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Class #5: Collaboration Creations

Project Description: 

In this art lesson, students embarked on a collaborative artwork adventure to share ideas and build community. They repurposed non-traditional materials into art-making tools through experimentation with found-object paint brushes. Students worked together to create one large 2-dimensional work of art. In today's art exploration, students communicated and collectively contributed to a collaborative painting, which allowed them to combine different ideas and perspectives. 

 

Essential Understanding: 

Artists and designers collaborate to create works of art to combine different ideas and perspectives.

 

Objectives/Outcomes:

Students will be able to... 

  • Gather non-traditional materials to use as paintbrushes

  • Experiment with non-traditional paint brushes and application techniques

  • Collaborate with their peers to create a large work of art together

 

Skills:

  • Reimagine unfamiliar objects as paint brushes

  • Apply paint in new and inventive ways

  • Collaboration with peers to share ideas and techniques

 

 

 

Our final class, Community Connections took on a new challenge to create collaborative works of art as a whole class. We got to adventure outside to view a real collaborative work and search for art-making tools, then experiment with our new brushes before we worked together to create large paintings. Students transformed their found objects into paint brushes, which they used to press, splatter, and spread paint all over our paintings. Every student got involved to work together and make their mark! 

 

To begin, we ventured outside the art room to observe the Litema mural to see how one group of students worked together to create large dirt mural. Students got to see and touch the work of art to witness an actual collaborative artwork.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next, we searched outside to find objects they imagined could be used as paint brushes. Students explored the area to find pine cones, fallen leaves, sticks, seed pods and more. One student searched diligently to find three different variations of pine cones, after deciding they only wanted to use pine cones as brushes. Another student scanned around to find a scrap of plastic, a long seed pod, and a small stick. Below you can see some of the objects gathered. This student smiled really bit when she spotted a long twig and pointed to it. We folded it up and she used it as a long paintbrush.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once back inside, the students began to experiment with their three found brushes. Here they are dipping objects in paint and discovering what types of marks they make on paper. Some dragged it across the surface, while others dabbed the paint to make interesting textures. After they had experimented with their brushes, students traded brushes with a neighbor to see what kind of other marks they could make!

 

           The student is rolling up her twig to dab blue paint.                 This student is experimenting with a pine cone and a stick.                                                                                                             He was hesitant to participate, but once he realized how                                                                                                                  much he could play, he got really active in his technique.

 

 

 

 

 

Here the reluctant student is wacking the paper with his bean pod to make interesting marks.

These students are using different techniques to make marks, like rubbing a pine cone all over the surface, dabbing a seed pop, and flicking paint with the materials. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once the students were done experimenting with their found paintbrushes, they got to apply their own unique marks to the large collaborative painting. While collaborating, students explored new ways to make marks and made discoveries. After experimenting with splattering paint with a bundle of sticks, one student said, "Look I'm making dots!" This project not only taught students new creative ways of applying paint, but also taught them how to work together to make a collaborative artwork. Students used their found paintbrushes in all sorts of ways, making their own interesting marks on the painting.

When we noticed this student using his hands as a painting tool, he said "It's creative and I like to do it with paint!" You can see he also added some handprints to the surface.

Other students made marks using all sorts of other techniques. Here you can really see the action as several students work together simultaneously to cover the sheet of paper.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The final collaborations are full of color and different marks! All students got to take part and worked together to make these collaborative paintings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The photos below show more discoveries made by the students when adding to the collaborative painting

                             [Hover over images for captions]

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