Mural

 This year, our school allowed me to create an elective mural class.  We completed two murals during the last trimester of the year.  The first was the mission statement in the building, and the second was the mural across the street from our school.  The homeowners asked us to come and paint their wall (that faces our school) and we said, "of course!!"  Next, students and I brainstormed ideas for the mural.  There were so many wonderful ideas that we decided to create a collage of images about our state and community.  Each image on the mural has meaning to our school or our state.  Students worked so hard to complete this and results are beautiful!!! The homeowners are also thrilled with the results and said it has been the talk of the town!

I absolutely love where the students put the paint tray so they wouldn't have to  bend down to get the paint.  The cacti caused us a lot of pain most of the time, but they came in handy here.  

This is one of the painted buildings on the mural which is a small version of the mural.  Students called it the "baby mural!"

Art Timeline

Today was the last day of school at Herrera.  The last day for me is always so bittersweet.  I am sad to see my 8th graders leave, but happy for them as they go to High School and start a new chapter in their lives.  I will definitely miss the smiling faces I get to see every morning when I walk through the halls, but know there will be many more in my future.  This year was truly amazing for myself and my students.
               I have posting pictures all year about my art history timeline, and as the year ends, so does the timeline.  Here are some pictures of the results. 4th and 5th graders started with cave art (where we painted with the lights off in our "art cave") and continued until the 20th century (impressionism).  Junior high students started the timeline at the 20th century to contemporary art.  During this year we painted under our tables like Michelangelo, splattered paint like Pollock, printed like Warhol and much much more.  After each lesson, I chose one student's artwork to display on the timeline (for visual learners, like myself). I believe it is so important to learn about art history at a young age (on a personal note, my grandfather took me the Cleveland Art Museums every month for many years, which is why I am so passionate about art and art history). I cannot count the number of times students have ran up to me in the hallway to tell me how they saw the artwork we studied on their favorite show (many times on Family Guy or Simpsons), movie, commercial, clothing, etc.  I am so proud of my students this year for all they have accomplished and learned.