Mrs. Walton's Art Room: "One Piece" Collaborative School Wide Art Project

February 6th...

Thursday February 6th, I stayed late at school to install my first art project in the school. A school wide mural including 700+ projects with every kiddo in the school represented by a single piece of art.
Let me start by saying, "WHAT WAS I THINKING!?" :) I taught the same lesson, 30 TIMES!!! Oh my goodness!!!! After day 2 and 10 classes, I thought.... wow.... what was I thinking!
I did this project with my middle school kids after listening to our district's superintendent, Dr. Klussmann, gave a speech two years ago before school started. He had a TED Talk which actually struck my fancy and struck a chord with what I do as a teacher. The video features Erik Whitaker and his Virtual Choir 2.0. The concept was that Erik, a conductor, had people send in a youtube video of themselves singing a song that he had composed, with no music in their background. He then took all the videos and had them edited into one glorious piece called "SLEEP". He states early in the video, about him joining choir in college, "It was then that I realized I was a part of something so much more than myself." That single sentence led me in the direction I wanted to teach my kids that year. Giving back to the community, making your art something special, and being "a part" of something so much more than oneself. The link to the video is here. I encourage you to watch it and be inspired.

So, I decided I needed a project that would allow each student to "be a part of something" and for them to instantly be able to see that their contribution was worth it! Here is what the middle school version looked like. Each student had a 4 inch square they were responsible for--1/4 of a circle. I was so proud of how it turned out, even if two people who said they were going to add to it, didn't give me their pieces back! I think it looked great in that small bulletin board. It stayed up all year. And I think it should. It's a great reminder as those walked through the door.

Here is what the elementary version looks like. Well, half of it! The other half will be us soon!

So, here are the steps as I have had numerous people ask about creating their own version. For elementary, I xeroxed the basic worksheet. The squares were 8x8 and the rainbow lines were randomly spaced. No rhyme or reason. Next time, I would probably do 6x6 squares.

1. Each grade level has a class color. We started by talking about elements of art and space. We are filling the space with color and designs. The space is already filled with lines for them. Then we talked about Value. The class color was used in the outside triangular part, simply so I could tell which grade did what. We practiced on the right hand side in pencil and then in crayon before we put it in the "real space". We called it a Value Tornado in our practice ones. Then we practiced Line and Patterns in the extra practice area as well as our names. We used only capital, upper-case, big letters that touch the top and bottom of our rainbows, creating new spaces.

2. Once we practiced, we picked our favorites and pt our name in one of the rainbow sections, and then started to draw our patterns lightly in pencil.

3. We traced our name and the rainbow lines in the fat marker. It was done this way so those important parts, and the things that tied the project together could be easily seen.

4. We traced the detail lines (our patterns and shapes) with the thin marker.

5. Then, we colored. I gave them the choice of crayons or pencil colors, or both. Most of them figured out how to add value on their own into the spaces. (The images above are my board samples), the ones below are all student

The incredible moving graphic is by Mrs. Natalie Waggenspack from SmArt Class! She is an incredible teacher, and I am honored to work with her in my district. Thanks Natalie!

The centerpiece of our mural was done by 4, 5th grade girls. We have made it into a t-shirt and notecards, and magnets, and...and...and... ordered it from Vistaprint. :) Can't wait to get them in!

Even my husband asked if I would buy him one!