A panel from recycled material mural

Make Trash A Thing of the Past

Images from 4 central panels :

Recycled Materials Mural

At Gilmanton Elementary School, I worked with students to create a mural that celebrates and reinforces the amazing recycling work the school does. They have a terrific team that has reduced the amount of waste for the school by somethings like 40 %.
6th grade was the core group for this artist in residence project, brainstorming text and design ideas for the mural, and working on the the 4 large central images. Then each classroom group had a panel to design and finish during their 1 hour meeting with me. We focused on the one material that has posed a challenge to the recycling team: milk cartons. Though the cartons are recyclable, they have to undergo a specific process that is not readily available in New Hampshire.
The central 4 panels contain the core concept: "Make Trash a Thing of the Past".

An interior on-going ecoartwork

So...over the past 3 years, I have been working with Moultonborough Elementary School's teachers and students on a painted mural project. The concept is to have students work together to illustrate what they learn about Moultonborough's natural landscape each year, while also addressing art curriculum areas. The students meet with me to brainstorm and plan their design, and we lay out the panel. Each year, the students add ingredients onto their panel, so that by their final (6th grade) year at MCS, their panel combines many ideas and details about the trees, animals, landforms, etc that make their local landscape unique.
Though the concepts for each grade can change if teachers want to explore different ideas in subsequent years, the plan currently looks like this:

Kindergarten and "Readiness": The life cycle of trees- identifying and drawing different trees that grow in the area, and what they look like from seed to sapling to mature tree and beyond.
First Grade: Insects- describing the parts of an insect, depicting several insects that live here, and applying the primary and secondary colors they are learning about in art class.
Second Grade: Clouds- this is a great link to a classroom unit that explores cirrus, cumulus, and stratus cloud forms, while also practicing mixing warm and cool colors.
Third Grade: Animal Habitats- this dovetails with the annual unit on endangered species, where students learn about what animals need to survive. We brainstorm what animals live locally and what their needs are, then selecting a few, students illustrate the animal and its habitat, placing it in the appropriate physical location on the panel.
Fourth Grade: Tracks and Trails- As 4th graders take field trips to specific local trails and terrains, this plan connects to their physical experience and to mapping skills.
Fifth Grade: The Earliest Settlers in Moultonborough- this plan has students applying what they've learned during their Plymouth Plantation study to what might have happened when the settlers arrived in Moultonborough. We think about the human habitat and how that fits in with the natural landscape.
Sixth Grade: Moultonborough Messages- In this culminating year, we ask the students to think about the various activities that people can enjoy in Moultonborough's landscape. The students work on ways to describe the possibilities with few words.

Reviving the blog!

Wow, I have not used the blog format the way I had originally intended! Too busy with my teaching practice and generally managing an overflowing plate of activities....

But, since it takes too long and too much process to update my websites, this may well be the best way to post photos and ideas more frequently.

Elderhostel

This was my first experience leading an Elderhostel Program workshop (May 30, 2008), and I enjoyed every minute! This workshop was teh culminating event for their week long stay at the Geneva Point Center. The group worked on a nature experience group weaving, where they added in natural materials with messages about their New Hampshire experience. I heard about their various wildlife encounters, and the moments they spent just looking and listening to the woods. Then each person created a art/nature "box" to take with them.
Tons of jokes, lots of wisdom, and way too few photos!

Year of the Forest: a culminating day

On May 9, I was part of Moharimet Elementary School's culminating day for their "Year of the Forest". Each year they take on a theme that connects to classroom projects, on going curricula, and field trips. This year, they stayed close to home- the school is located in a beautiful forest area, next door to park land, and they even have a sugar shack on school grounds!
May 9 was filled with all kinds of activities including visits from nature center staff, Smokey the Bear, and my "Making Art in Nature" program.
We were lucky to have a beautiful day and my program took place on the school's nature trail. We began each group's experience with brainstorming what creatures live on or near their trail, and might visit artworks the students build. Many students had brought collections of natural materials from home or outside school- favorite rocks, shells, pine cones, etc. Students then worked in teams, collaborating on locating sites and designing their works, creating dozens of beautiful natural sculptures.