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Thursday, June 13, 2013

Decisions... Say Yes to the Mess?

Oh my.  I've been struggling to decide what workshops to offer at my state conference, and submissions are due by the end of the month.  I put the question out here on the blog and also on Facebook, and most of the people who answered were not from NY state.  I hoped for opinions from people who would actually attend, but I appreciate anyone who expressed their thoughts!

So here's what I've decided so far:
I'm going to teach a Friday After Dark workshop on Sheetrock Carving - relief carving and intaglio.
I've done this successfully with my 6th graders for several years.  The only photos I can locate are of the cartouche carvings, but in other years we did African-inspired mask designs, layered landscapes, and more.
I'm teaching a hands-on Saturday workshop that I'm calling 'Oh What a Relief! Fabulous Tooling Foil!'  This is another material where I've been particularly proud of the work my students completed, and a couple of Facebook responders expressed interest in this. Again, we've used various design themes over the years to keep me from getting bored!

But, as crazy as I am, I want to teach one more, during the day on Friday.  After all, since I'm retired, I feel like it's time to 'give back'.  But this one won't be hands-on, since I already have the other two.  Several of you out-of-staters suggested perhaps papier-mache, but I taught two papier-mache workshops last year (one how-to, and the other hands-on), and thought maybe it deserved a break.

  So I've come up with a title idea, but am not sure where I am going with it.  
Here's the working title:   'Say Yes to the Mess'.  What do you think?  
 
  My idea is that some art teachers avoid working with certain materials due to fear of mess, especially if they work on a cart.  But I feel as though art teachers have a responsibility to offer the mess, the tactile experience, and there's ways of dealing with multiple materials and cleanup that make it not so difficult.  What do you readers think?  Is this a workshop that you think will be worth offering?  Any suggestions on what I should include?  I'd love your responses, no matter what part of the world you live in!

 
 

Thanks!

7 comments:

  1. I actually just submitted the proposal, though I guess I still have a couple of weeks to change my mind...

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  2. LOVE IT!! Great idea - I too often see teachers, not even just art teachers but any teacher, avoiding certain activities due to fear of "mess"!

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  3. Boo! I wish I could go next year!

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    1. Since when is there a ban on pregnant lakes attending conferences? I think you should still come! Everyone will offer you seats in crowded workshops!

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    2. Crazy autocorrect. That's pregnant LADIES, not lakes. Though a pregnant lake is certainly an interesting concept...

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  4. Um, ALL of this looks amazing, I want to come!!

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    1. Come! Come! You can help provide comic relief if my workshop starts to go awry by demonstrating first-aid with tampons. (For those of you reading this who don't have a clue why I said that, check out Cassie's blog here: http://cassiestephens.blogspot.com/2013/06/diy-patio-dress.html )

      Or maybe we can just do a stand-up routine together and to heck with the workshop topic all together!

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