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Happy New School Year!

9/2/2014

Today marks the beginning of a new and exciting year in the BCWMS Art Classroom! If we have half of the fun we did last year, it will be an amazing time creating, competing, sharing, and learning new ways of expressing ourselves. I had so much fun today working with students as we painted and sculpted community-related projects to improve our school and community.

8th grade students spent the day painting canvases that will be displayed on the other side of the building by the STEM and Music classrooms. We learned about circle painting and talked about the book "The Dot" by Peter H. Reynolds. It was awesome to hear students encourage each other to make their mark as they rotated around the room and painted each of the canvases. We will finish up the work tomorrow and they will be on display soon.

Here is what students made last year doing this same process:

7th grade students worked with clay as they created slab formed bowls for the Empty Bowls event, scheduled March 19th. This is the 8th year we have put on this event and it is something that showcases our entire Fine Arts program as well as the generous spirit of the community in Byron Center. Tomorrow we will work on the bowls before getting them ready for a first firing.

If today indicates anything about the upcoming school year, then I know it is going to be great!

Clay Creations and an Empty Bowls Update

3/25/2014

7th and 8th grade students finished up their clay projects this week. 8th grade students made Anthropomorphic Pottery pieces, while 7th grade created clay balloon creatures. It was awesome to see them all transform from shapes on a page to 3D form as they went through the planning process to actual creation. Thanks to our latest DonorsChoose project, we have more than enough glazes to give students a full spectrum when deciding how to finish their works!

In addition to the successful end of another clay project, we have some updated news about Empty Bowls. Due to some generous donations that have come in over the weekend and early this week, our new total amount raised is $828! Thank you to all who helped make this possible, especially our local Subway and Rodney Brush, the Weider Family, Mr. Takens, and Empty Bowl recipient Teagan (shown below) who made this event such a success!

7th grade student, Teagan, is the first student in BCWMS history to make a competitive bid on the bowl. Although the Weider family and Mr. Takens outbid him, all pooled together for a record-breaking $205 donation! Thanks again for making this a success for families in our community!

Empty Bowls 2014

3/21/2014

Yesterday was a great night for Art and our community for the 7th Annual Empty Bowls Event. The BCWMS Cafeteria was packed with students and parents, enjoying soup and bread provided by our local Subway. They have provided the food for this dinner every year and we are so thankful for the support.

We were able to raise over $650 for Byron Ministries and hundreds of food items for Buist Community Assistance Center. I am so proud to be a part of a tradition that was started in my life by my High School Art teacher from Flint Kearsley, Mr. Mike Lilly.

I look forward to working with the community once again next year as we get ready for another successful evening of art, food, and community support!

Empty Bowls 2014

3/20/2014

Tonight is the 7th annual BCWMS Empty Bowls event. I am so thankful for the continued support from the Byron Center community each year to make this success and help our local organizations that provide assistance to families in Byron Center. To attend, bring any donation of non-perishable food items and funds to BCWMS. Your donation will get you in to enjoy soup and bread, provided by Subway, music performed by our talented and award winning Choir, Orchestra, and Jazz Band, and you can take home a bowl created from our Visual Arts students to commemorate the event.

Just some of the many bowls that students created for tonight's event. Be sure to get here early to pick out your favorite.

Lots of Color

3/4/2014

7th graders' bowls are waiting to be fired. Thanks again to all who helped us reach our Donors Choose project goal and get these glazes for our classroom. Empty Bowls is on the 20th, and these bowls will be ready for it!

8th graders are working on PSAs for the Meijer Great Choices Film Festival. My students have either won or placed second in each category for the past two years… maybe this group's video on Diversity will help us see a three-peat!

Dual Enrollment students are working through their city scales this week as we wrap up a condensed version of this project. Snow days might have messed with our schedule, but these kids are on track and dedicated to getting all of the work accomplished!

Empty Bowls 2014

2/19/2014

Paint and Clay, Day 2

1/22/2014

I am completely floored with the results from the first two days in the Art class with this new group of students!

8th grade students and my after school class has done an outstanding job of working together to create the colorful collaborative painting pictured above.

7th grade students completed their bowls for our Empty Bowls event and some even brought in their donations to secure their own bowl for the event.

I am so excited with the progress in just two days of class… I cannot wait to see what else comes out of these classes as we progress through the term!

First Day of 2nd Semester

1/21/2014

8th grade students started out the term with collaborative painting. Students worked collaboratively to create circles on paper and canvases that will eventually end up as the sign for our hallway. Students will continue to fill the space tomorrow as well as get started on the lettering for their portfolios.

7th grade students worked on bowls for Empty Bowls. It was a great way to celebrating doing something for others and it is always fun to work with clay on the first day of art class!

First Week Complete

9/7/2013

We had a great first week in the art room. We worked with clay, got to go outside, did some dancing, and even played a few games - it was a very eventful and fun way to start out the school year.

Students also created their social contract to help set the rules for the class and took their pre-test and survey to help me get a better sense of what they know and why they signed up for the class.

Some feedback I got from students in the Art Survey included the following comments along with what they want to learn in the class:

I like this class a lot. I didn't think I would because I signed up for it only to take STEM, and I have never liked art before. This class has been very fun for me.

I want to be a photographer when I get older.

I am very new to art, and would like to have a chance to learn as much as I can.

7th grade

8th grade

Filling Bowls in Byron Center

3/25/2013

Empty Bowls 2013 was such a great time! Thank you to everyone who made it possible. I want to give a special thanks to Subway, who donated the soup and bread for the dinner, the WMS music teachers (David Kline, Kris Ryskamp, and Nicole Langford) and their students for providing the great atmosphere, art students for making the bowls, and the Byron Center community for coming out and supporting families in our area! We raised well over $800 which is being donated to Byron Community Ministries, and hundreds of non-perishable items which is being donated to the Buist Community Assistance Center. If you would like to help families in our community, please visit their sites and see what items they need or how you can give of your time.