While student teaching, my mentor teacher mentioned to me that she had expressed interest to Artworks to obtain a pig and a corporate sponsor. I told her that I would be interested in helping with the entire process if she needed me to. It began with creating a concept to tie into the World Choir Games which will be in Cincinnati July 4-14. Our theme is "This Little Piggy Went Around the World." The pig sculpture chosen is standing with wings! What elementary kid imagines a five foot pig sculpture without wings?! We are including areas of interest that relate to world cultures, world art, music, theater, creating writing including The Sydney Opera House, Shakespeare Global Theater, The Louvre and The Guggenheim Museum to name a few. We have met with the sponsor, Artworks and today I met with the artist who will be adding the wings to our pig! Here are some photos of the stage that our pig is in now! Looking forward to getting it in two weeks to bring home to paint a base coat on and draw on the images on before taking it into the school for the students to work on. With over 400 students that will be adding brushstrokes to the pig, we have a lot of work cut out for us!

Arty On!

The second graders are going hog wild over their pig project! After beginning lessons with the kindergarten and 1st graders, it was evident by the whispers in the room that the 2nd graders were also fans of Olivia the pig, so I gave them what they wanted. The first day began with Olivia Meets Olivia. I asked the students if, like Olivia, they have ever met another student with their name and how they thought they could still be an individual. This was a surprising discussion as students began to relate the experience to their new project and expanded to talk about their pigs will all begin similar but their choices and behaviors are what will make them all look different. Students began with a newspaper roll for their pig body. Reviewing paper mache processes with them was a great starting point as we used the paper mache paste to make our tissue paper stick to the newspaper. The second day was spent painting four bottle caps pink for the legs and one for the snout. After this was completed (and drying) students chose google eyes that matched, two foam shapes for ears (shapes included triangles, circles, ovals and hearts), and a curly pipecleaner tail! The legs and snout were glued on at the end of the class. The third day was spent starting with reading Olivia and the Rain Dance and students finished their flying pigs by... making them fly! They added feathers for wings and wait for them to be hung from the ceiling. The remainder of the class was spent by having students draw their pig flying!

Arty On!

First grade began their pigs-piration this week for the Big Pig Gig! The students also heard Olivia Meets Olivia the first day, as I felt this book was a great starting point for them as well. The theme of the pig sculpture will be "This Little Piggy Went Around the World" so what better way to job their art minds than to have them paint pigs and create a scene showing where their pig is! The first grade students saw how simple circles, triangles, ovals and rectangles can form a pig and they drew these with a Sharpie on their paper and painted them various shades of pink. The second day, the students heard Olivia and the Rain Dance and began to think about what they would want their pig to do, where it would be and who or what would be in their artwork. Their background is created of cut paper and all is placed on a beautiful piece of scrapbook paper which contains color, shape, line and patterns to add to the collage/mixed media assignment! All of the pigs turned out wonderful and the students added oil pastel details to their pigs and a pipecleaner curly tail!

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Gearing up for the Big Pig Gig, the kindergarten students were the first to begin their pig unit! I read them the book Olivia Meets Olivia which is about Olivia the main character meeting a new student named Olivia. This book focuses on the identity and individuality of the students. The kindergartens were almost all familiar with Olivia so this was an appropriate book to read. The students used warm colored sheets of construction paper and simple shapes we discussed to create their Olivia pigs. The second day, the students heard a second Olivia book, Olivia and the Rain Dance! I felt this was appropriate since March is a rainy month! This book is shorter too which was nice since today was more labor intense. The students first found buttons that match and used them for eyes. Next, they cut out a small circle of construction paper and glued it on the face for the nose (and used a Sharpie to make two small circles for the snout). Third, the students cut a pipe cleaner smile. After this, they painted white stripes on the arms, legs and ears of their pigs. The third day, the pigs were glued to teal paper and the students painted white stripes as a border to frame their Olivia pig! They all began with the same instructions and demonstration but all ended up looking so unique which was exciting.

Arty On!