Learning Beyond the Classroom

Hope everyone had a great first week at school and is getting back into the swing of things.  I just wanted to write a quick post to let you know about some extracurricular arts opportunities happening in our community.  This past summer I became a guest teacher at the Washington County Museum of Fine Arts, teaching a 5 day art camp for children between the ages of 7 and 10.  This fall, I will continue to teach a few classes.  So far on the schedule, I will be teaching:

Mixed Media Landscapes
ages 7-12
Students will delight in the opportunity to work en plein air, capturing the beauty of autumn in a mixed media landscape project. Students will be introduced to traditional landscape guidelines, work in their choice of 2-D medium and then, as a twist to the classic landscape, students will hunt in the park for 3-D elements to add emphasis to their artwork. The finished piece will be a unique assemblage of a beautiful landscape underpainting combined with natural found materials. Students should plan to wear a sweatshirt or light jacket to spend time outdoors.
Saturday, September 21, 2013, 12:30-3:30 p.m.
$20.00 Non-member price
$18.00 Member price

And

Native American Masks
7-12
Students will gain an appreciation for Native American material culture and explore the history of ceremonial mask-making. Based on their own personalities, or creative characters, students will build their own imaginative, wearable 3-D mask using recycled materials, paint and other special adornments.
Saturday, October 26, 2013, 12:30-3:30 p.m.
$22.00 Non-member price
$20.00 Member price

With some more dates coming up later in the fall.  To register your child for one of these classes, visit the link to the museum posted above, or call the museum at 301-739-5727.  The museum hosts a variety of weekend classes for children and adults, for more info, visit their website.

I also wanted to let you know about a wonderful studio one of my co-workers, Andy Iverson, another WCPS art teacher opened this past year, where students can take classes. It is called The Creation Station and Andy and his wife Jaz teach art and spanish classes for children and adults.  The Creation Station will be having an opening ceremony on August 30th from 4:30-7, where you can talk with the teachers, see art on display and there will be a ribboning cutting ceremony with the mayor around 5pm. To see what they have to offer, visit their website: The Creation Station.

Ready, set, go!

Happy first day of school tomorrow!  Excited to see familiar faces and meet some new ones!

Welcome back!  I hope all our Rockland students and their families had a wonderful summer.  I am so excited to see you all again and jump right into our first project: a mini-portrait and color theory project that will be on display shortly after the first week of school in the art hallway.

Then we will begin our annual Square 1 Art fundraiser.  If you are unfamiliar with this fundraiser, or new to our school (welcome kindergarten families!) this is a fundraiser that every student participates in for free.  The student completes a piece of artwork on a special form that the Square 1 company sends to me, then I mail back all the artwork to the company.  In a few short weeks, a packet for each child arrives at the school, containing the original artwork, free stickers featuring the students art, and an order form to go home if you should want to order any other items with your students' artwork on it.  Coffee mugs, necklaces, iPhone cases all make great holiday gifts for family members.  If you want to know more or want to check out the items the company will offer this year, head on over to their website: http://www.square1art.com/

I hope to keep this blog updated this year as a resource for parents be aware about what's going on in our classroom, why art is essential to a child's development and also to post pictures of some wonderful artwork made by our students!  Check back to see what's up and as always, feel free to contact me with any questions: conneemi@wcps.k12.md.us.  More soon to come!

QUESTION OF THE WEEK:  Parents, what was your favorite art project your student brought home last year, or students, what was your favorite project to complete?