Cardboard Recycling... Art Boxes

I woke up completely excited about my job this morning. Near the end of the semester, you sometimes have to revamp things. As precious as the kiddos are, with three weeks left, I changed up the seating charts, and am starting something new with the 8th graders. They are going to be creating sculptures in the style of Mark Langan, who is a quite impressive cardboard artist who creates sculptures that hang in the front offices and foyers of many large named companies, such as UPS. The students will use elmer's glue and cardboard and will each make 6" squares that they will then fill up with textures. They can leave the bottom blank or they can create texture on that. The box can be turned into a cube (glued on all sides) or they can leave the top to come open and make a hinge on top. I am excited... hopefully they will be. 

For the next assignment, my creative juices are really flowing on collage (are we seeing a trend here... no money, no art money, garbage...). It's just fun to create things out of nothing- way more impressive than using expensive materials. This artist, Carmen Beecher, has caught my eye. Hopefully we will have time to work on some collage art in the near future. Later my friends. :) 

Cardboard Texture Cubes

The 8th graders have been working on their cardboard texture cubes. I have two classes (quite large classes, I might add), but the students do a fantastic job of staying on task. I have to redirect quite often, circulate the room, and make sure that I'm present (to all at all times!!), but they work. They love the hands-on aspect of the cardboard cubes. They had to make 6 squares out of cardboard and, after being directed on some lessons, create various texture and sculptures on each side. We hot glued these together and some created a lid that would open and close. We are still in the middle of this project, but here are a few pictures.