Unity Project

Art II (11th grade) is always an interesting class. Half are REALLY into art, the other half, not so much.

This is a tough crowd to get involved in a group art project. I wanted to give them a project where everyone was involved. I wanted to let them know that if, just one person did not participate, it would not get completed. That one person included me. I participated in this project with them.

So, the project...

We discussed what unity was in art and looked at some examples. They could distinguish that Unity is bringing all aspects of an art piece together to create a pleasing composition. I ran across a website that had a really neat project that I desperately wanted to use, but couldn't quite find the right lesson to put it with. I found it while doing research on Chuck Close for grid work.

Then the "light bulb" went off! I can use it for Unity! Everyone has to contribute, everyone has to be there to complete it, it will look great and will be a pleasing composition once it's completed.

Once we finished, they were so happy with this project. I got smiles and was told "this project was lit" (happy dance). We hung them up in the halls and now when I see the students in the halls, they stand by them. Proud little artists.

They had no idea what they were creating, they just knew they had to color using warm and cool colors. All grey areas were colored using cool colors and white areas were colored using warm colors.

Once all pieces were completed, the students were placed into 5 different groups. They had to put their pieces together and see what they had been working for the past week.

This was a fun project, that taught them about collaboration and unity.