Residency- Field Community School- 3 Hours
It was my first day of residency in a visual arts classroom. I stayed for three periods: two classes for 7th & 8th graders, and one class for 5th and 6th.
At the start of each of class, the teacher introduced me to the students. She told them who I was, why I was there, and that I'm studying Comic Art. She also told them that they're free to ask me any questions about what it's like to study art, particularly comics. One student took this opportunity and asked me a few questions about the type of comics I do. She then told me that she draws comics sometimes, too. I was glad to be able to connect with this person over this. It makes me wonder if someday she'll be an MCAD Comic Art student.
The 7th and 8th graders were in the midst of a sewing project that involves making pincushions that look like animals. Sewing is not my specialty, but I was still available to help with other aspects of the project, such as preliminary drawings. Most students used templates, but they didn't have to. One student wanted to make hers of a stingray and therefore had to conceive her own design. She showed it to me and the teacher, and we both agreed it looked good and functional.
The teacher reviewed some basic art principles with the students. She did this by holding up an example pincushion and asking the students about its specific characteristics. For example, one of its eyes was big, and there other was small, so that could be seen as an example of contrast. I think it's important that she was asking the students instead of just telling them. By asking, it allows that students to think critically and turns the learning into an experience. Sometimes, though, she would suggest the possibility that her pincushion didn't have the characteristic they were talking about. I wouldn't have expected her to do that, but agree that it's important to learn when to keep looking versus when to stop looking. It's also not useful to force students to try to find something that isn't there.
I also helped by cutting fabric into smaller pieces that would be more managable for the students.
The 5th & 6th graders were doing a painting project. It's a step-by-step project in which they will ultimately find a quote about kindness and decoratively place that quote over a color gradient. Today they were making the gradient. Right now I'm taking a watercoloring class at MCAD, and we just barely learned how to made gradients, so I was surprised to have the opportunity to help teach something I just barely learned. I watched the students do this, but most of them caught on quickly and did not need a lot of extra help. Regardless, the paintings ended up coming out looking different. Some of them, the color shift was smooth, while others looked striped. Each way to do it presents a pleasing quality that is unique to its creator, and will make the projects look more interesting and diverse once they are all finished.