Haring in The House!

Keith Haring 

The kindergarten cap program just finished studying mural artist Keith Haring and made these large scale paintings in response to his work.  First, we learned how when Haring was younger, he loved to watch his dad draw cartoons.  Once he got older, he moved to New York City to study art, and started showing up in subway stations drawing cartoon like characters on the empty advertisement black boards.   

Keith Haring and his artwork in a NYC subway. 

We discussed why someone would want to make art outside or in public areas versus for a Museum.  Students concluded that it cost money to go to a Museum and art that was public could be   enjoyed by EVERYONE, rich or poor.  Before starting our own public mural, we examined a few paintings by Haring and tried to pose our bodies in similar positions showing both emotion and movement, without using our faces.  Finally, we took turns tracing our silhouettes and painted the inside with bright colors to pay homage to Keith Haring, who often worked collaboratively with schools and children to create public art.  I got this great idea as well as many others from a colleagues who has a wonderful art blog definitely worth checking out In The Studio.  

            Students had a blast trying to recreate a Keith Haring painting with their bodies.

Students had fun tracing their bodies in poses that showed movement or emotion.

Mural 1 in Cafeteria.

Mural 2 in Main Hallway.

Striker all in Caps!

 

We started off our unit on recycling, by reading the book Where Does All the Garbage Go, by Melvin Berger and discussed how even when we recycle plastic bottles, the caps are made of a different type of material that can not be  melted down.  Next, we examined a variety of artists that use recycled materials to make art.  We looked at Robert Bradford’s animal sculptures made from old toys, Japanese artist Sayaka Ganz, who uses thrown away kitchen utensils to make large scale horses and birds, and husband and wife duo Richard Lang and Judith Selby Lang, who collected objects off the beaches of North Carolina to make their recycled art. 

To start our own recycled art, we defined a mural as a large type of artwork that is displayed typically on a wall or ceiling for many people to see.  We had the ENTIRE school help collect caps for months and once we had MORE than enough, we layered the caps on top of our furry friend Striker with the bucket filler symbol in his mouth, to  honor our wonderful school and the values here at Woods Road.  In addition to the kindergarteners contributing to the creation of this mural, we also had several fourth grade friends help out with the more difficult spots.  

Sorting caps by color.

Matching caps by color and gluing.

Before caps...

All finished!

 Artists Referenced

Robert Bradford, Toys on Wood

Close up  of Robert Bradford Sculpture

Jane Perkins, Recycled Goods

Richard Lang & Judith Selby Lang, Recycled Goods

Sayaka Ganz, Kitchen Utensils