North Canton Middle School 8th Graders Make Progress On Bottle Tree

A little bit behind...but... original article can be found on North Canton Patch.

 

North Canton Middle School eighth grade art students are in the process of painting the recycled bottles that will eventually adorn a bottle tree that will be located in the courtyard. They have been working hard at creating a sculpture that will inform our community of the impact humans have on the environment.

After we cleaned, prepped, primed and divvied out 50 glass bottles, students began production. They were encouraged to focus on an environmental issue that they felt most passionate about. They brainstormed ideas in their sketchbook and transferred their final idea onto a bottle. These bottles were donated by community members and Gervasi Vineyard & Italian Bistro and we have been excited to see a second life transform out of these everyday objects as they are upcycled into art.

During this past week, they have spent time drawing and painting their designs. These illustrations have ranged in topics from pollution, littering, recycling and deforestation, among others. They are totally focused on the project at hand and are creating some really amazing works of art with a very important message.

It has been exciting for me because I overhear discussion about these environmental topics as students work independently. I’ve noticed things like the recycling bin filling up faster than normal, water being turned off when it’s not in use and concern for some of the materials we occasionally use in the art room like the aerosol cans.

And students are eager to display their work for others to see! (And trust me, this is huge! I so often hear “Please Mrs. Villers, do NOT hang this one up.)

They keep asking me, “When will this be put outside? Do we even have a tree yet?”

And I keep telling them, “I’m working on it.”

Because while I was able to acquire enough rebar through donation from local business, Knoch Corporation, I have yet to find anyone who has the materials, skills and time to tack weld the tree together.

We are hoping that still someone might be able to donate their time to do this. Or, at the very least, I will have to teach myself a new skill!

an in progress look at our bottle tree

Eighth Graders on Their Way to Making a Green Sculpture

North Canton Middle School art classes have been busy learning about how artists explore issues of environmental concern. While analyzing artists such as Andy Goldworthy, El Anatsui and local artist PR Miller, they have gained an understanding of contemporary art practices and the significance in the choice of materials when conveying messages and addressing issues.

Students worked in small groups and came up with ideas for a sculpture that would inform our community of an environmental issue they felt passionate about. There were so many great concepts that dealt with issues such as pollution, deforestation, destruction of wildlife habitats and recycling. Each group spent time proposing their idea to Mrs. Marjorie McDougal, NCMS principal, with the intent of creating one of the sculptures. Mrs. McDougal narrowed it down to three ideas and then the classes voted to choose one.

The chosen project is a bottle tree made from recycled glass bottles with either a recycled wood or metal base. Their message they hope to send to the community is to reduce, reuse, recycle! Students will each paint one bottle with a message about the Earth and good environmental practices. These bottles will then be displayed by being placed on “branches” of a structure formed to look like a large tree or flower.

After deciding on this project, we learned a little bit about the history of the bottle tree and learned that there is a lot of folklore behind this sculpture. Everyone is familiar with the idea of genies living in bottles. Well, it turns out that this superstition dates back thousands of years and spans across many cultures. Arabian, African and many Europeans like the Irish and Germans, all had some form of belief that bad spirits could be trapped in glass and be evaporated by the morning sun, protecting those who placed bottles in lawns and windows.

Of course our project, instead of believing in the superstition of protection from bad spirits, perhaps ours could be used to eliminate unhealthy Earth practices!

As we begin collecting recycled bottles and prepping them to paint, I realize we are so lucky to have the support of our community while on this endeavor. However, as much as I would love to have students working with metal or wood to create the base, I’m afraid safety and time constraints will not allow my eighth graders to pick up power tools and welding materials.We are hoping that the base structure will be contributed by other local businesses or community members in the form of materials and skills.

It has been so nice to see my class has been working along Shelley Cobb of Let’s Care North Cantonand repurposing wine bottles from community parents and local winery Gervasi Vineyards. North Canton Patch and the North Canton Chamber of Commerce have been gracious and lending a hand as well.

Original article can be found on North Canton Patch.

Art Department Professional Growth Goes Off Without A Hitch

Today I lead NCCS Art Department in exploring digital practices in the art classroom. It started with a general overview of some of the free photo-editing programs Google has to offer such as Aviary and then went into ways to share, connect, and collaborate with students/parents/professionals in the community and around the globe.

As I got myself prepared, setting up the blog and Twitter account, I became really excited for the possibilities for next school year. I really hope I can maintain these different outlets to connect local businesses, artists, and community members to my classroom.

My idea for the 2011-2012 school year? Ideally, I would love to collaborate with NCMS Science Department, Stark Parks, and a few local businesses to create a piece of public art that functions as a bird/animal habitat, perhaps located on the Hoover Park Connector Trail?

Ideas are flowing!