Big Projects

I am always "thinking big." Scroll down to see all the major projects I've done for my school.

(Please excuse the low resolution of some of the photos.  Some of these images are 9 years old when they were taken.)

My First Year

In my first year, I wrote and received a $15,000 grant with which I: installed a water garden, established a flower garden, created a school-wide tile wall, commissioned a mural, installed frame-lock displays, and filled the art room with 5 years worth of art supplies and equipment.   

The Water Garden

The community came together one weekend with the help and partnership of the Water Garden Society to install a 16 foot pond outside the library windows.  Parents, teachers, kids, and even the principal all helped lay out the lining, unload the rocks, and clean and arrange the rocks so that the pond could be created. 

Students have enjoyed the pond as we draw from life every spring and fall semester.  PTA and Student Council have continued to build and enrich the surrounding areas of the water garden with plants donated by local businesses.  The 4th grade teachers have made the ecosystem an integral part of their science curriculum.  The Special Education teachers use the area to calm students and as life skills training.  This area has been woven into the fabric of our school culture.

The Flower Garden

In the springtime, I plant sunflowers so that the students can draw from life when we study Vincent Van Gogh. Sunflowers are also the Kansas State Flower, which ties in with the Social Studies curriculum.

The School Mascot

With the funds from the beautification grant, two local artists were commissioned to design and paint the school mascot on the new gym wall. 

The Tile Wall

Part of the grant money went towards creating a school-wide tile wall.  The first year in our newly rebuilt building, every student used their initials to create an abstract design on ceramic tile.  The tiles were then mounted on the wall next to the main staircase. 

The Art Displays

These frame-lock displays feature students artwork in our main hallway. 

Art Club - Enhancing the School Environment

Every year I sponsor an Art Club for my 4th and 5th-grade students.  We meet once a quarter for one week.  During that week, students make extraordinary projects not otherwise possible in the regular classroom setting.  Every year one of those projects is devoted to permeant display for the school.

Ceiling Tiles for the Classrooms and Office  

During Art Club, students learn drawing and painting techniques by copying masterpieces onto ceiling tiles.  These ceiling tiles are then placed throughout the building. 

 Claes Oldenburg Style School Supply Sculptures

Working in groups, students created these 

Papier-mâché sculptures in the style of Claes Oldenburg by scaling up school supplies 10x the normal size. 

I then hung the sculptures with heavy weight fishing line from the 20-foot high ceiling in our main hallway. 

From Drab to Fab

In the 2011-2012 school year, our school attendance went down, and with my extra time, I created an Art Enrichment club with a yearlong goal of creating a mural to transform the stairwell.  Inspired by the artist Wayland and the opening of a new aquarium in our city, we transformed a drab gray stairwell into an undersea adventure-scape.   

Before the project, the stairwell was a cold drab gray.

A small group of sixth-grade students gave up 3 recesses per week to work on this massive two story tall project.

 The district agreed to repaint the walls a dark blue on the first story and light blue on the second story. Otherwise, these students created all of the this using only 4 gallons of paint.  A local paint store donated one gallon each of red, yellow, blue, black and white paint, and participants practiced color theory as well. 

As a reward for donating so much of their time and doing such a great job, the PTA funded a field trip to the newly opened aquarium, and I gave each of the students a handmade sketchbook.  

Traveling Exhibits

For the last 3 years, I have brought in traveling exhibits from Teacher's Discovery, which provides larger than life size banners of masterworks.  These special banners are 8' tall by 16' long, as well as other banners that are 4'x8'.  We rent these banners for one week, and for that week I conduct every class out in the hallway.  Students spend the entire class period observing the artwork, learning about the artist, and critically discussing in active and engaging ways.  My students love to spend the extra time it takes to really dive deep into these famous works of art, and expand their understanding of a new artist. 

Virtual Field Trips-Super Sized

Welcome 32,000 BC! 

 I'm all about giving my student the best aesthetic experience I can. So when I brought in an exhibition from teachersdiscovery.com,
about cave art, I wanted the kids to really experience rock art the way that it is meant to be experienced, the way that the artist originally painted it thousands of years ago, which is to say, not on a flat surface in a building, but in a cave...so I made a cave.  With this wonderful traveling exhibit, the whole school learned about prehistoric art.  Then after they learned about the artwork and the history in the hallway I brought them into my room.  As soon as my students walked through the door they saw that they room had been transformed.

Starting at the art room door I hung sheets from the ceiling using clothes pins and string, so basically, I made a giant sheet tent.  Then I put a digital projector on the floor in the back of the rectangular tent and angled it up to project on the walls and ceiling of the tent.  The uneven surface of the sheets clothes-pinned together was very effective in giving the impression of being in a cave.  There is an awesome website of virtual tour of Lascaux, to which I added a slide show of prehistoric art from around the world.  The following week I lined the halls with crumpled butcher paper and let the kids make drawings using charcoal and chalk pastels, then they signed their art with a hand print.  

Architecture Through the Ages

A few years later I created a similar experience with my room sized sheet tent. By mashing together, screen recording of virtual field trips, Google Earth, and other virtual tours I composed a 1 hour long planetarium-like experience that took students through the most significant architectural triumph throughout human history.  Starting with cave painting at Lascaux, students traveled virtually through castles, Egyptian tombs, Roman coliseums, The Forbidden City, The Paris Opera House, Grand Central Station, and more.    

Real Live Field Trips to the Art Museum 

In addition to all my effort to expose my students to masterpieces while at school in class, there is nothing like seeing the real thing in a museum.  Fortunately, I am lucky enough to teach in a city that houses a world-class art museum.  The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art is one of the most beautiful museums in the world and is a truly unique pedagogy for students to experience.  We spend five hours at the museum with a docent-lead tour in the morning, lunch on the lawn, and then another tour in the afternoon.  I have had many adults worry that the 3rd-grade students will become bored after hours of looking art, but I found the opposite to be true and my field trip surveys show the students want to see more.  My students are thrilled to see in person the same art that they have learned about in class and to learn about new art and artists.  One student said to me, "Mrs. Koon!  You know like how in 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,' everything is made out of chocolate?  This is an art museum and everything is made out of Art!  Even the bathrooms!"