End of an Opportunity

This is National Arts in Education Week!  I'm so happy to get to put up a showcase at school that advocates for the arts in my school.  Bulletin boards and showcases have been a great way to show off what my students do.

Unfortunately, that venue is going to have to go away for me this year.

I first started doing all of the bulletin boards and showcases when I lived down south.  I worked with  teachers who were willing to absorb all my before and after school duties, if I did all the displays.  At my current school, I volunteered to do all the displays about 5 or 6 years ago.  There was no trade.  I just took the work off the hands of my coworkers, and took it upon myself.  I have done two showcases and three bulletin boards, and have been happy to do it. 

Sadly, because my schedule is packed tight, I no longer have extra time to give.  Eleven weeks of the year, I am up to the very maximum teaching time that my state will allow.  And with increased duties and less planning time, I just don't have the time to give.  It makes me sad to let this go.  I have enjoyed it and I think it is good for showcasing art.  It also makes me sad to think that whoever will now take on these boards, will likely see them as a burden.  It feels like a lose/lose situation.

Jewelry as Advocacy - Youth Art Month

Back in the early 90's, a big trend for my art teacher friends was to create laminated art pins.  We used these as a vehicle for advocacy.  During Youth Art Month we would give them out to coworkers, administrators, and folks interested in the arts along with a message about supporting art in education.

To create the pins we used the thumbnail size images of famous art works from the vendor catalogs and mounted them on railroad board or mat board.  We would either run them through the laminating machine or paint modge podge on them.  Lastly, we would glue pin backs on them.

At some point, I saw a jazzed up version of those in an art gallery gift shop, and then I started creating my own that way.  These are too time consuming to make en masse, but I enjoy wearing them from time to time.

Here are some that have been hanging around for years, but that just got the finishing touch.  I've added beads and then coated them with resin.