In a world inundated with a constant flow of visual input and an ever increasing mode of communicating through images, it's never been more important to be visually literate. What is visual literacy? Visual literacy is the skill of understanding, analyzing, evaluating and creating visual images. From the moment we begin processing visual input from

Creating collaborative art is a wonderful way to encourage teamwork among students, celebrate diversity and enrich classroom culture. This collection of hands-on group art projects is designed to build meaningful skills such as taking turns, discussing ideas, and making group decisions. They are a fantastic way to foster community, allow students to connect with their classmates, and teach them to focus on cooperation instead of competition. Students are sure to have plenty of fun while letting their imaginations run wild!

Using cardboard looms all 6th-8th grade art students created two small circle weaving for a permanent collaborative installation in the library. Most of the yarn was collected by sending out a district wide email and the cardboard was cut from the numerous Blick art supply boxes I have been saving. With very little cost, and a high level of visual impact, this project was a great success! Making the Loom: Prep- Cut MANY 3x3 inch squares 1) Using a scissor cut the corners of the square off to make a circle 2) Around the edge mark with a pencil an odd number of evenly spaces lines (13,15, or 17) 3) Using a scissors, make a 1/2" cut towards the center of the loom using the pencil lines as a guide 4) Poke hole in center of circle There are a couple of ways to begin setting up the loom once created. I have written detailed instructions below describing what worked best for us after some trial and error:) Getting the Weaving Started: 1) Cut 3' of yarn and thread one end with a tapestry needle 2) Holding the loom, stick the needle through the hole from the backside and pull through to the front side of the loom. 3) Pull until you have 4" of yarn left hanging out the backside of the loom (do not make a knot) 4) Then, holding the 4" tail of yarn with one hand on the backside, take the yarn and place into one of the 1/2" along the cuts 5) Wrap yarn to the back side and again pull the needle through the center hole from the back side to the front. 6) Repeat step 4 and 5 until a piece of yarn securely placed in each cut. 7) Using the extra 4" of yarn left of the backside, knot the two ends of yarn together twice. Knot should be resting snugly against the backside of the loom. 8) Stick needle up the center hole one last time. 9) Begin weaving over under over under 10) Tie on additional yarn as needed in different colors as desired:) 11) Tie off yarn once done

Collaborative art is a fun, unique way to encourage a group of people (kids or adults) to work together and create something beautiful! Group art projects can take so many different forms and there is no right or wrong way to make art together. Ready for 28 of the best group art project ideas?! The

Start with slight watered down black tempera paint to begin creating shapes (we created hearts and circles) then connect those shapes with a variety of lines (straight, wavy, zig-zag, loopy, swirls, etc.). Then fill in shapes with color. Get every last one! Once you finish your mural... go help another table! After the installation was over we FINALLY got to take them home! Some detail shots COLORS! Collaborative art is one of my favorites to bring into an art room. I love that the students have to depend on each and everyone to complete a successful painting. I have done this project over the past couple years, (was actually my first posts way back when! wow!), but never have attempted it at this scale (we decorated the entire front entrance of your school for Heart Disease Awareness, 15 murals in total!)

As with most of Patricia Zapata's designs, this paper scrap wall art tutorial couldn't be simpler or more stunning. It's worth doing some paper crafts

Start the new year by building classroom community and cultivating a growth mindset with a collaborative mural. This SEL Art Project includes worksheets and printable templates to help your students explore important social-emotional skills like perseverance, cooperation, and respecting diversity. This community building Art Lesson is great for a back-to-school activity, New Years, Earth Day and Peace Day celebrations, or any time of the year. Perfect for upper elementary and middle school students to create a unique and vibrant mural that celebrates the spirit of community and unity while reinforcing the importance of working together! Included in this Artful Lesson: Teacher Guide (1 page) · The Teacher Guide provides you with a list of art materials needed for the lesson as well as teaching suggestions and helpful tips. Opening Activity (1 page) Also available as an EASEL activity! · The Strengths and Challenges activity helps students to understand that when we work together using our own personal strengths, we can learn from each other, solve problems and achieve goals. · Teachers can extend this part of the lesson to discuss the importance of a growth mindset. Better Together Art Lesson (1 page) Also available as an EASEL activity! · Students draw and paint a mandala and then transform their own personal artwork into a collaborative class mural. · You may choose to print out this page for each student (available in both color and grayscale) or display the lesson on the interactive whiteboard. Class Mural Template (1 page) Sketch ideas with an EASEL activity! · The students’ artworks are arranged together into a mural that celebrates diversity while promoting the importance of cooperation and solidarity. Your class mural can be displayed around common areas of the school including the entrance, hallway, cafeteria, classroom, etc. to celebrate collaboration and create a colorful, caring community. This lesson is also available in Spanish.

Collaborative art is a fun, unique way to encourage a group of people (kids or adults) to work together and create something beautiful! Group art projects can take so many different forms and there is no right or wrong way to make art together. Ready for 28 of the best group art project ideas?! The

I apologize for being so behind this year on my blog this year! I've had so many other things going on with an action research PDP, Student Learning Targets and PBIS/CHAMPS that have been implemented that I haven't had a lot of time to update projects from this year. It's going to be my goal to update more regularly! I hope everyone has had a great first half of the year! The first week of school I always start out with a school wide collaboration project. It's a great way to get the kids involved in art on the first day instead of only going over expectations and it's also a fabulous way to get artwork up after the first week of school! We look at the artist Keith Haring and did giant posters of figures. I actually had the kiddos get on the floor and trace their bodies and then each class throughout the day continued on they same poster. So by the end of the day I had 4-6 posters done!

Analogous & Monochromatic Self Portrait Grades 1-3 made monochromatic self portraits & Grades 4-5 made analogous self portraits “We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tap…

Kids can make something pretty incredible when they pool their talents.

5 Collaborative Projects for Any Time of the School Year % %

One of my goals this year was to have my students really understand the artistic behaviors. I thought last year the students were looking at them only on the surface. I want a deeper understandin…

Kids can make something pretty incredible when they pool their talents.

Kids can make something pretty incredible when they pool their talents.

“Chromatic Cascade” by Jen Stark, Los Angeles Jen Stark herself! Parking Garage Mural by Jen Stark, Los Angeles Jen Stark is a Los Angeles based artist known for h…

You are part of the puzzle! Each student in my older grades (3-5) made a puzzle piece about themselves and their interests. I should have written: You are a PIECE of the puzzle. Or, I could hav…

Since I began my teaching career, I have always worked with students of all different learning styles, and learning speeds. I have worked ...

We did a second print with new images from the kids

This giant 5 foot tall mosaic wall, inspired by Vincent Van Gogh's "Starry Night", was a collaborative project at the small hands big art Fall Festival.

Check out student artwork posted to Artsonia from the ThankYouX Collaborative Mural project gallery at Natomas Charter School - Leading Edge Academy (6-8).

28 Collaborative Projects to Build Community in Your Art Room % %

Wow! This is by far my favorite out of the 3 murals I have made this year. I think the bigger the better. We've done circles, hearts and ...

Kids can make something pretty incredible when they pool their talents.

That's one of my favorite lines from the Lorax and I loved getting all into it with my kids at home when reading the book to them. It also s...

Hi, kidz! Welcome to the second installment of postings from my school-wide collaborative series (btw, I've decided "school-wide collaborative" is just too much work for my mouth. Hence forth, it will go by it's abbreviated and funner name: scollab. Pronounced skoal-lab, not school-lab. Cuz art class in a school lab is just bound to end in 'splosions and flames. Which actually sounds super funner-er.) In this here post, Ima share with you one of the happiest scollabs we did this year: Our School has Heart Mural! If this looks vaguely familiar to you, that's because I blerged about the first phase of this project here. This lovely scollab masterpiece hangs happily in the front office of my school. Previously, the front office was referred to as the DMV for it's warm and welcoming wall color (what is that, Sherwin William's "Institution White"? "Padded Room Gray"? "The Last Color I See Before My Date with the Principal Blue"?). It was mentioned that some art might cheer the place up and that's all it took for my ears to prick up. ART?! Did somebody say...art?! We started this project way back at the start of February so love was in the air. Which explains the smell. I decided that each kiddo was gonna contribute and each grade level would do a little something different. I'll give you the quickie version here but you can visit this post for the full story. The kindergarteners were given a paper heart template to trace in black oil pastel. Then they doodled in warm or cool colors and then proceeded to water color the daylights outta that thing in either warm or cool. The first graders were given 3" square pieces of felt in whatever color they liked. Then they traced that same hear template in chalk and painted with tempera. Painting on felt is really rad cuz it gives the piece this almost oil painted appearance. If the kids painted the hear with warm colors, they were to reverse that color scheme for the background. Puffy paint was added because why not?! Puffy paint is the jam. Second grade town created these pipe cleaner hearts that they yarn bombed and bead attacked. I had the pleasure of hot gluing them to the felt of their choosing. Third grade thought that Christmas came early when I showed them how to embroider. Every last one of them enjoyed this so much and was able to complete their stitching (and button sewing!) in one hour long class. Needle felting was introduced to my fourth grade students. We really enjoyed this and only had one bleeder (those needle felting tools are both sharp and serrated, y'all. They ain't for sissies). As the students completed their work, I started to lay them out on two pieces of foam core. I happened to have two 3' X 6' pieces of foam core to my name because, well, why not? I originally thought of doing a value gradation but rainbow order ended up looking the best. Hot gluing over 400 hearts wasn't exactly my idea of a good time. The upside is I no longer have finger prints and the cops will never find me! Take that, coppers! Once all the gluing was complete, I took the two boards to the office and my super awesome bookkeeper buddy and my radical rockstar custodian friend hung them up for all to see. Don't miss! I'll be presenting on school-wide collaboratives at the AOE conference this summer! And now, let's talk GIVEAWAY! Last week's winner is Lil! When asked what her fave collaborative project was, she wrote: This year my third grader class created large, beautiful, textured and patterned frogs. Then each table created their own scene on huge mural paper. There was an outdoor birthday party, with an airplane toting a birthday wish sign. One group made a water theme park setting with a lazy river - one frog was definitely relaxin' on his tube!! Another group made a nail salon - now who doesn't like a good froggie pedi??! Oh my gosh, the kids absolutely loved working together on such a huge creation. Do you think it was because they got to spread out on the floor to paint and cut and create??!!!! Congrats, Lil! I hope you enjoy the artsy t-shirts! Now, I know most of y'all are enjoying your summer days. How 'bout you spend some time creating with a good book? To enter this giveaway, just do the following: * Tell me what dream scollab you would create with your students. A permanent mural? A tile project? I'd love to hear! Maybe if we start dreaming big now, we'll have the energy to make it happen come this fall! * Leave your email address in your comments so I can contact you.

Earlier this year, my co-worker Jayne found the idea to make a collaborative school-wide paper mural based on the artwork of Thank YouX. The idea for a student mural originally came from Jenell No…

A North Park University community art project. Participants made images of fellow North Park students (or in a couple cases, faculty). 67 blocks total, mounted on a gold-leafed tondo.

All art students created a leaf on the first day of school. Each leaf was added to our classroom tree collage. Throughout the day my bare tree trunk transformed into a bright and colorful piece of collaborative art.

Kids can make something pretty incredible when they pool their talents.

oil pastel & watercolor ~ Sara Roizen “It’s easier to resist at the beginning than at the end.” ~ Leonardo Da Vinci It was pouring rain as I headed deep into Brooklyn to lead one of my art therapy groups at a residential building for adults living with chronic mental illness. It seemed fitting...

A lesson about a collaborative relief sculpture project. Supplies and how to included. Learn how to implement this project in your classroom!

Explore artsyville's 1440 photos on Flickr!

Kids can make something pretty incredible when they pool their talents.

Kids can make something pretty incredible when they pool their talents.