Thursday, March 15, 2012

Frank Stella Paper Sculptures

Evan R., 4-2

     The fourth graders just completed one of my favorite lessons because I actually wrote it during my student teaching way way back in 2004!  Speaking of student teaching, you should definitely check out my good friend Mrs. Susa's (she was my cooperating teacher for student teaching!!!) new blog from Lake Elementary!!

     Anyway, we made these awesome paper sculptures at Suffield after learning about the abstract sculptures of Frank Stella.  We talked about abstract art and how it can be "about" something even though there may not be recognizable pictures in it.  We looked at his sculpture Jarama II  and played The Guessing Game over at NGA Kids.  The kids really liked this neat web site!

     To make the sculptures, each student started with two 9" x 12" pieces of white tag board.  We drew two symmetrical shapes with negative space in the center on one piece, and then two asymmetrical shapes with negative space on the other piece.  The students carefully cut the shapes out and drew patterns on the fronts and backs of them.  We colored with markers and then glued them together with twists and bends to make sculptures.  If you try this lesson, be sure to tell the students to hold the areas they are gluing together for a loooooong time or else they pop apart as you try to move on with your next piece! 



Serenity S., 4-2

Eva H., 4-2



Brenna C., 4-1
Caleb F., 4-1




3 comments:

Miss said...

These are so cool- I'm always trying to find new lessons for modern art. I can envision these all suspended from the ceiling as a display. Thanks for sharing!

Unknown said...

Thank you Miss, and Yes!! They would look great hanging in the hall! Our fire chief says no no to that, but that would be a really cool way to display them!

Barbara's Thought of the Day said...

The kids look like they really enjoyed this lesson. Perfect for fourth grade!
Barb