July 26, 2006: Folk Art

The Mini Page is a syndicated, four-page tabloid written for young children found each Wednesday in the Rocky Mountain News. This issue of The Mini Page is available through the eEdition Archive to registered eEdition subscribers. Click here to learn about subscribing to the eEdition at no cost to you (for Colorado teachers).

Activities:

1. Create a different setting for a newspaper photo. Cut out a person from a photograph in the newspaper. Paste the person on a blank piece of paper. Now draw a new scene around the person. Write a sentence telling about your new picture.

2. Make lists of unusual items that folk artists might use to create sculptures. Look in the newspaper to find objects in three different categories: hardware, food, sports equipment. Cut out pictures of items and paste each set on a separate piece of paper. Now give your papers to family members or friends and challenge them to draw a picture using the items.

3. Select a photo from the newspaper. Now create a three-dimensional version of the photo using objects you find around your house: paperclips, construction paper, toothpicks, cotton balls, etc.

4. Look at the different art in today's Mini Page. What materials were used by folk artists to create (a) animals, (b) people and (c) transportation?

5. Use resource books and the Internet to learn more about folk artists. Select one artist to investigate. Use these questions to guide your research:

• What was the artist¹s regular job or career?
• What materials does the artist like to use?
• What subjects does the artist like to portray?
• How did the artist get started?
• Where is the artist¹s work on display?
  
  

This week's standards:

• Students identify works of art as belonging to particular cultures, times and places. (Visual Arts)
• Students understand how an artist¹s experiences influence the development of specific artworks. (Visual Arts)
  
  

(standards by Dr. Sherrye D. Garrett, Texas A&M University-Corpus Christi)