Inspired Fence

Art Teacher: Jessica Framme3rd and 4th Grades

Miles J. Jones Elementary School

Welcome Back to School!!

I want to get to know each of you. I want you to get to know

your classmates. What inspires each of you? How do you know what to draw, paint,

sculpt, or photograph?

Lesson 1: Inspired Hands

Inspiration

– From where do your ideas for art come?– How do you decide what to draw a picture of?– Where do artists get their ideas?

What is Inspiration?

• A Burst of Creativity

– What is creativity?– What does it mean to

be creative?

• Inspiration, 1898 by William-Adolphe Bouguereau

• What is the woman in this picture doing?

Faith Ringold, Tar Beachfrom Woman on a Bridge Series, 1988

This painting shows Faith Ringold’s Inspirations

• What do you know about this painting?• What do you see?• Who is the little girl in the picture?• Who are those people at the table? What are

they doing?• What are they eating?

She has painted what she knows – her memories, her experiences, her

influences

Further explanation…

• ANYTHING that you have seen, done, experienced, things you love and hate,

these all INSPIRE your artwork

This is what you will draw upon throughout the year in art class,

Things That Inspire You

Lesson 2: Inspired Hands

We are inspired in our heads, and we express this with our hands in art class

Step One: Trace your hand all the way to your

elbow

Step Two: Students draw pictures or symbols on their hand that represent

their inspirations

• Students cut out their hand and write their name on the back of it

Then……….

It’s TEACHER TIME!

(or teacher helper)

Step Three:

Teacher Time

Teacher has mural wall primed, painted and ready to go.

This is the Art Office with the Miles J. Jones Elementary ‘Vine of Kindness’

Begin to trace each individual hand on wall, make a “key” listing each hand and the students name to which that hand belongs

Place hands in form of a fence

3rd grade hands on left wall, 4th grade hands on right wall.

Connect the hands as a fence would be connected

Art Club members could do this for you

We had enough students to complete 2 rows of fencing

Begin coloring hands with multi-cultural colored paint

Step Four:

• Students paste their hands down to 8 ½” x 14” piece of construction paper.

Now, Begin Fence Lesson…

Lesson Three: Inspired Fence

• What is a fence? Why are they made and what purpose do they serve? What are they made of?

They protect, they enclose, and they keep things safe and secure. Fences are made of many parts.

How do you think Miles Jones Elementary is like a fence?

This school is made out of many parts, many individuals. Just like a fence is made out of individual fence posts, Miles Jones is made of many individual and unique people.

Mali

• 3rd grade looks at fences from Mali

• Why are they made of these materials?

• What would they feel like?

• Have you seen fences like these around your home? In your community?

Fences in Mali

Colonial Williamsburg

• 4th Grade looks at fences from Colonial Williamsburg.

• Why did the colonists need to build fences?

• From what materials were these fences made?

• What would these fences feel like?

Fences in Colonial Williamsburg

Moving on to Step 5…

3rd grade students draw in their fences with oil pastels, paying attention to form and shape of

desired fence

Texture and Collage

• 4th grade students make collage fences that include their hands.

-encouraged to think about texture and form

-foreground and background by use of overlap

Day Time

• 3rd graders will finish off piece by drawing things they would see outside around a fence during the day

(Their side of the mural is light purple – day)

• 4th graders finish off their piece with things they would see around a fence at night.

(dark purple wall – night)

Night Time

Collage Fences at Night

4th Grade

Lesson Four: Mural Lesson

• What is a mural?

• What is the purpose of a mural?

• Murals are made for public view

• Murals are meant to express ideas to a large number of people

What inspires artists to create murals?

Diego Rivera Mural, Monumental Stairway in Mexico’s National Palace

Inspired Fence Mural• This mural will be on display to the public to

serve as a reminder that each person is a part of a whole, a part of a community, and that each student at Miles Jones is a unique individual that contributes to a safe learning environment.

• This mural will INSPIRE others to contribute to their community in same manner that you contribute to Miles Jones.

Break up Students

• Into groups of 3• each group has 10

minutes to transfer their Inspirational Hands onto the permanent wall mural

• Lesson proceeds as groups take turns in the hallway

• Each group will research a mural and give mini presentation to the class that answers the following questions about their assigned mural…

- artist’s name- date piece completed- inspiration behind the mural (what

purpose does it serve? What was the artist trying to communicate?)

-How did the artist render his idea?-Does the group enjoy the piece, why or

why not?

Group Activity

List of mural artists students may research

• Diego Rivera

• Jose Orozco

• Frank Stella

• Wyland

• Montenegro

• Monet

• Richard Haas

• Delgado

• Thomas Benton

Lesson Five Class Critique and Exhibition

Two Separate Exhibitions

• The students now have two art pieces, complete, an individual piece and a group piece.

• As a class, the students will discuss the differences of the impact that each exhibition might have on a viewer.

Discussion Questions

– How does the mural affect the viewer differently than the independent collage?

– What are you trying to INSPIRE people to do through this mural? What is the mural’s message?

– Is the mural successful in communicating that message? Why or why not?

– How does looking at this mural make you feel?– How does the independent hand exhibition make you

feel? – Why are these feelings different?– Which exhibition is stronger, has more of an impact

on a viewer?

Questions Continued…

• How did working together in groups instead of independently make you feel?

• Is the school more beautiful now that you have painted this mural? Why?

• If you could do another mural, what would be some things you might want to communicate?

• Where, either in school or in the community, would a mural go nicely? What is a public space that would be improved by having a mural?

Special Thanks to

Miles J. Jones Elementary School and Dr. David Burton

For a copy of this Unit Plan, you may email me at jframme@yahoo.com