MAD/YANY PARTNERSHIP

January 29th, 2010 at 02:22pm clewis

ED: Teaching artist Rachel Miller worked on a collaborative project between Young Audiences New York (YANY) and MAD where students were introduced to cut-paper art through the exhibition ‘Slash.’ You can come and see the student work in the Seth and Sarah Glickenhaus Education Center on the 6th floor of MAD.

When I saw how well the students could draw, as well as seeing how excited the teachers and students were when they viewed Dezso’s and Coron’s work [from Slash], the decision to create a project based around the creation of tunnel books came naturally to me.  From this, I decided to teach them more about composition, and how to create 3D drawings using the principles of foreground, middle ground, and background. Using Coron’s “Heavens and Hells” as a springboard to inspire the content of their work, students discussed and drew upon their own perceptions of their “Heavens” and “Hells” within their local and/ or global communities for their individual projects.  By observing how they work, engaging them to discuss important issues and viewpoints, talking with the school teachers about what their students are learning in school, and staying open and following intuition, the project emerged into a creative and organic process that both the 3rd and 4th grade class really began to connect and engage with.  Witnessing the  sense of discovery, growth, and accomplishment in both their process and final artwork was truly a magical and moving experience for us all. I feel grateful to have had the opportunity to have worked with them, and to have had the involvement and great support of their teachers.

Rachel Miller, Artist/Educator

Entry Filed under: teachers' lounge