Problem Solving-Sculpture Art Form

As todays first arts class commenced, I was very nervous on edge about what we were expected to complete or perform in term of our artistic abilities. I have always had struggled with my artistic ability and creativity and often avoid art at all costs. But after participating in class and having open discussions with our peers and the professor, I was surprised to find my self actually enjoying my creations and the art concepts.

The main object or premise of todays class was to create 3 different art pieces : a paper plate easter bunny, a structure made of wooden blocks and a sculpture made of cellu-clay and other materials.

The easter bunny used four mediums: paper plate, bingo dabber, construction paper and glue. When we were given our materials, the paper plate already had bingo dabbed eyes on it and the directions for creating the art piece for explained to the class without any artistic freedom or changes. We began by having our eyes already on our plates. Then we had to attach the nose in the middle of the plate near the bottom. Next, we had to glue on the whiskers and the ears, exactly as instructed. After all of the students in the class completed their bunnies, we were asked to look at them and determine if we noticed anything. Upon analyzing the classes creations, we were able to notice that all of the bunnies looked the exact same. This was due to the fact that all of our materials were provided for us without a choice of colour or shape, we were given exact instructions on where to place the objects and what the bunny should look like. Throughout this lesson, we learned that this art sample is not a part of the arts curriculum even though we see it everyday in schools. Having children create art with direct instructions without any room for freedom or creativity is harmful to a students creative ability and self esteem. Although the children could still have fun with this art activity, they were not creating their own piece of artwork. When we were asked how we could change this lesson, I thought of providing the students with different materials and colours, and allowing them the freedom to choose how their ears or eyes looked, the placement of the materials etc. By allowing students the freedom to create their own art instead of following a prescribed set of instructions, we are allowing them to be independent and creative while building upon their artistic abilities. 

The next art lesson was to create a structure using a box of assorted wooden objects and tape. There was no further instruction or limitations placed on us. This activity offered much more freedom and room for creativity and thought processing as was much more fun. For me personally, I struggle with artistic creativity and like to follow a sample or guidelines as it helps me to create something, but for most students it is beneficial to allow them to create their own ideas and see them come to fruition. From this lesson, I learned that it is important to allow students time and limited interruptions to complete their work. In art, you should provide your students with a problem to solve. With this specific lesson, we were given the materials without any instruction but we had to find a way for it to come together without collapsing and had to solve the problem of it being built successfully. This lesson would allow for students to build on their creativity and their sense of confidence and security in their artistic abilities. This lesson allowed me to have more fun and be more creative in my art.

The last art lesson consisted of sculpting an animal of our choosing out of a variety of provided materials.  The art form was to create a sculpture, using art mediums such as 

assorted Materials, cellu-clay, paper mace strips, packing puffs and paint, and the design element was texture and Form. For this project I chose to make a clay sculpture of a Narwhal which is often referred to as the unicorn of the sea. For this I chose a narwhal because it was not your typical animal and it was easy for me to sculpt. One new thing I learned through making this project is to offer children the ability and process to be creative by allowing them to create individualized art rather than a prescribed copy cat art piece. By allowing each of the students to choose their own animal to sculpt, it allowed for more creativity and for each art piece to be unique. When teachers provide students with only one way to create art that all looks the same, it limits the students creativity and ability to explore beyond their capabilities. 

My narwhal sculpture communicated my uniqueness and ability to explore beyond the basic limitations of creating a sculpture. By completing this assignment ,I was able to create a 3D form sculpture using the provided materials. For connecting this lesson to the curriculum, this would work in a Grade 1 classroom and meets the specific expectation for Visual Arts: 

D1.1 create two- and three-dimensional works of art that express feelings and ideas inspired by personal experiences (e.g., a tempera painting that communicates their feelings about a special occasion or event such as a fair or a parade; a sculpture of a favourite musical instrument made with found objects; a watercolour painting of a favourite part of the schoolyard; an assemblage in which images and objects from home and school are used to represent special memories). For this art lesson, I really enjoyed the level of creativity it allowed for. Instead of telling each student that they had to create the same animal or type of sculpture. The teacher allowed for the students to make their own choice and allowed for the students to use their own level of creativity without prescribing what the teacher exactly expected. The thing that I enjoyed the least about this lesson was that it lacked a lot of structure.I am the type of learner who does not benefit well from creativity and I need a lot of instruction or structure to perform well.  I struggled with my sculpture and ended up making one that didn’t look as well as I imagined. For some learners this might be beneficial because they can use their imagination and creativity skills,  but for someone like me who requires more structure and guidelines, I struggled. I found this lesson to be extremely fun and interactive, it allowed for the students to be hands on and creative without following specific rules or models to enhance their artistic abilities. I do not have any recommended changes as I found it very successful, the only suggestion would be to provide students who have exceptionalities with materials that are more easily manipulative to make the modelling more accessible to them or less sticky as it could be a sensory overload for some students on the spectrum. For example, the students could be provided with play-doh to create their sculpture as it is less sticky and is easier to manipulate.

Throughout all of the art lessons today, I was able to learn that artistic creativity and individuality is the most important factor in creating art. If we prescribe what we want our students to do, we aren’t allowing them to be themselves and we are limiting their art.