4 - Marc Chagall inspired profile pastel drawings. A look at Expressionism and the art of visual storytelling.  A look at Frida Kahlo and her personal journey in paintings.  240 of Kahlo's photographs will be on display at the Nevada Museum of Art during the month of September. A required visit for 3/4 and 5/6 students.
Art 5/6 - Ongoing analysis of art works and creating meaning in an art piece. Taking risks with new media and drafting artist statments and beginning piece #2/8 in their collections. A required visit to the NMA.