Youth Art Month 2013: Sneak Preview

Each year, on the day before Youth Art Month opens, I love to walk through the Rahr-West Art Museum (empty but for the several art teachers scurrying around wielding clipboards) and take as much time as I need to simply enjoy the work. After the rush of show preparation and setup, yet before the doors open to hundreds of students and families tomorrow, the quiet gallery is ideal for reflection and renewed conviction in the importance that the Arts have in our students' lives.

If you can join us Sunday, March 3 for the opening program at 1:00pm or reception from 2:00-4:00pm at the Rahr-West Art Museum, please do! The show will be on view through March 30, 2013.

Youth Art Month Billboard Design Contest

The big Youth Art Month exhibit opens tomorrow--and in the nick of time, our advertisements are up around town!

We are happy to have a long-standing partnership with an advertising company that provides the use of three billboards in town during Youth Art Month. A district-wide contest is held for three age categories: elementary (specifically 5th grade), Jr. High (7-9th grade), and High School (10-12th grade).

A brave colleague trudged through the deep snow this morning to take photos of the roadside billboards for the display at the Museum. I will happily share her work rather than undertake this mission on my own!

The elementary winner, I am thrilled to say, is from my school this year!

From Junior High:

From the High School (yes, there is a giant cow sculpture in our town):

Honorable mentions are also awarded from each school-- these designs, rather than becoming billboards, are used for posters, programs, and postcards for the show.

Congratulations to our 2013 advertising artists! And if you are driving through Manitowoc, Wisconsin during the month of March, keep an eye out for our billboards!

5th Grade Jasper Johns Collaborative at the Museum!

In a previous post, I shared our 5th grade Jasper Johns collaborative of the year featuring the work Numbers in Color.

The finished work is ready for viewing at Manitowoc's Rahr-West Art Museum for Youth Art Month, March 3-30!

Youth Art Month Setup vs. the Blizzard

The short story: the blizzard won this battle, but the Art Department will not give up so easily and the Youth Art Month show will go on as scheduled, opening this Sunday at the Rahr-West Art Museum!

As in past years, the Museum hosts this wonderful student art show for our district during the month of March. February is spent selecting and preparing the artwork, and the last week of the month is spent hanging the show during the evening hours. That is, until Lake Michigan and its tricky "Lake-effect snow" turned a measly prediction of 2-4" into a 12"+ blanket that brought the city to a standstill!

A few brave art teachers were able to make the journey to the Museum after digging themselves out; we were able to fill some wall space before the building closed for the evening.

I snapped a photo of the progress in the main gallery before heading out!

The Memory House at Youth Art Month

Youth Art Month is OPEN!

The Museum estimates attendance at 600 for the Youth Art Month opening!!!

Rudy Rotter

This year, our schools received the unexpected and generous gift of original artwork created by the late Rudy Rotter. Rudy was a local artist whose name is well known and loved throughout our community. The opportunity for our students to interact with original artwork has been a great novelty! Rudy's work ranges from wood carvings, to marker sketches, to sculptures assembled from scrap metal. His playful use of line and pattern inspired equally joyful work from students in each of our district's 10 school buildings!

At today's Youth Art Month opening, it was a very special experience to have the Rotter family present as we honored Rudy's memory in our community. One entire wall in the main gallery is dedicated to his original work mixed in with the work of students (K-12) whom he has inspired!

Youth Art Month Sneak Preview

Everything has been labeled, leveled, and stapled! Programs are printed, and chairs set. Lists have been checked twice. The snow seems to have stopped falling outside. I have wonderful colleagues and creative students who have worked very hard to make Youth Art Month such a worthwhile event!

The Youth Art Month exhibit runs March 4-24 at the Rahr-West Art Museum in Manitowoc, WI. The Museum is open weekdays from 10-4:00, and weekends from 11-4:00.

Enjoy these "after" photos:

Main Gallery

High School & Junior High work

Jr. High and Elementary work

Leaning Tower of People

Always looking out for project ideas to put an exciting new spin on art concepts, I saw this project at a neighboring district last year and had to try it.

Be warned: this is more difficult than it looks. However, it all turned out well in the end. The 1st grade students are very excited to share their Primary Color Pillar at Youth Art Month. The teamwork it takes for our "people" to hold up the tower is symbolic of the teamwork it took for the first graders to contribute to its construction!

Day One: students rolled, scrunched, and taped bits of newspaper to create an armature for their sculptures.

Day Two: students dipped pieces of paper toweling into paper mache and smoothed them to the surface of their armatures.

Day Three: each class was divided into thirds, each third representing one primary color with which to paint their sculpture. We used liquid tempera paint. Some of the crevices and uneven surfaces were difficult to cover, so we compared the white empty spots to "cavities" and wiggled our paint brushes like tooth brushes to fill them in.This was probably the messiest art project I have ever attempted in my career as an art teacher. To any who may attempt this project with first graders: if you can afford the time, have your students paint half their sculptures at a time over a period of two classes. If you do it all at once: have a mop, towels, and a good sense of humor on standby!

Note: I used hot glue to attach the figures together. I was very impressed by the paper mache skills of my first graders, but did not test their skill level with hot glue guns!

The Flag is up!

The 5th graders' American Flag makes a great focal point on the wall!

Will this fit in a Corolla?

Jabs: 1;  Corolla: 0

Youth Art Month: The Adventure Begins

Thus begins the setup for our annual student art exhibit at the Rahr-West Art Museum!