HUB-BUB SHOW!

The invatations have been sent and all the artwork is framed and ready to be hung on Monday! I will be helping Angie Shuman (our director) and many other instructors and SAM employees hang all of the work on Monday morning. We are all excited to see the show installed.

All of the students and their families are so excited for the show at HUB-BUB on Tuesday. There will be art, conversation, and refreshments at the reception on Tuesday from 5 until 7! The exhibition will remain on display all week so that it can be viewed during the art walk on Thursday. I cannot wait to see all of the student's smiling faces as the see their work professionally displayed!

Yarn Flowers Lesson



I found a fun activity for the students to work on for spring! We have an extensive amount of colored embroidery thread and yarn that would be great for making pom-pom yarn flowers. It is an easy and fun activity that the students will enjoy. 



The first step is to losely wrap a significant amount of yarn
around your fingers. Then carefully slip the yarn
off and place on top of a 6 inch piece of yarn.

Next, tie the 6inch piece of yarn tightly around
your bundle and knot. Then, cut through
 the loops to make the pom-pom.

The final step is to attach the pom pom

 to a stick or pipe cleaner.

Art Show

This week we are preparing for the upcoming art show at HUB-BUB! I haven't had much of a chance to work with the kids, as I have been working more on administrative side, helping Angie get the show organized. I need to make sure that every piece of work that is entered in the show has the correct paper work and contact information sheet with it. This is so we can get the work back to the students as soon as the show it over! I also need to frame and/or mat each piece, as well as make display cards for each piece. The display cards will have the student's name, the student's age, the title of their work, and what cite they visit (the Chapman Center, Boiling Springs, TK Gregg, or Carver). This will help viewers see the range of students we get to work with! The opening reception will be Tuesday April 26th from 5-7! I hope to see a great turnout (I will post pictures the day after!)

Music in the Studio

Today was a rare day at the studio and we only had one student. It was sad to have the opportunity not see all of our regular Monday artists, but it allowed the other instructors, and myself, to get to know the one student who did come. He did not have the pressure of a crowded studio, or peer pressure to hold back his true personality. The student, Maddox, loves to sing in his free time when he is not drawing. He has taken private singing lessons in the past and told us about his plans to sing in the school chorus once he gets to middle school (he is only 7 years old). We were excited to learn that his previous performance in the Christmas show at school is on Youtube.com, and we were all anxious to get home and view the video, but he didn't make us wait until we got home. The normal shy boy decided to give us a "free concert," as he put it. To be only seven years old, he is truly talents at art and music. Coming from a chorus background, I can tell that he has had a lot of training. The young student stayed within the same key with every song he sang for us. He also added his own personality and began 'performing' for us (while still working on his drawing). It was a very enjoyable and musical day in the studio!

Instructor Toddrick continues to Inspire!


The students are always excited to work with Mr. Toddrick. He has such a great attitude that he inspires me to become a better, more postitve teacher. He also inspire the students! He is a very talented artist and helps the students by giving them helpful tips to become better at drawing. Words cannot decribe how excited the students get after seeing Toddrick's work. They think he is "the best drawer ever!" In the everyday classroom, it is good to show examples to inspire the students and give them ideas. Since there is not many structured lessons at COLORS Toddrick's personal work serves as inspiration for the students.

the picture Toddrick used as a reference



Toddricks drawing using Prismacolors



Youth Art Month

Art education is very important to the Arts Partnership of Greater Spartanburg and the CCC. SAM and the CCC help bring art (broth visual and performance) to studensts through art classes at the Spartanburg Art Museum's art school, COLORS, the dance studios, and the partnerships with schools in the Spartanburg area. Each month, there is going to be a free student art exhibition at the CCC; it will usually be from a specific school district. During the month of March, there has been work displayed from every school in Spartanburg County, as well as private schools and home schools. The shows will be sponsored by SunTrust bank and we are very thankful that they can help make this happen! I can't wait to share updates on upcoming shows featuring Spartanburg's students! 

The banner for the exhibitions features real studnet work!



All Clean For Spring!

Unfortunately we were not very busy during spring break, but that left a lot of time for cleaning and organizing! Another instructor, Amy, and myself organized what we call the "junk" closet. It was so messy that we had no idea how many great supplies were hidden away in there! It is now organized and we found a lot of supplies that we can use in many upcoming lessons.




the "junk" closet is finally
clean and organized!



All the trash from the "junk" closet!!

We also used this slow time to turn the plain window into an display for all to see from East St. John Street!

We have had the students that did come this week help us make different art supplies out of paper. We used these to decorate the window and create a festive, 'springy' display.



Spring Cleaning...

There are many changes happening in the COLORS studio.
Over the past year, the program has accepted many new instructors who have helped give a fresh face to and new talents to the program. COLORS has also had a new director, Angie Shuman. She has brought a lot of good change to the studio and the COLORS program and helped keep the program going strong.
We are also working on changing the organization status of the studio! So much of our materials have been donated by very generous people, but unfortunately the filing system for these items has been less than ideal. Angie and I have worked hard to clean out many of the cabinets and one of the storage closets. The large storage closet is going to be tackled this week in my 'Spring Cleaning' effort. (before and after pictures to come). Hopefully we can find some neat things to make great projects with!

Spring Break!

This week is spring break for public schools and myself and the other instructors are excited for a busy week! We are hoping that many students will come to COLORS for a fun break from school.

We have many new lessons planned, some of which include going outside to enjoy the beautiful weather. The students will take turns going outside in small groups to the courtyard and practicing our life drawing skills! We are hoping that the students will enjoy this much needed time outside of the confined concrete walls of a classroom.

We are also excited to finish the window art that can be seen from the street. It will read "COLORS is Hatching into Spring," which was thought of by a student. We have cut out the letters and the students will draw floral designs on them, as well as draw/paint cracked eggs with flowers and animals poping out of them. This is a great opportunity to show off the creativity of our students!

Preparing for Upcoming Art Exhibitions!

There are many art exhibitions coming up for the COLORS students to be a part of! There is our annual show the last week in April at HUB BUB, as well as smaller shows at Spartanburg Regional Hospital and the Housing Department downtown. All students have been encouraged to create great work and prepare for the upcoming shows! They are so excited to show off their hard work!

Toddrick (Instructor) and Maddie at last year's HUB-BUB art show!

More details refering to dates will be posted when I am notified!

The Wood Block Project



The wood block project was touched on in an earlier post, but it is a project that I came up with using materials that Angie and myself came across while cleaning out the closet. They started out as hardwood flooring samples. Next i used white gesso to cover the samples and prep them for the students to paint on. I began by painting the block that will be in the middle of the finished project with the COLORS logo. I also painted a few example pieces for the students to get ideas from. On Monday, the students from the Boys and Girls Club were asked to pick a wood block and paint what COLORS makes them feel. The students did a fabulous job and I was able to get a variety of subjects and colors. Once the paint was dry, I took the blocks outside and sprayed them with a clear glaze so that the paint would not chip. Next I secured the blocks to a piece of plywood and attached the frame.

 the wood flooring samples before I applied the gesso.
This is a similar arrangement to the finished product.



 the students lining up their finished blocks.



The Studio

             Below is a view of the studio. Many adults don't get the opportunity to view the studio in depth if they get a chance to see it at all. The studio space is about the size of an average classroom. What is not shown in the photograph is the many cabinets behind me. There is an adequate amount of storage space for the materials we use.  You can see in the right hand corner the greenware and bisqueware (for those who aren't familiar with ceramics that means just made/not fired, and fired and ready to paint/glaze) shelves as well as the drying rack for wet paintings. The dark brown tables are used for painting and drawing and the lighter table is used for clay. They are separated like that for various reasons, the main being that the clay table has a special table top made to not dry out the clay and for easy clean-up.     
               I love that there is artwork everywhere. It is on the cabinets, walls, and hanging from the ceiling. The kids can look around them at any time for inspiration and anyone who walks in can see what the students here create.If the kids ever have a hard time getting ispired to start a piece, they can look around the studio, view one of the many books and magazines, or they can look outside the large windows. The view from the studio looks out at many buildings including the BB&T building and the First Baptist Church. On warm days, the students can also take turns in small groups and go out to the courtyard that connects the CCC and SAM. There they can draw anything from plants to people walking by, to the restaurant across the street. The studio is a very colorful workspace, that allows children to come in and have artistic freedom!      


the color wheel hanging from the ceiling of the studio

(a small color wheel for students to use while working is
 attached by the sting you see going out of the frame and
hangs about 6 inches from the table top for easy use.)





student work hanging over the front office of the ballet studios

Student, Zara, with Instructor, Toddrick, and his work

Old Photos!

When cleaning out the closet, we came across these old photos and I wanted to share. The children and artist in these photographs are so inspiring. They all look so incredibly happy to be creating!



a young boy enjoys chalk drawing on the sidewalks of downtown.



two COLORS students stop drawing and painting for a quick picture!



students and instructors work on a mural downtown.

 

this mural is on the corner of East Main Street where
the restaurant Limeleaf now stands.



Current Exhibitions at SAM

"1881-1949" by Will Henry Stevens

March 8th- May 7th

Stevens was born in Vevay, Indiana in 1881. He began studying painting at the Cincinnati Art Academy and the Art Students' League in NYC. In 1921, he moved to New Orleans and became an art professor at Sophie Newcombe College (now part of Tulane University). Stevens spent his winter and summer vacations studying various landscapes. His paintings of these landscapes are featured in this exhibition. Stevens died in 1949 after returning to his home in Vevay.



"A Southern Perspective" by West Fraiser

March 8th- May 7th

American artist, West Fraiser, has built his career on richly painted, atmospheric cities, coast and landscapes. He has focused on many islands off the coasts on South Carolina and Georgia. Many of his paintings also feature international locations from his travels. He has studied many places including Tuscany, the Caribbean, Central America, Europe, and Scandinavia. This particular exhibition explores his paintings of Southern rolling hills, mountains, marshlands, forests, and sea islands.

all information and credits from http://spartanburgartmuseum.org/Exhibitions/Calendar/2011.htm#fraser

Getting To Know My Fellow Instructors

Constantly being around different artists is very inspirational. After working in the COLORS studio for several weeks I have gotten to know all of the other instructors, whom are all artists. Cathie Layton works mainly with pottery and teaches in the SAM art school along with Korey. Korey has a BFA in printmaking, but works with all media. Amy is a new instructor from Texas and has a BFA in graphic design. Mary Harris is currently working towards her BFA in studio arts from Converse. Toddrick is the last instructor, and I would like to focus this blog post on his work. He has natural artistic talent that literally blows me away. He has had no formal training other than the few classes he took in high school. Most of his work in in graphite or colored pencil and is very realistically rendered. He has a natural talent for looking at a photograph and drawing it in a larger scale. He is always searching for ways to learn and improve. He is very optimistic and determined; hopefully his spirit will rub off on me while I am at the COLORS studio. The following are photographs of Toddrick's recent work:

colored pencil on grey paper

colored pencil

colored pencil and graphite

This is a photograph of a copy of the original piece.
The original was about 20 inches by 30 inches.

colored pencil
(this piece is currently in progress)

Museum Update

(I like to update my blog about the current art shows that are going on at the Spartanburg Art Museum. The COLORS program is connected to the museum and the work of professional artists is important to art education.)

The current art exhibits at SAM are the Multicultural Exhibition in the Artists Guild Gallery and the College Town Art Faculty Exhibition. The guild artist's work focuses on different culture's they have studied including American Indian, African American, African, Asian, and many more. There is a range of work in the gallery including pottery, sculpture, paintings, and graphite drawings. The reception was held at February 16th during the Spartanburg ArtWalk at the same time as the Faculty show. Myself, and my many friends in the exhibition, were excited to see such a large turn out come to enjoy the work.(Please vistit the Spartanburg Artists Guild's website for more information on upcoming events and how to become a member http://www.artistsguildofspartanburg.com/)



"Fought My Way Through"  is a graphite piece by Micheal Smith.

He is a former COLORS student!

This piece is on display and for sale along with many other
 pieces from member's of the Spartanburg Artists Guild.



            The College Town Art Faculty exhibition was a collection of works by our local art professors at USC Upstate, Wofford, Spartanburg Methodist, and Converse. The show opened on February 8th and the reception was held Thursday February 16th during the Spartanburg ArtWalk.There was a range of works on display in the large exhibition including, but not limited to, photography, painting, collage, and sculpture. 

           It was exciting to see what all my professors have been working on aside from class. There was a large variety of work and I was not surprised to see just how talented they truly are. I had the chance to speak with a few of the professors about their work and all the planning and meaning that went behind the work. One of the professors I had a chance to speak with is Dr. Mary Lou Hightower. Dr. Hightower is my advisor and art education professor. She is a very talented art educator, and it is refreshing to see that she "practices what she preaches." Her watermedia pieces resemble stained glass and quilt work combine. The craftsmanship is unbelievable, and the vivid colors, and almost hidden photographs in "Stain Glass Quilt" add depth and interest.    

             Professor Battaglia had shown our graphic design class, last semester, a glimpse of her photography work, but the computer screen did not do it justice. She had a few large scale digital photography pieces in exhibition, including one that I fell in love with, "As The Tour Goes By." The photography is of a city scape from the inside of a tour boat, capturing the fellow tourist in the shot. The vivid colors and contrast caught my attention from a distance and the composition held it there for quite some time. These pieces inspired me to go out a create my own work, although I have a long way to go before my work is remotely close to this level of quality. Maybe a photography class with Professor Battaglia this summer with help boost my progress!

            I cannot say that I did not enjoy any of the work in the show, as I spent over an hour wondering through the gallery. I particularly enjoyed the perfection in Mac Boggs' carved marble "Monte Altissimo." I had the opportunity to take a few classes with Professor Mac during the two years I spent at Converse. He would tell us stories of how he spent time in Italy learning to carve marble just as Michelangelo once did. Finally getting to see his work was exciting. He has a true talent for carving marble, and making such a heavy and solid material seem fluid and practically weightless. (Please visit his Converse web page to learn more about his other sculptures. http://www.converse.edu/about/directory/mayo-mac-boggs )

Dr. Hightower's "Stain Glass Quilt"

I hope every go the chance to view both exhibitions; my poor cell phone photography does not do anything but give you just a taste!

            

Talented Kids :)

             My practicum this semester is at the Dorman High School (freshman campus). I work with a wide variety of students. Many students in the beginning level of art, in high school, are in the class only to get their credit for graduation. There are only a handful of high school students that actually want to be in the art classroom and put effort into their work. This is very discouraging for someone like me, who is very passionate about art and passionate about teaching art. I get extremely excited to work with those high school kids that really love art and want to be there. Working at COLORS is like having a classroom full of those excited high school artists. Most of the kids that come to COLORS really want to be there and have artistic freedom. COLORS doesn't stress having structured lessons. I've been trained to always have lessons prepared, so this is a challenge for me to just let the kids do what they want. I'm learning to let loose and shed some of my structure. I still sneak in lessons when the kids don't realize it. I'm just so incredibly happy to have kids come to the COLORS studio that want to be there, and want to learn about art.
              The COLORS studio is such a creative environment for young students to come and get one on one attention. In a normal classroom at a public school, the teacher has about 20 or more other students to give attention to. In the studio at the CCC (Chapman Cultural Center), and at our various outreach sites, young artist can come and get individualized attention and help with any medium or subject matter they can think of. For example, the group that comes to visit on Mondays from the Boys and Girls Club, are mostly girls about the age of 7. All of the girls are interested in Barbie, Hello Kitty, and other toys and cartoons. They have the freedom to draw, paint, or sculpt any of those subjects, and I am there to help them. Many of them are like most young students and don't even know where to begin. I have a small enough group to spend some time with each girl and individual teach her proper drawing techniques. Its not the typical subject matter that students are encouraged to depict in public schools, but I still have the opportunity to teach them the same skills. I personally believe that they are grasping the concept much better because they enjoy what they are drawing. They're enthusiasm is what gets me excited to become an art teacher and is why I chose this field. 

This is a picture of Jose's drawing. He is a third grade student that comes to our outreach site at the Boiling Springs Resource Center on Wednesday afternoons. He found a picture of a German Shepard and drew it by looking at the picture of the real dog. The dog house and soccer ball are from his imagination. He is always excited to come to COLORS and enjoys art very much. I look forward to students like Jose.

Boiling Springs for Valentines Day...

I visited the Boiling Springs Resource Center this week. Some of the same children came today that usually come to the CCC. This is very convenient for them, because they live closer to Boiling Springs than downtown. Not as many students seem to show up to the outreach sites, but its very valuable to have these sites to reach to students that are not financially capable to travel. That is what COLORS is all about; reaching those that normally do not have the opportunity to have art classes.

The kids practiced cutting and design skills while having fun!This is an example of the cards me made for Valentines Day...

The Boys and Girls Club Visit

The Boys and Girls club have been coming to the COLORS studio on Mondays. This is a very enthusiastic group that I look forward to working with every week. We spent our time this Monday creating Valentines Day cards and crafts, making heart shaped clay boxes, and drawing. There is usually about 10 students, whom are mostly young girls around the age of 7. They are always excited to learn to draw different things, especially popular icons. I secretly have been teaching them figure drawing with Barbie and Ken! If I told them to draw a person they would look at me like I was crazy, but give them a Barbie to draw and they suddenly get very excited. I taught them how to use guidelines and plan out where all the features of the body and face will go. They caught the hang of it very quickly and turned those stick figures into more realistic drawings of Barbie, her boyfriend Ken and all her friends!  



A quick snapshot of the Boys and Girls Club
 and other students at work in the studio!



Planning and Progress

When filing paperwork this week, I found about 20 samples of wood flooring. They are just one of the many miscellaneous items that people and companies have donated to the studio. The question is, do we just toss them in the junk closet or find something to do with them. I decided to think of this a training for my future career as an art teacher. I will be teaching in public schools and may not be blessed with a generous budget. Therefore, I need to learn to reuse and recycle! I came up with a project that allows the students to repurpose the wood blocks into a quilt like design. As you can see in th photograph, I found an arangement to create depth and variety, while still allowing the blocks to fit together in a neat rectangle. I numbered the back of the blocks to make it easie to reasemble them when creating the finished piece. I prepe the blocks by painting them white white gesso. I want the students to paint the block like it was a quilt piece. The students will paint their personal block to decribe themselves and what COLORS means to them without using words. I plan to glue or nail the blocks in place and find a frame at GoodWill so that it can be hung somewhere in the studio! Look for picture updates on the progress of this "wood quilt" project!

Going Great!

Lesson one is well underway now and the kids are surprisingly very excited about it. I wish the weather wasn't do gloomy and cold so we could take a walk out side and practice drawing buildings like the BB&T building, and Papa's Breakfast Nook. Hopefully the weather will warm up soon so I can get the class out of the classroom. They are sitting down all day at school, a change in environment will be really refreshing for them. While we are stuck in the classroom, we have two lessons going on. The students took turns making clay Valentines with Ms. Cathy and "drawing Spartanburg" with myself and Ms. Mary. We will continue to work on the drawings in the background of other lessons. The COLORS program will participate in an art exhibition the last week in April at the HUB-BUB showroom and gallery so we need to get to work!

Week 2

Lesson 1:
I am going to have the students being a drawing lesson in disguise this week. We have been asked to get the kids to draw various landmarks from around Spartanburg to spruce up dreary office space downtown (actual location will be specified in later blog). I have printed a large variety of photographs for the students to use as references, as well has how to draw guides to help supplement my instruction on perspective. The age group has a large range, so the older students will need less assistance with this project and the youngest will obviously need more. I have set up a tracing station on the window (a window can be used as a makeshift light box) for the younger and least experienced artist ONLY. I don't want the talented students to be lazy and trace! I strong hate the phrase "i can't" and plan to show the students that they actually can. I will motivate the students by showing them my example (below) and telling them that if they put extra effort into the drawing that I will frame it, and it will be displayed. The kids love for their work to be displayed, so I have faith that this will really inspire them to make these beautiful.

The end of Week One

I have settled into the routine at the CCC (Chapman Cultural Center) and SAM. I have briefly met the staff and most of the students that routinely come to the program and have toured the entire facility in downtown Spartanburg. I look forward to meeting the instructors and students at the outreach locations and am excited to get to know the everyone on a personal level.  My first week with them was extremely enjoyable and I cannot wait for what is to come. I also had the chance to personally speak with Karl Hollander, the executive director and Scott Cunningham, the associate director. I briefly got to pick Karl's brain about the museum, its programs, and the Post Secret exhibition (more information below). 

The Post Secret Exhibition  

http://www.postsecret.com

In 2004, Frank Warren handed out postcards to strangers. He invited people to write down a secret anonymously and mail it to him. Each secret had to be true and something that had never been shared with another person. After the first exhibition closed, word of the project spread. People began crafting their own homemade postcards and the artful secrets began arriving from every continent. Today, Warren has received more than 150,000 postcards and they continue to come at a rate of about 1,000 per week. The PostSecret exhibition features more than 400 postcards that bring together the most powerful, poignant, and beautifully intimate secrets Warren has received. (http://www.spartanburgartmuseum.org/Exhibitions/Calendar/2010.htm#postsecret)





What is COLORS

What is COLORS?

The mission of COLORS is to improve the lives and opportunities of Spartanburg's youth. We provide a safe and creative environment for children to come to after school. The hours after school are a critical time to help young students be successful and productive. The COLORS studio is upstairs in the Chapman Cultural Center in partnership with the Spartanburg Art Museum. The program also travels to Carver Junior High, the Boiling Springs Resource Center, TK Gregg Recreation Center, and Abner Creek Elementary.

My First Week with COLORS:

During the first week working at the COLORS studio, a wide variety of children came to work and be creative in the studio. Different organizations such as the Boys and Girls Club brought groups to take advantage of the facility. Each one brought something unique to the studio. Their ages varied from age 6 to 13 and their talent level was equally spaced. There were always at least two instructors and two stations in the studio, a clay station and a drawing/painting station. No two kids were ever working on the same project. They're talent level is so different, that many variations of the lesson must be available at all times.

The advanced students usually work with clay and create bowls, boxes, animals, and a lot more. Experienced instructors teach proper clay procedures. The young and less advanced students begin by drawing. We encourage them to use the various book available to find a subject that really interests them. I found that if they draw something that they can relate to, they put a lot more effort into it. After the students draw, they are allowed to finish the piece with tempera paint or color pencils.