Save the Date 2011

The Head-Royce School is hosting BAISArt Spring 2011

Join us Sunday April 3rd 2011 for our Spring Meeting. 8:30am-Noon. We will start out in the US Fine arts studios for coffee, juice and light fare. Introductions and a short tour followed by break out sessions.

Please post a topic of interest for our meeting with your reply.

Carpooling is highly encouraged.

Check your email in boxes as you should have received an Evite.

Come see art by the Chinese American International School at the Asian Art Museum!

The Chinese American International School (CAIS) and the Asian Art Museum (AAM) present "Life Lessons" an exhibition of fourth grade art. This exhibit features a collaborative project between the CAIS lower school art program and the AAM storyteller field trip program. The exhibition runs from November 9th-January 31st in the Education Resource Gallery on the 1st floor in the North Court.
Please join us for a reception on Sunday, November 14th from 12:30-2:30 during the Museum's Asia Alive program featuring art and storytelling activities for the whole family from 12-4pm, admission is free for all children under 12.
Contact CAIS art instructor, Lisa Ostapinski with any questions at l_ostapinski@cais.org

Art, ducks, who could ask for anything more?

Thank you San Francisco School (and especially Karen Goodkin) for hosting a great meeting.

Teaching Blog

I wanted to thank everyone for making last Octobers meeting so energizing. I also wanted to share a bit of what I am doing this year with all of you in the form of a teaching blog. Your insights, comments and questions are very welcome.
thisartteacher

Fellow art teachers -

This is a reminder about our fall meeting on Wednesday, Oct. 20 from 8:30 am to 12:00 at The San Francisco School. I've gotten many responses but if you have lost track of the information, here it is again. We'll gather, have coffee, juice and snacks, hear about The San Francisco School and our art program, have a short tour and then break into smaller discussion groups based on topics of interest to you. The school is at 300 Gaven Street at Boylston in the Portola District close to San Bruno and Silver. Directions will come later. If you plan to attend, please RSVP by email. If you already have, thank you and no need to reply again.

If you would like to attend but are having difficulty convincing administrators that meetings like this are worthwhile, here are a few talking points:

• Teaching art can be a lonely job. Often we're not at school at the same time with our other art teachers, which can lead to a feeling of isolation. A group like Bay Area Independent School Art Teachers (plus others) can help us feel connected to our colleagues.
• The forum is rewarding for the exchange of ideas ranging from room set up to class structure to philosophy to hands-on projects.
• The more informed we are about the art programs at other Bay Area schools, the better we can serve the children at our own school with a richer, deeper knowledge of local teaching practices.

Lastly, our Head of School, Steve Morris, would be glad to promote this meeting and emphasize the value directly to whomever is in charge of granting you the time off to attend. smorris@sfschool.org

Looking forward to October 20.

Sincerely, Karen Goodkin

Save the Date - Oct. 20

Dear fellow Art Teachers:

What: Fall meeting/workshop for art teachers working in independent schools and beyond.

When: Wednesday, October 20 from 8:30 am to 12:00 noon.

Where: The San Francisco School

300 Gaven Street (in the Portola District)

San Francisco

Content: Bring ideas, challenges, artifacts and examples. We'll follow the format we’ve used in the past - short time to gather and get snacks, we share about The San Francisco School and our art program followed by tours of the campus and break out discussion groups (determined by what is on your mind).

Hope you have a fabulous start to this school year. Please RSVP when your year is far enough along to factor this into your schedule. We will continue to post updates and keep you informed about the workshop.

Best, Karen Goodkin, Ruth Cardillo and Mia Morrill (art department, SF School)

Check out what my 8th graders were up to in Ecuador:

http://www.participationart.com/

Have a great summer!

East Bay Summer Camp in Photography

IMPROVE YOUR IMAGE
Photography camp for students

• Learn to shoot film, develop and print in a Black & White darkroom
• Experiment with alternative techniques such as toning,
hand-painting, solarization, photograms, negative prints,
double exposures, images on fabric, cell phone art, etc.
• Shoot digital and print out like a pro
• Become visually literate—learn to “read” an image
• Go on shoots and a photo safari
• Create a unique body of work and build a portfolio
• Find your passion this summer while having fun!

2 WEEKS: JUNE 14 – 25
8 - 10 STUDENTS PER SESSION
12 – 14 years: Session I, 9 am – 12
15 – 17 years: Session II, 1 – 4 pm

$375 INCLUDES ALL MATERIALS*
*Laptop helpful, but not required

Gale Jesi has a BA in Fine Art from U.C. Berkeley and a Master of Fine Arts from U.C. Davis. She has taught Photography to teens for over 15 years and has shown her work nationally and internationally. Jesi currently is Instructor of Photography at San Francisco University High School and founder of www.photocrit.com, a photo critique website dedicated to teaching Photography and Visual Literacy.

For information or enrollment e-mail: vislit@sbcglobal.net

Recycling clay scraps

The art teachers at Town School and Marin Country Day School are seriously considering buying a clay mixer/deairer/pugger to help manage clay scraps. Does anyone have any experience with these or a recommendation?

http://www.peterpugger.com/pugmill-extruder/vpm-9-pugmill.html

Maker Faire coming up!

Maker Faire is coming up May 22 &23, and they are again giving out free teacher tickets! Given that the rest of the world pays $20 this is definitely worth it. For more info on Maker Faire check out: http://www.makerfaire.com/

To get free tix you register at the crazy long URL of: http://makerfaire.com/cs/user/create/f?x-t=edu.form&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Emailmarketingsoftware&utm_content=322231469&utm_campaign=EducationMakerFaireBayArea+_+ohytjk&utm_term=here

See you there!

Stephanie Metz

Check out Stephanie Metz's amazing needle felted sculptures!

Stephanie Metz

Felt Acorn

Adra showed me this cute little felt sculpture a parent gave her.
I love it! It looks like it's just a little wet felted ball glued into an acorn cap.

Felting and Mummies

During a recent wet felting project with my 1st graders we talked about what an ancient art form it is and how we were using essentially the same methods as they did in ancient times. A few days after the class the New York Times ran an article about an archaeological dig in western China and the 4000 year old mummies were wearing felted caps!

A Host of Mummies, a Forest of Secrets - NYtimes.com

Great Projects

Thanks to everybody that brought a project to share at the Town School meeting. There was so much good stuff!

Adra Valentine (Marin Country Day School)

Emily Miller (Hamlin)

Pedro Mena (Ring Mountain Day School)

Who did this genius Ugly Doll project?

Photos From The Town School Meet Up

What a great meeting! I was really inspired by our host's program....

Drying heads for Town School's Apple Head Farmer Dolls

The 7th & 8th grade Chuck Close inspired portraits were wonderful.

These 3rd grade ceramic cupcakes were my favorite. Dynamite!


Yum!

I'm definitely stealing this idea!

Thanks again, Leslie, Lauren & Robert.

Bay Area Art Teacher Meeting Saturday March 20th 9:30 am to noon

Hello all!

You are cordially invited to the spring meeting of Bay Area Independent School Art Teachers on Saturday, March 20th 9:30am - 12:00pm. We have coordinated with Adra Valentine to host at our school, Town School for Boys, San Francisco.

Since the last meeting at Friends was on a school day, this meeting will be held on a Saturday. The thought is to switch back and forth since there were requests for both.

It has been terrific seeing each other more regularly. The plan is the same as the past couple meetings. We will share ideas as an entire group and in small groups, and discuss topics that you bring using the "open space" meeting format. Please bring topic ideas or project samples. By now we've all done a number of projects so some show and tell would be fun. If there's anything else you want to cover in the meeting, let us know.

Look forward to seeing you all in March. We will provide some yummy breakfast refreshments. Town School for Boys is located at 2750 Jackson Street (between Scott and Divisadero). http://www.townschool.com/

Please reply to menschel@townschool.com

Thanks,
Leslie Ren Terry, Lauren Menschel, and Robert Hendrickson

Bringing Urban Arts to Schools

Blurb on my students' street art projects:

http://1amsf.com/2010/02/03/community-series-4-bringing-urban-arts-to-schools/

Enjoy!

grades in art

At Saint Mark's School we are in the process of changing our criteria for grading in the arts. We are in the beginning of this process, but I was hoping for some feedback. This is what we are playing around with:

Artistic Application
Shows craftsmanship
Applies new skills
Creativity
Demonstrates artistic talent
Stretches his/her imagination beyond the expectation of specific assignments
Respect
Shows respect for artwork
Shows respect for materials
Shows respect for fellow students
Shows respect for teacher
Cooperation
Listens attentively
Uses time constructively
Follows direction and class rules
Cooperates with fellow students/teachers
Effort
Applies him/herself to the task
Focuses on work
Uses a quiet voice
Helps with clean up

Any suggestions, comments or just sharing what you do would be helpful and appreciated.

Thank you for your time,

Karen Klier
kklier@saintmarksschool.org

Spire by Andy Goldsworthy

"Spire" by Andy Goldsworthy

I haven't taken any of my classes to see Goldsworthy's piece in the Presidio yet, but it's definitely in the works. Spire is worth a visit even without your kids.

Stay inspired!

American Standard

American Standard by Reece Terris

"American Standard is an installation that featured fifteen functional urinals arranged in a pyramid formation on the wall of the men's washroom in the Alexander Centre studio at Simon Fraser University. Transforming the facility into a public indoor fountain, water overflowed from the uppermost urinal and splashed its way down through the formation creating a deluge of water flooding the sunken floor. Visitors enter the space via tiled stepping stones, providing access directly to the sink and preexisting toilet, leaving the facility fully functional and open to both sexes."

Stay inspired!