Let's go back in time... Environmental Art!

Wow, I am amazed at how quickly the summer has gone by. I know, every teacher says the same thing, every summer, but I really felt it this time! I think it was because for the first time in my 27 years, I took the summer off! I did not get a summer job (well, other than an awesome week long musical theatre camp) It was glorious! I can not believe that I didn't take advantage of this summers off business earlier! I will not make that mistake again!

Not only has the summer flown by, but the time since my last post has flown by as well. Turns out, I am not the greatest at keeping up to date with blogging. I am going to work on that. I would like to get caught up with everything I have missed since my last post, and I will, but I am having technological difficulties with my camera... So, until I can get that figured out, I am going to go back in time, and over the next few posts, I am going to reminisce over some things that happened before my blogging days! To begin, I thought I would show one of my favorite activities that I have done with my art students.

This project was completed at the beginning last year, late September, early October, with my Grade 6 and 7 art students. This is a key time of the year for this project, as it was Environmental Art. The students were asked to go outside, within a specific area, and create art out of whatever they find on the ground.

We began this lesson looking at the work on Andy Goldsworthy. The image to the right shows one of his pieces sculpted completely out of snow, using only a stick! We discussed the aesthetics of his work, as well as the philosophy behind his work. The students absolutely loved it, and found it extremely interesting that he would complete his artwork entirely out of nature, take a picture, and then leave it!


We then went over a few rules for their own environmental artwork. They were to stay in the specified area. They could work by themselves, in partners, or in groups of 3. Finally, they could use anything that they found on the ground, but they could not take something that was alive, such as plants, leaves still on trees, flowers, etc. This is why fall was a perfect time to do this project, as there were lots of leaves that had fallen from the trees, in a variety of colors, giving them a broader range of materials to choose from.


Then I let them loose! They had a little under an hour to complete their work. I took pictures along the way, and took a finished picture at the end, one just of their artwork, and another of them with their artwork. Here are a few examples of what they created!

 The students had an absolute blast with this project. Not only was it nice to spend a class outside of the classroom, but they found it inspirational to be able to work with a different media, especially since it was all natural. I will definitely do this project again this year once the leaves start falling!

And of course, be sure to make some time to play in the leaves! :)