Art : March 2017

James Mollison’s “Playground”

Your Classroom is a Playground for Art

Issues: Limited funding for art classrooms and/or schools, limited materials, how to use non-art materials for art

Learning Goals:

1. Discuss how art making can be fun and productive at the same time

2. Discover how art making and learning is possible with limited materials

Questions:

1. What memories do you have of the playground?

2. How do playgrounds now differ from when you were a child?

3. What is the purpose or function of a playground? Do kids learn specific skills or is the playground only for play?

4. What is the difference between play and work?

5. How can you play in your classroom? How can you accomplish your learning goals while doing so?

6. Some of the images in the Playground exhibit show school yards without much in them, but the children are still able to play and have fun. How can you still have good art projects and accomplish your learning goals if you have limited materials or funding?

7. Can it be beneficial to your students to limit the materials they can use for a project? How?

Project: In small groups, design a playground using only the materials given. Think about the structure of your playground: is it purely functional or could it be a work of art that also functions as a playground? Will your playground facilitate learning of specific skills or is it just for play? At the end, we will go around and show off our playgrounds and discuss them.

Materials:

· Plastic cups

· Plastic straws

· Paper

· Masking tape

· Scissors

· Markers