4/2020
Article published in the April 2020 issue of SchoolArts magazine!
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6/2019
8th-Grade Assemblage Portraits
Every year I implement a self-portrait unit of study, with my 8th-grade students.
This particular year was unique in that it was the first time we attempted to fit a year-long, eight-grade Art course into an already busy 8th-grade schedule. Up until this point (for the past 16 years), 7th-grade students could elect to take two, 8th-grade semester courses they wanted to pursue during their final year in the middle school. The courses they could choose from included Art, Music, Design & Woodworking, Journalism, Green-Car Design, and Technology.
To understand this better, it should be noted that all 6th and 7th-grade students are required to take a quarter of Art.; which breaks down to roughly 40 meetings, everyday for 40-minutes. Conversely, 8th-grade students can elect to take a semester of Art, where their meeting times are reduced to 4-times in a 10-day cycle for a semester; essentially 32-meeting times a year in 8th-grade verses 40-meeting times in 6th and 7th-grade. My encouragement for a year-long 8th-grade Art course was simple; how do we justify reducing the amount of time a student spends in the Art room from 6th and 7th-grade, to 8th-grade; particularly when they are electing to pursue the subject.
This is not to say that a needed change in the schedule was overlooked by the school; for years, we have been trying to fine-tune our middle school schedule. And, from my conversations with colleagues who teach middle school Art, this a dilemma faced by many schools; i.e. - how much time should be allotted to the Arts?
With that said, I was more than happy to see a shift in a direction that would afford me the opportunity to have an invested group of Art students for entire year. This increase in time allowed me to consider lessons that were more in-depth and spread-out over longer periods of time.
I chose a unit that I had implemented in the past (10+ years ago)., but had little success with due to the time limitations. It was a unit derived from a workshop I attended during one of my professional development days when I was working in the Public School System. My Art supervisor, Barry Shauck*, had arranged for local artist Schroeder Cherry to come and speak to all of the county's art teachers about his work. Specifically, Cherry spoke about his assemblage portraits.
*I would be remiss if I did not recognize the influence Barry Shauck had on me during my seven years working in the public school system. Barry recognized, and emphasized the importance of continuing one's education. He went to great lengths to make sure every experience outside the classroom was meaningful. The themes he developed for county art shows, and the resources he provided during our professional development days continue to be a reference point for me to this day...some 17 years later.
8th-Grade Assemblage Portraits
Every year I implement a self-portrait unit of study, with my 8th-grade students.
This particular year was unique in that it was the first time we attempted to fit a year-long, eight-grade Art course into an already busy 8th-grade schedule. Up until this point (for the past 16 years), 7th-grade students could elect to take two, 8th-grade semester courses they wanted to pursue during their final year in the middle school. The courses they could choose from included Art, Music, Design & Woodworking, Journalism, Green-Car Design, and Technology.
To understand this better, it should be noted that all 6th and 7th-grade students are required to take a quarter of Art.; which breaks down to roughly 40 meetings, everyday for 40-minutes. Conversely, 8th-grade students can elect to take a semester of Art, where their meeting times are reduced to 4-times in a 10-day cycle for a semester; essentially 32-meeting times a year in 8th-grade verses 40-meeting times in 6th and 7th-grade. My encouragement for a year-long 8th-grade Art course was simple; how do we justify reducing the amount of time a student spends in the Art room from 6th and 7th-grade, to 8th-grade; particularly when they are electing to pursue the subject.
This is not to say that a needed change in the schedule was overlooked by the school; for years, we have been trying to fine-tune our middle school schedule. And, from my conversations with colleagues who teach middle school Art, this a dilemma faced by many schools; i.e. - how much time should be allotted to the Arts?
With that said, I was more than happy to see a shift in a direction that would afford me the opportunity to have an invested group of Art students for entire year. This increase in time allowed me to consider lessons that were more in-depth and spread-out over longer periods of time.
I chose a unit that I had implemented in the past (10+ years ago)., but had little success with due to the time limitations. It was a unit derived from a workshop I attended during one of my professional development days when I was working in the Public School System. My Art supervisor, Barry Shauck*, had arranged for local artist Schroeder Cherry to come and speak to all of the county's art teachers about his work. Specifically, Cherry spoke about his assemblage portraits.
*I would be remiss if I did not recognize the influence Barry Shauck had on me during my seven years working in the public school system. Barry recognized, and emphasized the importance of continuing one's education. He went to great lengths to make sure every experience outside the classroom was meaningful. The themes he developed for county art shows, and the resources he provided during our professional development days continue to be a reference point for me to this day...some 17 years later.
What I particularly liked about this project was its accessibility to younger kids. The fundamentals of self-portraiture are there...that's a given. We can teach our students about the proportions of the human face, and we can guide them through the process of drawing and painting their portrait; that's what we do as art teachers. But, Schroeder Cherry's assemblage portraits also provide opportunities to talk to students about symbolism and conceptualism. This added layer to a unit of study on portraiture allows students to convey/communicate things about themselves and others that they may not otherwise reveal; something that is not typically achieved through a standard self-portrait lesson.
For example, during this project I had a students reveal to me - and not immediately noticeable within their work - things like:
If these components were not immediately recognizable through the student's work, they were revealed to me through either their artist statement, or the 2 min. video they were required to submit at the conclusion of the project.
Note - In an effort to protect a student's personal information the videos included on this page are not the ones submitted to me by the students for a grade. The videos included here were edited by me, with the addition of my own photos and videos that I captured throughout the process..
For example, during this project I had a students reveal to me - and not immediately noticeable within their work - things like:
- insecurities about one's socioeconomic status
- struggles with color-blindness; something I am embarrassed to note here for not recognizing when I had the student as a 6th &7th grader. :)
- the inclusion of symbolic artifacts; an item that was given to the student before their parent passed away
- references to a parent's health struggles
If these components were not immediately recognizable through the student's work, they were revealed to me through either their artist statement, or the 2 min. video they were required to submit at the conclusion of the project.
Note - In an effort to protect a student's personal information the videos included on this page are not the ones submitted to me by the students for a grade. The videos included here were edited by me, with the addition of my own photos and videos that I captured throughout the process..
Generating ideas...
After introducing the students to the work of Schroeder Cherry; analyzing his work and discussing the intended symbolism within his work, I charged the students with a series of homework assignments:
After introducing the students to the work of Schroeder Cherry; analyzing his work and discussing the intended symbolism within his work, I charged the students with a series of homework assignments:
- Find a portrait photograph to use for this project; it can be a self-portrait or someone close to you in your family. If you do not have printing capabilities at home you may send it to me via e-mail. You should crop the photo so it is just the face.
- In your sketchbook, write down at least 4 sentences explaining why you chose the person for this project. If it is YOU, explain what you hope to convey about yourself.
- Bring in at least 5 items that you find interesting to include in your box.
- Write down what those objects are in your sketchbook and the possible symbolism associated with those objects.
- Record in your sketchbook 3 lines from a movie, song or poem that you find meaningful.
Assembling the boxes...
I spent some of my allotted art budget at Lowes's purchasing plywood and 1"x4"'s. And, as much as I had estimated the measurements of the wood needed for each student, inevitably I underestimated. One rule of thumb I try to live by, but often overlook, is; measure twice, cut once. In the end, the wood per student equaled:
I spent some of my allotted art budget at Lowes's purchasing plywood and 1"x4"'s. And, as much as I had estimated the measurements of the wood needed for each student, inevitably I underestimated. One rule of thumb I try to live by, but often overlook, is; measure twice, cut once. In the end, the wood per student equaled:
- 2 pieces of plywood, approx. 11”x14” (portrait and box backing)
- 2 -1"x3" boards at14” and 9.5” (side borders)
I do not have hammers for all my students. So, at least two class periods were dedicated to mapping out their ideas in their sketchbook while a few students at a time worked in rotation to assemble their boxes; helping each other in the process. The students applied a thin layer of wood glue to the edge of the wood boards before adding the plywood backing. Nails were also added in each corner through the plywood for added support.
I do not have hammers for all my students. So, at least two class periods were dedicated to mapping out their ideas in their sketchbook while a few students at a time worked in rotation to assemble their boxes; helping each other in the process. The students applied a thin layer of wood glue to the edge of the wood boards before adding the plywood backing. Nails were also added in each corner through the plywood for added support.
After the boxes were assembled, several class periods were dedicated to discussing the fundamentals of portraiture; facial proportions, dark and light areas, etc. The students spent at least two periods drawing their own portraits on paper. From here we moved into sketching out the faces on plywood, and blocking in areas of color, large to small using acrylic paint. Some time was also spent learning how to mix paint to achieve a desired skin tone.
The challenge with this part of the project was getting the students to NOT focus on details early in the process. In my experience, this is a generic hurdle for middle school-aged students. There tends to be this need for immediate gratification when drawing or painting, and focusing on details earlier in the process gives the student a sense of accomplishment, particularly when they are are already insecure with their abilities...at this age. The downside of course, is when a student focuses on details early in the process of a drawing or painting they tend to be counterproductive with developing the whole composition.
The challenge with this part of the project was getting the students to NOT focus on details early in the process. In my experience, this is a generic hurdle for middle school-aged students. There tends to be this need for immediate gratification when drawing or painting, and focusing on details earlier in the process gives the student a sense of accomplishment, particularly when they are are already insecure with their abilities...at this age. The downside of course, is when a student focuses on details early in the process of a drawing or painting they tend to be counterproductive with developing the whole composition.
Once the portraits were complete it was time for the students to take all of the items they had brought in from my previous prompts and consider how they might be arranged and incorporated into their box. I did not want them to randomly glue/attach the items to the box and call it "finished". To avoid this common middle school behavior, I had them consider the symbolism of an object, and how the meaning of that object might change if it were altered.
For example, an apple by itself has common associations with health, education, or religion. However, if one were to alter the image of an apple through its surroundings, or the apple itself, one could then alter the implied symbolism of the apple.
While all of the students were able to grasp this concept, putting it into action with their own work took some gentle nudging. This is the point in the unit when an art teacher praises those few brave souls willing to jump in head-first. When the other students see what is possible by watching their peers, the momentum builds, and everyone is excited again!
In all, the students spent about 20 class periods working on this unit. My best guesstimate is about 12 hours total; this does not, however, account for the set-up and break-down of each lesson. If we had longer than 40 minute periods, we would have greatly reduced the length of this unit.
To grade this project, I had the students submit to me an artist statement, a rubric, and a 2-minute video discussing their work. For the video, they were not allowed to simply read their artist statement; instead, it needed to be a free-form explanation about their work.
In all, the students spent about 20 class periods working on this unit. My best guesstimate is about 12 hours total; this does not, however, account for the set-up and break-down of each lesson. If we had longer than 40 minute periods, we would have greatly reduced the length of this unit.
To grade this project, I had the students submit to me an artist statement, a rubric, and a 2-minute video discussing their work. For the video, they were not allowed to simply read their artist statement; instead, it needed to be a free-form explanation about their work.
Unique from typical portrait lessons, this project provided opportunities for my students to share their conceptual interpretations of societal issues, as well as, elaborate interpretations of themselves, or those close to them. From words of self-affirmation of an unsure student, to a reflection of a student who is color blind, this 8th-grade class used this project to share intimate pieces of themselves...and for that, I am grateful.
Click on the images below to enlarge. |
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