Category Archives: museum visit

Helen Shirk Silhouette Necklace

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helen shirk pinable

Helen Shirk is a San Diego artist and Professor of Art known for her metalwork and jewelry. I recently had the pleasure of viewing necklaces from Shirk’s Traces series on exhibit at San Diego’s Mingei International Museum. Even better – I got to participate in a Shirk-inspired paper jewelry activity taught by the Museum’s Education Department. The art project is so much fun – I just have to share their lesson!

 

'Crimson Glory' necklace by Helen Shirk, 2011. Steel, oxidized silver and china paint.

‘Crimson Glory’ necklace by Helen Shirk, 2011. Steel, oxidized silver and china paint.

We had two options for our silhouette necklace project: 1) a quick, 30-minute project using paper punches or 2) an hour-long project using real traced leaves. Both options focus on organic shapes and repetition.

Materials for both projects

  • black construction paper
  • card stock
  • glue sticks
  • yarn
  • scissors
  • tape

Project 1: 30-minute Punched Paper Silhouette Necklace

Additional material – paper punches in organic shapes (like these leaf , branch, butterfly, and dove  punches).

We punched paper shapes from black and colored papers, then glued them to a background and added yarn to form a necklace. Click here and here for the lesson plan, written by the excellent Education Department of the Mingei International Museum.

Shirk inspired necklace made with craft punches and card stock.

Shirk-inspired necklace made with craft punches and card stock. Teacher example.

Here is my Shirk inspired design!

Here is my Shirk inspired design!

 

Project 2: Traced Silhouette Necklace

Additional material: natural materials such as leaves, twigs and flowers.

Students make tracings of each onto construction paper, then cut out and arrange into a necklace.  Click here for the Mingei’s curriculum guide including this project.

Hand cut paper necklace inspired by Helen Shirk's jewelry.

Shirk-inspired paper necklace made by tracing leaves onto black and white paper.  Teacher example.

Helen Shirk’s Trace necklaces are on display at the Mingei Museum through January 5, 2014 as part of the Allied Craftsmen Today exhibit. For more examples of Helen Shirk’s jewelry, click here.

I wrote about the Mingei’s Chihuly chandelier – click here to see their fabulous 30-Minute Chihuly Chandelier project.

Special Notice for San Diego Teachers and Parents:

  • Teachers: Do you want to take your class to the Mingei Museum? The Mingei provides free admission for all K-12th grade tours as long as they’re scheduled in advance.
  • Parents: The Mingei is free to San Diego county residents and military the third Tuesday of the month. Monthly Family Sundays offer admission and fun activities for just $5/family. Go to www.mingei.org for more details.

Enjoy!

Felt Food Collage

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felt food collage New Children's Museum

Second grader’s food collage includes a carrot, egg and celery.

Are you looking for an engaging collage project? Try this ‘feast on a plate’ felt food collage project from San Diego’s New Children’s Museum.

I recently toured the Museum’s new food-themed exhibit FEAST: The Art of Playing with Your Food. I found a group of children at an art-making station, happily creating their own collage feasts out of colorful cut felt. I saw felt eggs, bacon, celery, blueberries, and mini-waffles all arranged and glued to paper plates.

Third grader's plate includes bacon and mini-waffles created from felt and other fabric scraps.

Third grader’s plate includes bacon and mini-waffles created from felt and other fabric scraps.

The New Children’s Museum has this lesson plan online, complete with connections to nutrition, visual arts and common core standards. Click here for the Eat More Art! 60-minute food collage lesson plan.

Food sculptures made by rolling fabric and wrapping with yarn.

Food sculptures made by rolling fabric and wrapping with yarn (teacher example).

This would be a fabulous idea for a Thanksgiving feast art project!

Whether you are a parent or a teacher, be sure to check out the New Children’s Museum when you visit San Diego. The museum offers art-making activities for children EVERY DAY. I wrote more about the museum in this post and this post.

Enjoy!

 

 

 

Beautiful Dia de los Muertos Altar

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ddlm mingei #2

Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos) is this week. I just saw a beautiful, colorful DDLM altar at the Mingei International Museum in San Diego that I just had to share. The altar was made by a group including representatives of the Mexican Consulate in San Diego, so you know it is authentic!

The altars are in memory of a departed loved one. This one is in memory of Tin Tan, a Mexican film star who appeared in over 100 films. The signage reads:

Day of the Dead, one of the annual festivities celebrated by Mexicans, is a result of pre-Hispanic and Christian traditions. It is a day where families and friends get together to remember and honor loved ones who are no longer among us.  This celebration begins by setting up an altar containing favorite objects and mentors that reveal the personality of the departed, their talents and preferences. Other classic elements of the Day of the Dead altar are flowers, drinking water, food, fruits and salt, each with a special location and meaning within the altar.  The installed experiential space is valuable for its historical and cultural traditions that contribute to praising both the person the altar is dedicated to and the cultural heritage of Mexico.

mingei ddlm #1

 

 

mingei ddlm #3

 

 

ddlm mingei 3

 

 

Special Notice for San Diego Teachers and Parents:

  • Teachers: Do you want to take your class to the Mingei Museum? The Mingei provides free admission for all K-12th grade tours as long as they’re scheduled in advance.
  • Parents: The Mingei is free to San Diego county residents and military the third Tuesday of the month. Monthly Family Sundays offer admission and fun activities for just $5/family. Go to www.mingei.org for more details.

Enjoy!

Are you creating any special projects for Dia de los Muertos?
 

30-Minute Chihuly Chandelier

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30 minute chihuly chandelier

Dale Chihuly makes fantastic, organic-shaped glass sculptures.  They are in collections all over the world. This summer I saw the Chihuly chandelier at San Diego’s Mingei International Museum and participated in a group art project taught by art educator Jackie Hwang.

Mingei Museum Chihuly Chandelier

Materials:

  • Overhead transparencies (like these  – make sure they are made for photocopiers)
  • photocopier
  • colored permanent markers (colored Sharpies or Art Color permanent markers)
  • scissors
  • pipe cleaners for assembling chandelier
  • UPDATE: single-hole punch
  • UPDATE: OPTIONAL rubbing alcohol and cotton balls

spiral acetate chihuly

Prep:

Jackie photocopied a spiral onto overhead transparencies. She made two sizes of spirals – a full sheet size, and a half sheet size containing two spirals.

The Art Project:

Families colored the spirals and cut them out, then turned them in to Jackie for assembly. Coloring time depended on the complexity of the design (but took FAR less than 30 minutes).

Assembly:

UPDATE: carefully punch each spiral on the tiny dot at the center of each spiral.

UPDATE: OPTIONAL: You may experiment with smearing the spirals with a cotton ball lightly dampened with rubbing alcohol. This will cause the colored sharpie to smear and blend. It’s a different look, and it takes extra time. Totally optional!

Jackie created the chandelier form using a mix of the large and small spirals. She used a couple of pipe cleaners to suspend the spiral clusters.

Jackie’s project is perfect for grades K-6. It would be super for art teachers on a cart, or art teachers that teach at multiple schools. You could fit the photocopied transparencies and all the other materials you need for this project in a tote bag.

Here is a 4-minute video of Dale Chihuly from the CBS morning show

Special Notice for San Diego Teachers and Parents:

  • Teachers: Do you want to take your class to the Mingei Museum? The Mingei provides free admission for all K-12th grade tours as long as they’re scheduled in advance.
  • Parents: The Mingei is free to San Diego county residents and military the third Tuesday of the month. Monthly Family Sundays offer admission and fun activities for just $5/family. Go to www.mingei.org for more details.

Coming up in the next post: two more Chihuly-inspired projects.

What’s your favorite Chihuly project?

San Diego Museum of Photographic Arts: Call for Entries

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MOPA collage

The Museum of Photographic Arts in Balboa Park has a Call for Entries for their 8th Annual juried Youth Exhibition. This year’s theme deals with community in My City, Your City. They are now accepting submissions from San Diego students K-12 who have used photography or video to document their community, neighborhood, or home from a personal or cultural point of view.

What does it mean to call a place home? 

What story would you tell about your community?

Where do you come from and what do you call home?

My City, Your City will showcase the creative and artistic voices of San Diego’s youth while offering visitors the opportunity to view the world through their eyes. Encourage your students to submit their artwork today! Open to all of San Diego County K-12 students!

The deadline is June 15, 2013.

Visit http://www.mopa.org/yx13 for more information or to download a submission packet. You can also watch their call for entries video here.

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