Connecting with Arts and Education

Lesson 2: Infectious State

3/18/2020

For Middle Schoolers and Up

Contagion
Coronavirus
Infectious
Pandemic

Materials

Pencils (regular or sketch pencils)
Some color pencils or crayons
Eraser
Sketch paper or printing paper ( Paper size: at least 8x11. The bigger the better. If you do not have sketch paper or printing paper, you can substitute with old newspaper pages）
Ruler (if you need it)

Drawing Prompt

In response to current global situation, the following words, contagion coronavirus, infectious, pandemic are all over the media. Please do research on these words and illustrate with your interpretations.

Guiding Questions:

What are your definitions of these words?
How do these words impact people’s lives?
What is globalization and how does it impact contagion?
Watch and find additional data visualizations to understand how the coronavirus spread.

Note: https://ncov2019.live/ is a website developed by Avi Schiffmann, a high school student in Washington State.

Abstract Drawing with Dramatic Emotions

Drawing records our hand movements. Your challenge is to balance expressive line quality while providing emphasis in your composition.
How to add dramatic emotions through shading? Think about light vs. dark, loose vs. controlled / mass vs. empty spaces.
Is there a dialogue between each element? is there any correlation from one component to the other?
How does your mind flow when you move with your pencil?
Referencing Abstract Expressionist Artists such as the artists below.

Hint

WHAT IF I DO NOT WANT TO GET MESSY, Is there a different way to create and record my state of mind?

Yes, certainly. Try Geometric Abstract Drawing.

Start with geometric shapes and work your way to alter and add other elements (lines, shapes).
Focus on the relations between these elements.

Abstract Expressionist Artists

From the 40's to the 60's, artists in New York shifted to a new direction that embrace diverse approach in creating artworks. It aims to reflect their state of mind, direct and sometimes spontaneous. Artists such as Franz Kline (1910–1962), took an embodied, gestural approach, to express through intensive brush strokes. Artists such as Harvey Quaytman (1937-2000) was drawn to the simplicity of geometric shapes as an inspiration for his abstract works.

References:

Watch the Painting Techniques of Franz Kline via Kann Academic

Read an essay on Abstract Expressionism from Metropolitan Museum of Art. (Reading level 9th grade and up)

Check out artworks by Harvey Quaytman, from TATE.

Samples by Students

Writing Sample on Guiding Questions:

Sample

Emilie's Sample

Kaixin's SAmple

Writing Response:

The main theme between the four words is fear, and a bit of chaos, so I made sure to shade a lot so it’s uncertain shadows because fear is uncertain. Then other themes were boredom and separation from being in quarantine. On the right it is separated by a line, for separation, and dark is mixed with light because some students are happy because they don’t need to go to school and then there are the people in the danger zone who are super afraid.

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A Different Bank

3/18/2020

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for age 5 and up

I am sure you are all very familiar with what a typical piggy bank looks like. Well, I don’t know about you, but, I have always wondered how piggy banks received its name. And, why not a doggy bank or better, a cake bank?

So today, we are going to do some research, designing, and making a different type of bank.

The origin of the piggy bank. Research and read about the history of a piggy bank. A good place to start would be reading an article by Mandi Woodruff, from Business Insider.
The largest piggy bank. Have you seen Rachel? She is probably the most famous pig that almost everyone knows in Seattle. As the mascot that stood on the corner of Pike Place Market, she is a real piggy bank, raising money for Pike Market Foundation. Created by Georgia Gerber in 1986, Rachel weights about 550 pounds. You can read more fun facts and find a picture of Rachel at Seeing Rachel.
Piggy banks that are not shaped like a pig. Not every piggy bank is in the form of a pig. For example, Brooklyn Museum has a collection that dated in 1820. It is called Bank in Form of a Cat. Now you may wonder, aren’t materials such as ceramic fragile? In fact, if you pay attention, most piggy banks are easy to break.

What would be the reasons behind it?
In some culture, people use natural resources to create their own piggy bank. What are they made of? And how to access the money?
Research and see what you can find.

4. Can you list three unique forms of piggy banks that you may have seen or owned?
Please write a short description on one of your favorite piggy banks below.
Make sure to describe its materials, style, design, and special functions.
(1) _________________________________________________________________
(2) _________________________________________________________________
(3) _________________________________________________________________

Create and Design
Design and build your piggy bank using LEGO. Your challenge is to create different openings for different sizes of coins (penny, nickel, dime, quarter, and dollar). Use ruler if you need to. When you design, think of its function (store the coins) and characters (color and shape).

Materials

Watch A Sample

Examples from community kids who participated.

The children are so creative and imaginative. They paid attention to the size of openings for coins.

First, is an example from Peyton in Canada. His teacher Mr. Penner found my lesson and encourage his students to try. I received a surprised email from one of the students. Peyton Slind. He is willing to share his wonderful creation. (Thank you Peyton, Thank you Mr. Penner!)