Just like last year, my Foundations of Studio Art classes are saving the planet with recycled art projects! Here you can see what we have begun calling our "trash island". It is an ever-growing pile of stuff that has potential as art supplies. However it kind of explodes each class, and has to be re-sorted... Continue Reading →
Deco vs. Nouveau
What is the difference between Art Nouveau and Art Deco you ask? Think Titanic vs. Gatsby. (The Leonardo DiCaprio movies obviously.) This was the aim of our ceramics jewelry unit. I wanted all of my students to know the difference between Deco and Nouveau. As we travel back in time through the movements I want my... Continue Reading →
Many Perspectives
This Year Interior design projects have become a somewhat permanent addition to my curriculum. While I am always tweaking and changing my lesson plans each year, this one feels fully developed and I think it's here to stay. What I might change next year would be small things like what artists I introduced during this unit,... Continue Reading →
Happy Holidays Update!
On December 2nd my amazing young volunteers returned to Mary House to update their fall tree. It was repurposed a la Charlie Brown, and the rest of the room was decorated to match. It warmed my heart and was a beautiful way to begin the advent season. I hope you all have an amazing holiday... Continue Reading →
Getting Wavy
I became fascinated (briefly) with movie making in college after documenting a trip that my friend Katelyn and I took from Brooklyn, New York down to DC. During this trip I took my good friend to see the National Gallery, the newly completed National Museum of the American Indian, and the Hirshhorn. While at the Hirshhorn, I think... Continue Reading →
Volunteerism
At Stone Ridge we strive to teach our students the importance of helping those in need. Whether it is our community's elderly, homeless, children, our animals friends, or the environment, serving is treated as an opportunity to make the world a better place. In fact, the social action program at Stone Ridge was one of... Continue Reading →
Bookmaking with Studio II
"For our last unit, Ms. Cowan introduced our Studio Art II class to the craft of bookmaking. Not only were we creating books to physically use, but our creations were something I had never associated with books before: sculptural works of art. Well-crafted books serve their practical purposes well, but in this unit, we stressed... Continue Reading →
Studio Two: Student Perspective
In Studio II students have been diving deeper into the elements and principles of art and design. For the first semester there is a specific focus on line and value as well as craftsmanship. We started the year with contour line drawing. This included studies of landscapes, still lifes and the human figure. Here is... Continue Reading →
Getting STEAMy
So, STEAM. It's my cross-curricular curriculum of choice. I’m doing it now, as we speak, I even presented with my colleague down in Richmond this summer at the NCGS convention, but I haven’t mentioned much about it this past year. It was my, or I should say our, first year last year. So, STEAM, who,... Continue Reading →
Foundations Unit One: Light and Color
In Foundations of Studio art we are beginning the year with a unit on Light and color, as you've seen the past two years. This year I would like to do something different and break down my units by day. Please feel free to use the comments section and let me know what you think.... Continue Reading →