It's Time To Begin Preparing 
For Our Annual Art Show!

Art Matters.  To help reinforce this idea, I do an Art Show night.  Luckily, I have an awesome P.E. teacher and PTO that are willing to work together to make this event a success.  

Here's how it all happens.  Weeks in advance, I plan a different project for each grade level to complete for exhibit on the night of the event.  While I'm focusing and working on that, PTO is busy planning their end, which usually includes a pizza dinner fundraiser.  Our PE teacher is also busy working with the kids during PE class, teaching them a specific set of skills she wants to showcase that evening.

I work with a company, Artome', that mats and frames our art for the special night.  I send home flyers, announce the event via facebook, phone blast, and even use our marquee to promote the night.  Our PTO our PE teacher also promote the event, via flyers, monthly newsletters, etc.  

The BIG night!  It all comes together.  It's so cool to be involved in this community effort.  I have to say that I am fortunate to have a very committed and caring team that I work with here at Green Valley Elementary.  The librarian helps with sales that night, the music teacher helps kids and parents locate their art, and I couldn't imagine the event would be successful without the help of our PE/PTO people. Combining this effort helps to bring in so many more people that night.

Artome' arrives a few hours before the event and sets up the exhibit.  This is a HUGE help for me. Volunteers begin to arrive and I orient them to the process.  Doors open around 5:00 and families begin to arrive.  They can purchase dinner and browse the school to see some of the art projects we have been working on.  I try to make sure to have a work of art hung up for every child in the school.  They can come by the library and purchase their framed masterpiece from 5:00-6:00.  At 6:00, we shut down the art sale so that it doesn't distract from the PE Demonstration.  After the Demo, parents can come by to pick up art if they didn't get a chance before.

After the event. Artome' takes down the exhibit.  WOW!  We get everything put back in it's place. I make a point to thank everyone involved.  It does take a good part of the "village" to pull this off.  Loose ends are tied up and we move on to the next big event---whatever that might be.

Date, times, etc. This year's event is March 15, doors open at 5:00. Dinner is served at 5:00.  Art is available for purchase in the library from 5:00-6:00, and a few minutes following the PE Demo. Framed art is $25.00.  Wish us luck!

Northwest Coast Totem Poles

So I love to collaborate with classroom teachers to enrich instruction.  The opportunity came up this year when fifth grade students began to study the Northwest Coast tribes of the North America.  I created a power-point to show them the history, materials, details, and colors used in creating totem poles. Next, we began to plan.

Students were given a packet that contained various North American animals.  Sorry, no lions or tigers here, guys. I limited the number of times a certain animal could be used, so that we ended up with a wide variety of animals.  Each student then began to sketch and plan their part of the totem.  I told them to imagine that they were stuffing their animal into a square shape.  They were to try to leave as little negative space as possible.  Easier said than done!

After planning, the execution began.  Each student choose four colors.  Colors are symbolic in the tribes.  

TOTEM POLE COLOR SYMBOLISM

Remember, each color is a combination of the listed ingredient and salmon eggs to create a liquid paint.

White - Used along with other light colors as a background symbolizes skies and spacious heavens. It also stands for purity, peace and death.

Red – Made from a variously shaded mineral called cinnabar. When used, it represents blood, war or valor. It may be found on animals that require it, for example: a red-headed woodpecker or the tongue of an animal.

Blue –Made from copper salts and is most commonly used as the symbol for the rivers, waters, lakes and skies. Certain tribes used it for mountains in the distance. Blue stands for sincerity and happiness.

Yellow – Clays, moss, roots and tannic barks from Cedar create this color, which reflects the symbol of the sun, light and happiness. This is often a predominating color.

Green – Made from algae or juice from grass, it represents the trees and mountains, common in all Indian legends. Green may be made by mixing blue and yellow, or by adding acid to copper as well. Copper is abundant in many parts of the West and Northwest.

Purple – Huckleberries are a good source for purple, or perhaps mixing red and blue hues. Purple stood for mountains in the distance and general imagery.

Black – Charcoal or mud from sulphur springs is the base ingredient for this color, and it represents power.

The totems were to be created using the collage method. Students remembered, in most instances, to fold their paper and cut once to create symmetrical images.  Overlapping was encouraged, as well as use of empty space within the totem.

Both the classroom teacher and I were very excited with the end results. Some of the totems are even on display as part of our school's month to exhibit and shine at our Central Office.

Central Office Exhibit 2016