More good news for the Art Zone!

Last week, an article was published for the Society of American Mosaic Artists newsletter, Groutline, about my art program.  When I wrote it, it was still just getting started.  By the time it was released this past week, the program had grown (as chronicled in previous posts.)

Before I even opened my Groutline, I had a couple of emails asking how people could help.  And when I got to school yesterday, there were two boxes of donated materials waiting!  One was a very large box of glass tile from Patricia Bryant, and the other was a box of beads and ball chain ordered for us by Virginia Lucas.  When I brought out the boxes and explained to the students that people around the country are sending donations for the program, their jaws dropped.  I think the fact that there are people out there who care enough to contribute makes them feel valued, and more committed to the program.

I also had the pleasure of announcing that the students and I will show our work together at Hot Toddy as part of Olympia's Spring ArtsWalk festival.  And my husband will be entering some of their work into a school district art show.  They plan to create work for sale to raise funds for the Choice Cat Club.  We are going to start working on stepping stones and plant pots for spring.

We have a lot of clear and nearly clear glass, so many of the students add images under glass.  This is WA State with Bruce Lee (buried here).  Donnell has a stylized signature, which is the symbol on the left.  If you look closely, he also has a little Seattle skyline in the upper left.

I'm also working on organizing a field trip to tour the Spectrum Glass Factory and visit the Museum of Glass in Tacoma.  All of these things are very exciting.  The district is impressed with the level of participation in the program, and have found some funds for me to use.  I'll be using these for the field trip, to purchase some bright glass colors from a local glass company, and I have a district Home Depot card that I'm going to use today to buy grout, sponges, hanging hardware, a little broom, buckets, and all of those other little things we have been doing without.

It is so exciting and heartwarming to see my students getting this kind of support.  My position is funded by a grant through the McKinney-Vento Act, which serves home-insecure teens.  Many of the kids who participate qualify under the guidelines of the act, but it is open to everyone.  Most of the students at Choice High School are there because they don't fit in at a traditional school, and can be described as "at-risk youth."  They each have faced, and are facing, major obstacles.  This program goes a long way toward empowering and supporting these young people, and gives them new tools to cope with difficult situations.

Thanks, Everyone!

The Art Zone has taken on a life of it's own!

In a recent post, I wrote about my drop-in art program created to serve homeless and at-risk teens in a rural community.  The class takes place at an alternative high school where regular classes do not take place on Fridays.  Instead, one-on-one meetings take place between teachers and students, teachers do their planning, and students catch up on their studies.

I heard that the small group of seniors that had started coming to my class were staying after school this past week to work on their projects.  I was excited to hear it, but also nervous that they were doing project with no instruction or guidance.  Some had only done one small mosaic project, ever.  No one was telling them how to hold the toyo cutter correctly, how to space and place pieces, what andamento is, or how much glue to use.  My husband left work at 7pm on Wednesday and the group was still there, with a teacher's assistant available to lock up when they were done.  And on Thursday, one teacher was planning to work until 11pm, so the kids made arrangements to stay that late!  (It turned out they were working on their college applications as well, but still...)

So, I was pleased this morning to find a group of tired, but enthusiastic, students waiting for me with their projects already out.  The mural has some remarkably large pieces cut out for the sun's rays, which I would have recommended against, but it is in cured thinset now, and it looks fine.

The student on the left made a sugar skull mosaic, but she has been filling the negative space with paper collage.

I had seven participating students today, which is about as many as I can accommodate with the amount of tools available.  They had Pandora playing at a raucous volume.  Energy was high, there was singing and dancing and a lot of hilarious banter.  The kids talked about how good they feel when they are making mosaic, how they feel calm and happy.

I give them basic instructions: how to use the tools, considerations about color and spacing, application of adhesive, etc.  From there, I let them do whatever they want.  My favorite thing about working with kids this age is that they are capable enough to use the tools safely and independently, yet they aren't restricted by ideas of what mosaic should be, or what they are "supposed" to do.  They try everything.  What if I glue glass onto glass?  What if I put clear glass over images?  Can I layer pieces of glass onto the top of my mosaic?  They think of things it took me years to discover, and they are making their mosaic for the fun of doing it.  Some of my adult students get so hung up on whether they are doing it "right" or what the outcome will be that they become paralyzed and can't glue their pieces down.  These teens just go for it.

This class started so slowly, and there were some weeks that only one person came, and one that nobody showed and I spent the day cleaning and organizing the art room.  I can't tell you how gratifying it is to see the room filled with music and laughter, and new students stopping in to see what's going on.  And they say, "I think I'll come next week.  This looks fun!" 

What a rewarding experience.  I'm so happy!

Art Zone Update

I've posted a little bit about the drop-in art program that I'm leading at an alternative high school in Shelton, WA, designed to provide outreach for homeless youth.  However, the program is open to all teens, and this school primarily serves at-risk youth, so we wanted to make sure that anyone who needs it feels welcome.

The program started in late September, and it took time to generate interest.  I've had a couple of consistent students, and more kids have noticed the class and become interested over the past couple of months.  But, because it takes place only on Fridays, and some kids only come one time, or once in a month, most are not going to become proficient with mosaic.  Instead, I've learned to set up some really simple projects that can be done quickly, without much effort.  Here is a jar-lid ornament project that was a hit, because kids could stop in, put glass scraps into the lid (over a cut out circle of No-Days adhesive), I used my heat gun to melt the adhesive.  When it cooled, they took it and continued with their day.

I do have a few students who took on a larger Day of the Dead project in October, and they have been diligently working on them over the past couple of months.  Again, the class is only on Fridays, sometimes they have other obligations and can't make it to class, and some students have only an hour or two to spend on it.  I wanted to post photos of the projects when they were complete, but here are progress shots instead:

This student is using tiny pieces because she loves the textured effect.

She is using only wheeled nippers to create her shapes.

This one is actually made by a young teaching assistant who brings a group of students to the class when she can.  She cut out eyes from a magazine and glued them under clear marbles.

This one is being done using indirect method.  The student is learning precision cutting with a glass cutter to make those concave shapes and curves.

This student is trying to use the glass scrap with as little cutting as possible.  She's gathering materials to collage the background.

One student has taken on a 3' x 5' mosaic mural for the school entryway as his senior project.  He has experience cutting glass, and he's quite good at it.

This is the mural as he was creating his cartoon.  The fused glass piece in the center was made years ago when there used to be a real glass art program at the school.  It is being incorporated into the mural as the focal point.  It will be surrounded by trees, ferns, pine cones, sun rays, and lettering.

This school doesn't have regular class on Fridays.  Teachers meet with students to help identify areas they need to improve, independent study takes place, there are often field trips with the outdoor club and organizations meet to work on their projects.  I am often asked to help with creative projects at the school, like decorations for their Haunted House event and a float for the winter parade (we'll all be walking in it tonight!)  Sometimes a group will bring lunch to my room to hang out with a friend who is working on their project.  On one of those occasions, a student mentioned that she wished she knew how to sew.  A couple of weeks later, I took sewing supplies and showed her how to make a little stuffed bird from fabric scraps.  She was so happy!  (Her bird was adorable, too.)

So, this has been a fantastic experience for me, so far.  I like being in an academic setting, working with young people, and hopefully sharing skills that will give some of them a new way to express themselves and a sense of empowerment.