Are You Smarter Than A 2nd Grader?

What would you have done? You're walking down a hotel corridor and somebody else is having her picture taken with a 9-foot-tall hot-pink walking paint spatter. I thought so. This is me with Blobby at the Missouri Art Education Association conference. Last weekend I was in Kansas City to do their keynote address and present some seminars. I got to sit in on a few seminars, too, and would like to have taken some that were scheduled at times I was teaching. Even reading their descriptions was inspirational. So was walking through a corridor lined with student artwork teachers brought to display.

In the vendor area, I met the folks from the world's largest online student art museum, Artsonia. This is a free-to-join web site where K-12 teachers publish their students' artwork. Students can earn awards and honors. Family and friends can not only view the work, but also join an artist's fan club and purchase things like T-shirts, tote bags, canvases and tiles imprinted with that artwork. And when they make purchases, 15% of the revenue goes back to the school's art program. There are no banner ads on Artsonia, and there are security measures in place to ensure that it remains a safe, educational environment.

The folks at Artsonia gave me a $35 gift certificate for Blick Art Materials that I'd like to pass along to a teacher. The rest of you, please stay tuned for just a moment while I do this:

Just For Art Teachers

The $35 Blick gift certificate contains a promo code you'll have to use during your Artsonia account registration. So check out the site, but before you register come here, click Comments, and leave the name of your school, your school's location, and the grade levels you teach. On Tuesday, March 16, I'll do a drawing for the gift certificate, post the winner in the comments section here, and have you email me for the promo code. The certificate is valid only for U.S. public and private schools (sorry, no art camps), and only schools that have not published artwork on Artsonia are eligible. There's no obligation to join Artsonia, but to receive the $35 Blick gift certificate you must submit at least 25 students' artwork by June 30, 2010. 

If you're not an art teacher, you can email this offer to an art teacher by clicking the mail icon at the bottom of the post.

 

Better Than Free Materials

Now I have an offer for all of you. There's no promo code for this, and nothing you have to sign up for. 

But for free and in the privacy of your own home, you could get a little of the inspiration that's guiding the work of the artists who are showing on Artsonia. Here's how.

1. Browse. Go to Artsonia and browse some of the art exhibits.
2. Read. Read the teacher's comments "About This Exhibit." For example, Mrs. Youngman at Willow River Elementary in Hudson, Wisconsin posted this about Matisse's Goldfish:  Second graders started the year looking at art by Henri Matisse. They learned that when Matisse got older and could no longer get out of bed to create art he got creative! He not only taped a paintbrush to a stick and painted on a paper taped to the wall, but he also invented collage! By cutting shapes and gluing them to another piece of paper he was able to create many masterpieces! We looked at his painting, Goldfish and noticed his use of bright colors, patterns, and outlines. Students then learned how to make a 3D room with only three lines. The walls and floor were painted, and then they created a unique fishbowl, paper table, and tissue paper plants. Finally, all of it was collaged together to create our final masterpieces.
3. Do. Gather materials and challenge yourself to do a project inspired by the work you see on Artsonia.
4. Repeat.

You'll find hundreds of exciting prompts on Artsonia that can spark ideas for your fiber art. Isn't it great to know you don't have to be smarter than a 2nd grader to play and learn along?