Artist: Nick Cave. This studio which incorporated finger puppets, is related to the big idea (celebrations) because this studio is about celebrating an idea or feature that is connected to our identity. Nick Cave's art is about celebrating a culture, item, object or idea and that is how this studio relates For this studio, I chose something I relate with and am definitely connected to which is the St. Louis Cardinals. This has had a huge impact on my identity because I grew up going to Busch Stadium with my friends and family. For the "head" of the puppet I used magic play dough and simply made the head look like a baseball. Even though this puppet does not have an actual "head or face" the baseball represents that so people will know that the Cardinals are a baseball team. I think connect the baseball to a popsicle stick to represent the "body" of the puppet and over it, I made a little, tiny Cardinals jersey. It kind of represents a bobble head without an actual face. To include this idea in the classroom, the kids could make their own puppets and then do a "show and tell" or make a play out of what they created. They would also be responsible for making the script of the play, so this would also integrate literacy. Each child could pair up with another kid in the class and together they can make their own puppet and provide the dialogue for their "character".
Artist: Norman Rockwell. This artist is famous for his realistic paintings and drawings. He focused on social issue problems and wanted to give America the true details of what was occurring at the time. He revealed important issues and messages through his artwork. Not only does this studio relate to celebrations (big idea) it also relates to relationships and identity because his artwork also portrays these ideas. This studio relates to the main idea because celebrates certain events, issues, or what happens in life through the realism of Norman's artwork. I picked a magazine that was about the past and present but also is a celebration. For this, I decided to focus on an event which is graduation. I realize that not everyone graduates high school, college, etc. but they do know what it is like to pass a new grade in elementary school so that is a graduation. I picked an upper level graduation, and even though when you graduate, you remember it forever because it is significant to your life which is why the magazine is called Life. I think this would be harder to do with elementary kids because they haven't really experienced too much yet, but this could be incorporated with lessons they have learned in school, their family, or community and use pictures to show that and explain their event or issue.
Artist: Miriam Schapiro. This studio reflected the ideas of Miriam Schapiro who is an artist that involves women's rights and the importance of women in history, culture, and society into her artwork. Since this studio was artist's choice, I decided to keep with the big idea (celebration) and celebrate an inspirational woman in my life, my mother. I used water colors and water colored pencils for this artwork because I thought this would be a nice compliment. The background is painted yellow because yellow is a bright and happy color and that reminds me of my mother. The middle has a black and white picture of my mom and I because I want it to be noted that I am celebrating her. That is a red frame that outlines the picture because red is my mother's favorite color. I then used water colored pencils and drew small pictures surround the border of the picture. These drawings represent what I have in common with my mother and why I think she is inspirational. I could use this in my classroom by having the kids write about a "mom" figure or someone who they look up (maybe not female) and draw a picture book of that person. In the book the kids can describe their favorite moments with this person or what they like to do together. We can then share as a class and have a gallery walk of everyone's book.