Factory ii - Rodriguez ES Art Department

2011-05-17T18:50:00.000-07:00

Yeah, my pouty face as I am very tired, but in a good way. VESSEL has its opening reception on Thursday. I have not managed to get the silent auction manifest pieces on my blog. It has simply been too busy with testing and installing the final pieces for auction. I am hoping there will be a lot of people and even the media in attendence. This exhibition is simply the best work I have ever produce with children. I look forward to seeing our museum patrons, families, faculty and friends at the opening. I will be posting some pictures of the reception later in the week...until then, my work is not finished.

2011-04-25T20:49:00.000-07:00

The PR junket for VESSEL has begun and invites for the opening reception on May 19th have started to go out via email. Sending the "e-vites" is my way of being more eco and budget friendly. I have uploaded the promo picture for the young artists for VESSEL. The pictures were taken by the students on campus, but the background picture was actually taken when I was in Seattle back in March for the National Art Educators Conference. I was inspired by the picture as the modern metal columns reminded me of Greek ruins. The ancient culture of the Greeks was one of the paramount cultures we studied this year for inspiration for our ceramic vessels. It was epic as the ancient gods and monsters of Greece came to life in their constructions and glazework.

Art production is very close to being complete, just a few odds and ends to fire, but the real work of getting the show up is now underway. By May 2nd, the works will be completely up and ready for the opening. Silent auction pieces will be feature here on this blog in a few weeks.

The Manifest for VESSEL

2011-04-25T20:32:00.000-07:00

VESSEL-Modern Explorations in Ancient Pottery from Around the World

2011-04-21T18:49:00.000-07:00

My blog, I have found, simply does not update itself. I could throw a hundred excuses as to why I have not been updating, and the bottom line is I have been simply busy with getting the exhibition ready to debut next week. My students are excited, as their art teacher is, to see VESSEL make its mark!

There are over 130 pieces of pottery created and designed by my students this year. I don't think I have ever played with so much clay and glaze in my entire teaching career. The manifest of work is on my school's museum website, www.wix.com/080892/mosra-and-the-factory-ii, and I will try to upload it on here if space allows. It is simply some of the best work I have facilitated with children. Some many inspriations, so many ways of building and glazing the work to create an exhibition that will tantilize the senses.

The opening reception for the exhibition will be on Thursday, May 19th on the Rodriguez Campus from 4:30 - 6:00pm. Our event will also feature a music program after the reception and our annual silent auction to raise money for MoSRA. I have so much to do and so little time, but I will post later next week to update you on the some of the auction pieces...until then, happy teaching!

Happy Youth Art Month!!!

2011-03-03T19:38:00.000-08:00

Fellow bloggers and followers...Happy Youth Art Month!!! Busy as it has been for me, I would like to recognize this very important time of year and celebrate our young artists out there. Daily...they spend the time to "tickle their passions" and keep their passports to create up to date.

In these tough, financial times, we find fine arts programs accross the country being cut in our schools and disappearing. It is times like Youth Art Month where art educators can find their voice by making the voices and visions of their children heard. Please take the time to acknowledge and showcase your young artists. You are the single, most important voice in advocating your program and what you do for children. If you don't do it, no one will.

Last year at this time, my students' work in watercolor was on display at the City Hall Annex main lobby area. We commemorated YAM by showcasing a prelimnary showing of the works from our MoSRA exhibition, Houston: Urban Landscapes in Watercolor. As my student prepare for our next show, VESSEL - Modern Explorations of Ancient Pottery from Around the World, I find myself awestruck by the capacity for children to create. The arts are the best platform for them to do this. Art with a purpose...it is the only mission in the classroom I have ever known.

2011-02-17T19:07:00.000-08:00

The 4th and 5th graders are doing coil constructions right now...

I know it has been a while since my last blog entry. It has been a very busy, yet fruitful year. Our work for VESSEL - Modern Visions of Ancient Pottery from Around the World has been progressing at a phenomenal rate. My students have far surpassed my expectations. The constructions they have produced have been laced with problem solving, math, science, and bursts of creativity I have not seen in my 13 years in elementary art education. In the fall we began research on ancient greek culture and pottery. Students have been learning about all aspects of the research process and will present research papers and powerpoints for the exhibition opening in May. So far we have completed 4 methods of construction: pinch pots, hump molds, slab constructions, and coiling. We move to "free form" constructions where students will use a variety of construction applications, including wheel throwing. Glazing has been a shear joy. The students are curious and diligent about the process and approach the glazing of their constructions with as much fever as building them. We have weekly crits and talk about the progress of our work together. We just finished a load of glazed hump mold pots using Sax's Colorburst glazes. The effects have been most brilliant with the pots which were painted with at least 3 layrers.

With hard budget cuts coming this way for the next school year, I am going to have to be even more innovative and creative in finding support for my program. As any art educator knows, most of your budget is in consumable materials. I am most thankful for my principal, who I know cringes each and every time I submit a requisition for more clay or glaze, but she knows the end process is well worth any money spent for these kids.

I will post a slideshow of our field experience at the MFAH back in December. It was real "eye opener" for the kids as they had the opportunity to see first hand many of the styles and periods of Greek pottery they had been reading and researching about. It was connective learning at its best. I will try to post more students designing, working, and glazing this truly amazing process.

Ancient Greek Pots with some modern twists...

2010-10-03T20:53:00.001-07:00

Ancient Greek Pottery is our next exploration.

This exemplar is a kylix form model that I am doing with my classes.

We have been connecting science and math with our pinch pots. The 4th grade will be making Moche Animal Pots, while the 5th grade will be using pinch pots to create organic looking whistle pots. We should be finishing them at the end of the week. Also, students will be doing research for the their ancient Greek pottery style explorations. Students will choose a shape such as the krater, or kylix, or amphorae and will have to do a presentation on based on research. Students will begin coil constructions in the 2nd nine weeks based on a style they choose.

Measuring the changes in weight as our clay pots dry out.

Then..we are taking a break from recording our data in measuring?

New School Year...New School Things!!!

2010-09-20T19:22:00.000-07:00

Making Moche Animal Pinch Pots with my self-contained class of 4th graders.

Our first round of pots...the basic, classic pinch pot!

I know it has been a while since my last post and I am already 5 weeks into the new school year. Needless to say, I am one tired educator. My new role as team leader for our new "core enrichment" team has been challenging to say the least. I feel like I am constantly typing on my keyboard, responding to emails, sending emails, updating forms, paperwork, team meeting agendas, lesson plans, ILT (Instructional Leadership Team) meetings, IPDP (ippy dippies), PD presentations...and the list goes on and on and...on. The one thing which remains ever constant is the instense passion in which I maintain in my art classroom. Despite all the busy, crazy things going on outside my classroom, I find myself each year a bit more focused, more seasoned and I am really enjoying my kids this year. One of the great and fun challenges of this school year is the pilot test of my first "self contained" classroom. This year through a selection process, students in the 4th and 5th grade had the option of auditioning to be in perfomance bound blocks of our core enrichment program (formally known as "ancillary" classes). I will be seeing the same group of 4th graders and 5th graders for the entire school year. This change in our program will allow for deeper, more intense explorations in our art, music, and broadcast journalism classes. It is a change I gladly welcome and excited to see the results this year.

Pottery is our exploration theme this year. I am overwhelmed with the daunting task of finding monies to buy supplies. Budgets are slim and continue to dwindle, so I must be more "creative" in my approaches to keeping up the quality of my school's art program. Materials to make art are expensive and when you service over 900 young artists...that is a major undertaking. One of my prospective grant funding sources hopefully will come from http://www.donorschoose.org/ . This organization literally takes the difficultly of writing a grant proposal and simplifies it. I am hoping some people and organizations find the time and generosity to donate to our exhibition this year.

"Vessel - Modern Visions of Ancient Pottery from Around the World" is the title of MoSRA's next exhibition. We are using the study of the ceramics of ancient cultures from around the world to catipult our ceramic explorations this year. Students will translate these iconic, historic relics into their own ceramic vessels with huge modern and contemporary twists. I am very excited to once again see how my students take the "ball" and run with it.

We will also be updating our "Sparks Park" with some much needed artworks this year in preparations for celebrating our school's 10 year annivsersary.

I will be trying to blog more frequently as our exhibition develops.

Artfully yours,

Michael Bourquin
Art Specialist

Highlights from the opening reception of Houston-Urban Landscapes in Watercolor

2010-05-24T16:48:00.001-07:00

I know it has been over a week now, but for those of you who missed it...it was a grand old time in the art museum that night. A great time was had by all who attended. Over $1,000 was raised in our annual silent auction fundraiser and proceeds go to fund future exhibtions for the museum. Thanks to all who made this exhibition a huge success for our students.

Rodriguez Welcomes Tae Kyoung Ahn

2010-05-03T16:31:00.000-07:00

Monday, May 3rd, 2004

I had the pleasure today of meeting with representatives of CityArtworks and artist Tae Kyoung Ahn, or T.K. on our campus today. T.K. will be Rodriguez Elementary School's first artist in residence and I couldn't be more excited. She brings a very energetic, colorful new perspective to the completion of our exploration in watercolor and the landscape this year. Bringing T.K. to our campus was made possible through a special grant for HISD and the organization, Young Audiences. City Artworks is the organization that sponsors T.K. Needless to say, my young artists are in for a real treat in the next couple of weeks as we round up the school year. Our goal project is to culminate our studio experiences this year with T.K. by creating a large 3-D mural in watercolor which will be permanently installed on our campus. Here is a link to T.K.'s own website: http://tkstarlight.com/

You are in for a real treat. I love her expressive and textural uses of color in her painting. Two of my students met her today and were so excited. I will keep you posted on our progress with this watercolor installation which we will debut later in the upcoming school year to commemorate our school's 10th anniversary.

Silent Auction Pieces-Trendy Houston and the "Experiments"

2010-05-01T16:10:00.000-07:00

Here are the trendy Houston watercolor paintings and the "Experiments" up for

auction...

The "Experiments"-View of Downtown from City Hall - Gallery 2

David Gavarrete - 5th Grade

60.9 cm X 23 cm

Trendy Houston-Jamail Skate Park at Fonde Recreation Center-Gallery 3

Raymundo Mata - 5th Grade

45.7 cm X 35.5 cm

Trendy Houston - Jamail Skate Park at Fonde Recreation Center - Gallery 3

Eddison Fuentes - 5th Grade

35.5 cm X 27.9 cm

Trendy Houston - A view of graffiti art at Jamail Skate Park - Gallery 3

Alan Robledo - 5th Grade

35.5 cm X 27.9 cm

Silent Auction Pieces-Iconic Houston

2010-04-30T16:38:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the Iconic Houston watercolors up for auction in
two weeks...

Iconic Houston - The Reflection Pool, City Hall - Gallery 1

Alan Robledo - 5th Grade

76.2 cm X 55.9 cm

Iconic Houston - Hermann Park - Gallery 1
Hebelen Repreza - 5th Grade
17.8 cm X 12.7 cm

Iconic Houston - City Hall - Gallery 1
Alan Robledo - 5th Grade
30.5 cm X 25.4 cm

Iconic Houston - Hermann Park - Gallery 1

Dwayne Miranda - 4th Grade

17.8 cm X 12.7 cm

Iconic Houston - Hermann Park - Gallery 1

Esther Rodriguez - 5th Grade

25.4 cm X 20.3 cm

Iconic Houston - City Hall - Gallery 1

Fredy Charreo - 5th Grade

17.8 cm X 12.7 cm

Iconic Houston-City Hall-Gallery 1

Adrian Hernandez-5th Grade

17.8 cm X 12.7 cm

Iconic Houston - Kiam Building - Gallery 1

Luis Gutierrez - 4th Grade

12.7 cm X 17.8 cm

Silent Auction Pieces for Houston-Urban Landscapes

2010-04-26T18:18:00.000-07:00

We have started our posting of artworks* which will in our silent auction fundraiser at our exhibition opening on Thursday, May 13th. All auction works include the frame that the work is presented in. Since we are a school, we ask that all bids be paid for with either check or cash. Your purchase is tax deductible and all proceeds go directly to fund future exhibitions for MoSRA.

All bids for all the works in the silent auction start at $25.00, however each work will list a guaranteed purchase, meaning if you are wanting the work and will pay the purchase price listed for it, it is yours.

Works in this tier fall in the category of Historic Houston. Many of the 4th graders enjoyed their visit and photos from Rice University and many of the watercolors in this section of the exhibition are of Lovett Hall. The students really enjoyed the European feel that the architecture shows on the campus. Works from the Iconic Houston and Trendy Houston will post later in the week.

*Please note that photos come from the exhibition manifest and some works were photographed unfinished at the time they were catalogued. Works in the auction are completed.

Historic Houston - Lovett Hall, Rice University - Gallery 4
Katerin Gomez - 4th Grade
15.2 cm X 23 cm

Historic Houston - Lovett Hall, Rice University - Gallery 4
Rosa Salguero - 4th Grade
30.5 cm X 23 cm

Historic Houston - Lovett Hall, Rice University - Gallery 4
Ruben Monterrosa - 4th Grade
30.5 cm X 23 cm

Historic Houston - Lovett Hall, Rice University - Gallery 4
Luis Gutierrez - 4th Grade
30.5 cm X 23 cm

Historic Houston - Lovett Hall, Rice University - Gallery 4
Ricky Martinez - 4th Grade
30.5 cm X 23 cm

Historic Houston - Lovett Hall, Rice University - Gallery 4
Jose Rivas - 4th Grade
40 cm X 34 cm

Historic Houston - Lovett Hall, Rice University - Gallery 4
Jorge Terrazas - 4th Grade
30.5 cm X 23 cm

Historic Houston - House in Old 6th Ward - Gallery 4
Juan Toc - 4th Grade
32cm X 25 cm

Historic Houston - Lovett Hall,Rice University - Gallery 4
Luis Gutierrez - 4th Grade
17.8 cm X 12.5 cm

>
Historic Houston - Lovett Hall, Rice University - Gallery 1
Jose Ochoa - 4th Grade
57 cm X 57 cm

2010-04-11T18:42:00.000-07:00

Sunday, April 18th, 2010

It has been a busy couple of weeks getting the show at Rodriguez up. Most of the work is framed and staged for the exhibtion. Now it is time for putting the finishing touches on the show such as signage, displays, and other curatorial duties. The students are so very excited to see their work up on the walls and in the frames. It gives a sense of completeness to the work. In the classroom, we have been focusing on biographies and their "glamshots" for their bios. We used Adobe Photoshop CS4 to create their glamshots like this one here. Each of the 53 artists in the exhibition will have one to go with their short bios. The artist is imposed onto a photograph from their field trips earlier in the year. The color scheme for the exhibition is magenta (historic Houston), yellow (iconic Houston), and cyan (trendy Houston) and so the colors of the displays and signage reflect that idea in the theme of the exhibition. It really adds a contemporary feel to the show and the museum's exhibitions reflect contemporary and modern art themes, ie Pop Art, Abstract Expressionism, etc. The next pictures are some gallery shots. The call tags for the works will not be placed next to the artworks until the show has been juried sometime at the end of the month.Right now they can only be identified by at "TR"number which is the accession number, just like an art object would be catalogued at a real art museum in the registrar's deptartment. The display cases are the only thing really left to put together before the opening. The one you see here is dedicated to the Greater Houston Preservation Alliance who helped in

the planning of our exhibition.

At the end of this month, I will be placing a list of works on this blog which will be placed in our silent auction. I don't know if I will have time place a picture of every painting in the exhibition, as there are over 100 of them. My colleague, Katie Gonzalez at Briargrove, will be helping me in the process of getting the auction pieces on this blog so patrons can see early on what they may want to bid on.

City Hall Annex Show Closing Reception

2010-03-26T17:25:00.000-07:00

Friday, March 26

Today was our closing reception for our show at the City Hall Annex. What a way to end Youth Art Month!!! I don't know who was more proud of our students, the teacher or their parents. Regardless, it was a great way to end the month. The after school program at our school and Recipe for Success catered a marvelous reception with organic foods that looked like little artworks themselves. The students were so excited to see their work downtown in a great public venue. I will pick up the work from the venue on Wednesday afternoon and continue work on opening our exhibition at Rodriguez on April the 5th. A lot of work still needs to be done and the students are starting to burn out a bit. Not so much from working on the show, but from the rigor of preparing for their TAK exams this coming month. It is very stressful but I know that my students will continue their hard work and efforts to get everything done for our deadline. Bring the real world to the kids and they really step up their game, that is what I say. The greatest reward about today was seeing the gratitude and appreciation the parents have for what we have done with their kids. From creating a great quality art show to recognizing them from their hard work, it really does make a difference on not only what you do with your students in the art room but how you do it. I look foward to the coming weeks with great excitement and anticipation. Texas Art Supply has decided to donate gift certificates for our best of show and honorable mention artists for the exhibition. I am very appreciative of this company for realizing the importance of recognizing our students at this level. All of these things really do make an incredible difference to children in building their confidence and self esteem. I am very proud of each and every one of them.

City Hall Annex Show is up!

2010-03-12T20:51:00.000-08:00

March 12, 2010

As I take a much needed and deserved Spring Break, I wanted to share with you the installation of art from from our landscape exhibtion preview at the City Hall Annex downtown. Ms. Cindy Trujillo, our Title I Coordinator, and myself embarked on the venue on Tuesday, March 9th to put the work up. I would have loved to been able to take our student exhibtion design team to put the work up with me, but they are needed in the classroom to prepare for TAKS. It only took about an hour to put the work up thanks to a lot of good planning and organization. Maricela Kruseman who is the liason for Cultural Affairs for the Mayor's Office was instrumental in getting things set up for the venue. The work was already getting commentary and accolades even before we were finished. So much that two people handed me their business cards asking if they could know more about the exhibtion. One of the gentlemen asked if the work was high school and Cindy explained that they were in 4th and 5th grade and that man over there is the art teacher who helped make it happen. It made me very proud. Proud for our students who have worked so hard in producing such quality watercolor landscape paintings. We will have some more pictures posted after the break from the reception on Friday, March 26th. It will be quite a fun event and I am really looking forward to letting my students bask in the light of the recogonition they so much deserve.

And the work continues...City Hall Annex is a GO!!!

2010-03-05T16:20:00.000-08:00

Friday, March 4th, 2010

To my surprise, everything for the City Hall Annex Show is going very well. It is still crunch time for signage, call tags, and presenting the work. I met with my principal this week who was delighted to see the progress of this showing of student work from our school. She wants a small reception at the venue which we will have on Friday, March 26th from 3pm - 4pm. We are ordering a bus to take the artists and their families to the venue and we will celebrate their wonderful accomplishment. Our own culinary program will cater the reception and make the food and beverages for it. I will need to go into work on Saturday to finish up the displays and place the call tags on the frames. I am actually attaching them to the back of the frames so they actually hang off them. It is a quick fix to the problem of not being able to hang the work and tags on the walls directly. They will look very cool when they are done.

Meanwhile, back at the factory ii, the exhibtion designers are beginning the prep for the walls and display cases for the main exhibition which will open on our campus April 5th. Carlos and Aaron have been doing a remarkable job. They will also work with other students in artwork preparations. We are using the colors of black, yellow, cyan, and magenta as our backdrop colors for the entire exhibiton. We think it will give the exhibition a modern and contemporary feel. The curators have been busy with field trips and TAKS so we have had to put that on hold for a week. The exhibition will be curated in basically four essential parts: Historic Houston, Iconic Houston, Trendy Houston, and finally a section labeled, the Experiments in Watercolor. Some of the feature artists have been producing muliple paintings and are wanting to explore the media beyond the techniques we learned in the classroom, so we are going to have a part of the exhibition which features this exploration. The final phase of work will involve selection of the many pieces of art being produced for muesuem's silent auction fundraiser. These pieces will be featured on the blogs so that patrons who want to see the selections may do so before they even get to the reception on Thursday, May 13th.

On a final note, Courtney Tardy and Jim Parsons from the Greater Houston Preservation Alliance stopped by on Wednesday to help me with the call tags and work titles for the art. They were blown away, as I have been, by the quality and integrity of the pieces. What impressed me was they did not require the actual photos the students painted from to identify the landscape scenes. They named buildings and venues we visited on the field trips in January from looking at the paintings alone. Jim presented to their board of directors at their quarterly meeting that afternoon, and were also blown away. So blown away, that I have been asked to come to their office to meet with two internationally known designers who have some ideas and would like to promote the exhibtion further. I am very excited for this opportunity for our students to have this "real world" experience of dealing with other organizations and supporters of our exhibition.

Life is going great at the factory...and the work continues.

YAM - Youth Art Month

2010-03-01T19:00:00.000-08:00

March 1st, 2010

Today marks the first day of the month and also kicks off YAM, Youth Art Month. I hope everyone out there in education, especially art education, is doing their part to support the visual arts in their schools.

I am very fortunate to be in a school where visual art is thriving and supported by our parents, students, and faculty. Not every school out there can say they have an art program. Many educators and colleagues express how lucky my students are to have me in the classroom and share this wonderful thing called "ART" everyday with them. In these time where budgets are being cut and programs compromised because there just isn't the money to support an art program, we all must be advocates for bring the world of art to our young people. Visual art develops self esteem, apprieciation for the work of others, cooperation with others, critical thinking skills - skills vital to the success of our future leaders - our children. Please join me and other art educators in demonstrating how vital art education is to our young people by supporting this month by donating your time or money to a worthy school art cause.

This month I will be blogging on ways we can all support our local, state, and national art education programs so that the future will remain bright and open for our future young artists.

Coming to a City Hall Annex near you...

2010-02-26T17:48:00.000-08:00

February 26th, 2010

Today I met with Maricela Knuseman from the Mayor's office and viewed the display space where some of our watercolor painting will hang at in the City Hall Annex during Youth Art Month. I will admit I was somewhat nervous as I was not sure of the size of the venue, lighting, or what the atmosphere would be like. I was very pleased with what I saw and what Maricela told me what we could do. This is the first really "public" venue where I have featured my students' work, except within my district for shows and the MFAH. The City Hall Annex lobby is a viewing venue where a lot of people will have exposure to my students' work and our art program at Rodriguez. What has been the most difficult is the selection of pieces. There are just so many good ones to choose from. I almost wish I could call in the calvary and have some fellow art teachers in my circle come and pick the pieces for me. It is so hard to do. This whole exhibition has been a very liberating experience for both myself and my students. I have also been out drumming up sponsor support for the exhibition. I will begin a press junket next week for the City Hall showing of pieces and put together the final PR campaign for the exhibition before I convene for spring break. Our press releases are done but need to be tweeked. I am also hoping we will have the funds at our school to purchase a bus to shuttlle students and their families to a little reception we are having at the end of the showing at the annex.

This year, we will be hanging the show in very different format this year. The installation will happen the weekend before the official opening of the exhibiton on Monday, April 5th, so the students, parents and faculty will be very surprised when walk into the school that week and see all of the beautiful watercolors about Houston hanging in the hallway gallaries. The students are so motivated and even skip recess and use their free time to come into the studio to work on their paintings. Some students are even working on their 3rd or 4th landscape painting. I told these students that at the rate they are whipping out these watercolors, we will not have enough frames for all of them so we will have to find some more. I promised my students I would hang every watercolor that was good enough to hang...and that is a lot of them. We are averaging 20 really good ones each week...with each color group. My star artist today was Ricky M...who is doing a wonderful composition from the museum district.

It has been a productive week in the factory ii...

2010-02-24T16:22:00.000-08:00

Despite having some serious neck pain, production of our exhibition continues at an alarmingly exponential rate. My little "Picasso", Jose O. is really stepping up his game this year. Although this painting he is working on of Lovett Hall on the Rice University Campus is his first painting for the exhibition, he has been playing with watercolor for most of the school year. He is an acrylic painter by heart... loves the stuff, but he has opened up to the versitility of the medium and it has created some very interesting results. His first watercolor painting of the year looked much like an acrylic painting. Watercolor is a very delicate and often difficult media to learn and master. Students often have to "rethink" the painting process as they try to treat the paint like opaque based mediums like tempra and acrylic. Getting kids to understand the tranceparency of the paint and its inherent qualities of being a unique paint to use is the key to success. That is where teaching the science of the paint comes in. By exploring the techniques of wash, wet on wet, and spraying, students get to see first hand the properties of not only water, but how the water reacts with the pigments and resists such as oil, friskets, and even rubbing alcohol. It is truly magical to watch students explore this medium and its possiblilities.

They love to experiment and push the qualities of the paint to its potential. I feel that I have been successful with this because I have not only demonstrated the techniques for them, I also play with the media right along with them. I have also been painting my own watercolor landscapes with them as they paint their own. It is like being in a real art studio rather than a classroom where we learn about art. This is something that artists get to do in the real world, and I do what I can everyday to bring the real world into my room. Here are some more pictures of all of us having fun this week...

Exhibition Preparations and the Plank Fellowship Award for FFT

2010-02-18T19:35:00.000-08:00

February 18th, 2010

It has been a very busy two weeks at Rodriguez. The factory ii is in overdrive and cranking out some major watercolors. I had to place an order for more paint and paper as I have sumarily run out of both. Supplies started trickling in today so we should be able to finish all my groups by the end of the month. I have been most impressed with the quality, integrity, and intensity which all my students have shown in the past weeks.

I will be very busy for the next two weeks prepping a small sample of the exhibtion which will debut at the City Hall Annex downtown on March 9th. It is my small contribution to recognizing Youth Art Month which is in March. I have been busy matting and framing 17 watercolors which will mount on easal rather than a wall hanging. It always makes me leary displaying work on easals because the work can always be knocked down. The students are very excited to see what pieces will be on display and I am hoping we can get a group of families, teachers, and students to venture out and see the work on display once it is up.

Also, I have been busy with the Fund for Teachers organization once again. I think that FFT is a wonderful organization that allows teachers to explore the "organic" side of their profession and gives them them opportunity to create some great and unique professional development opportunites. This year I will be applying for the Plank Fellowship Award. It is an opportunity to be recognized for demonstrating a continued drive and passion from what I learned during my fellowship in 2007. I had to write an essay, gather letters of support (one of which was written by a student which made me cry), and other supplemental materials, like this one here:

This slide show is merely a sample of the great stuff that can happen as a result of a great experience like my fellowship with this organization. This year I really feel I have made and produced some of the best work ever with my students.

HOUSTON - Urban Landscapes in Watercolor

2010-02-09T15:32:00.000-08:00

February 9th, 2010

It has been a busy couple of weeks at school. My 4th and 5th graders are really knocking out some fantastic watercolor paintings for the exhibition which officially opens at Rodriguez on April 5th. We have been working on a promo for the exhibition which I have posted here today. We will tweak it a bit as the exhibition gets closer to opening.

I must say that I am overly impressed with the way my students have stepped up to the challenge of working with watercolor. I know from my younger days, that watercolor was a very frustrating media to learn. It has also been a challenge for them. In preparation for Youth Art Month in March, I have been working with the city of Houston to display and promote the exhibition from the City Hall Annex. We will be displaying 10 works from the exhibition there during the first two weeks in March. The students are excited to see which pieces will be selected to show.

This exhibition has been a lot of fun to do and produce with the kids and I cannot wait for our opening reception in May. I am going to post the official entries on a later post, but I thought I would give you all a "sneek peek" at some of the possible pieces. Let me know what you think!

Here is a slideshow from our landscape field trips

in January... as you can see, we had a lot of FUN!!!

Some West Region Art Teachers Catch 'blogging" fever!

2010-02-05T13:13:00.000-08:00

Katie Gonzalez, art teacher from Briargrove ES, was one of the presenters at a Bellaire Feeder Pattern PLC hosted by Longfellow ES. Elementary art teachers from the West Region were hosted at Rodriguez EB on Friday, February 5th to faciliate discussions on how elementary art teachers are using technology in their classrooms. Mrs. Gonzalez presented on art blogging, while Marla Roberson from Harrod ES presented on ELMO and projectors in the art classroom. It was a great opportunity for art teachers to share their best practices using technology in the classroom.

2010-01-14T08:43:00.000-08:00

4th and 5th Grade Field Experiences Providing Authentic Inspiration for MoSRA's Upcoming Landscape Exhibition

Yesterday, we completed our 5th grade Houston field experience. Luckily with both experiences the weather was cooperative, unlike back in December when it rained on both of the days were originally supposed to go. I was pleased with the photography that came from both groups. What I have posted above is just a very, very small sample of the work shot by students from their trips. I feel there will be enough authentic material for the kids to work from to create their watercolor landscapes. They are very excited to begin their final paintings starting next week.

A special thanks goes to Courtney and Jim from the Greater Houston Preservation Alliance. They helped plan and excute our tour itneraries for each trip. It was great to have a walking encyclopedia of knowledge about Houston with as we were walking around taking pictures of this big city. I would also like to thank the MFAH (the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston) for giving us wonderful guided docent tours about the genre of landscapes. It was great for the students as they started finally "connecting the dots" about what we have been learning about all year. Students proposed insightful questions about the historical, cultural, aesthetic, and technical development of the genre of landscape painting.

These two organizations have been vital in helping establish the authenticity I strive to achieve when displaying student work. Instead of "cookie cutter" art products, we will see individually developed conceptual watercolor paintings...each from student created landscape photographs. I am very excited as we move into the final phases of creating this wonderful exhibition.

It all begins with a field trip...Houston Landscape Exhibition Begins to Bear Fruit...

2010-01-11T17:06:00.000-08:00

Monday, January 11th, 2010

As much as I can say about chance, I believe that there is a purpose and karma to everything we do. We were supposed to take our landscape field experiences back in December but cold and rain halted our plans...abruptly. I took the bull by the horns and canceled both my 4th and 5th grade trips and today was the first of the "rescheduled" trips. Today it was 4th graders and we could not have asked for a better day. Although it was still cold for Houston standards, it was a clear and sunny day. Perfect for photography.

With assistance from the Greater Houston Preservation Alliance, we had a wonderful itnerary planned and a tour guide to show us the "iconic and historic" side of Houston. It was a wonderful opportunity for the 4th graders to connect with the social studies curriculum, while at the same time focus on those fine composition and photography skills. Armed with school cameras, as well as their own, my young artists conquered the mountain and came home with some super film of our experience.

I am always impressed with the "organic" style I draw upon to inspire and challenge my students. The photographs taken will be used in the classroom to create authentic products in the media of watercolor. Although it is "crunch" time, I feel confident my students will deliver some incredibly well executed renderings of our city of Houston in watercolor media. We have been working all year with this difficult and most magical material. If their exercises are any indication of what to expect...then this teacher is in for the most delectible treat.

We will be targeting the best from the "batch" to display at the City Hall Annex for the last part of Youth Art Month in March. So it is time to burn the "midnight oil" and paint until our hands fall off. Among the techniques we are exploring are wet on wet, dry on wet, and a host of other experimental processes, such as ink dropers, tooth brushes, a variety of resists, and of course...my favorite for sky renderings...salt.

I will keep you all updated on our progress...

Artfully yours,

Michael

It all started with this crazy idea...

2009-12-17T11:32:00.000-08:00

It all started with this crazy idea that if I created an art gallery or museum for my school that my students would understand the importance of visual literacy (seeing and understand world around them), career awareness, and creating a college bound culture.

So, in the spring of 2002, 16 gifted and talented 2nd Graders seeking some much needed enrichement and myself embarked on this journey of creating what would become important part of the art culture of my school, MoSRA, or the Museum of Sylvan Rodriguez Art. I know, MoSRA, sounds kind of weird, but again I did not create the name, the 2nd Graders did and guess what? The name stuck and grew to what it is today.

Now in 2009, I can successfully admit that the museum's permanent collection has about 100 pieces. The museum hosts yearly exhibitions, usually in the spring. Each year students collectively decide what new pieces made by students will be accessioned into the museum's permanent collection. The success of the MoSRA, besides the student investment, is in great thanks to the Museum of Fine Arts Houston. The MFAH was monumental in helping me create the "museum classroom" and a new benchmark for presenting and evaluating student work at the elementary school level.

Coincidently as I was creating my vision of the museum classroom, David Burton, a professor in the Department of Art Education at Virginia Commonweath University, wrote a book called "Exhibiting Student Art - The Essential Guide For Teachers" . It is a highly recommended read for any art teacher who desires a fresh, dynamic approach to exhibiting and showing student work.

As soon as I can figure this blogging thing out, I am going to post some pictures about MoSRA, its history, and its current exhibition coming in the spring of 2010. Until then, everyone have great holiday season and the best new year.

M

My first post for the Factory ii...

2009-12-08T16:24:00.000-08:00

Greetings and saluations,

I am pleased to officially announce my first ever...I mean ever, blog. I am very new to this venue of communication so I hope you will be patient with me as I work out the "kinks".

The purpose of this blog is to promote and advocate the visual and performing arts in and out of my classroom at Rodriguez ES, where I am currently the art teacher. In the tradition of other schools in my feeder pattern, Briargrove ES and The School at St. George's Place, I hope to bring you all that is good and awesome in the art world of Rodriguez ES.

I want to thank Katie Gonzalez and Lauren Taylor for being my new "partners in crime"...my kindred art spirits and the creators of Art WOW! These two gals pack a punch it the art classroom. It is good to know I am not in a vacuum...that in all of the craziness and chaos of my profession...that there is a warm place of sharing and community.

Today was a very special day for me in my profession. Myself, along with 15 other professionals embarked on an event sponsored by one of region's executive principals, Ann Sledge called "A Caravan of Learning". Katie, myself and two other wonderful colleagues presented art lessons in their classrooms in front of other art teachers to share our best practices in the classroom. It was a great day to see and share what we do best with kids. It was truly some of the best professional development I have ever participated in.

I have posted a few pics from the event and will begin posting artwork and projects from students very soon.

Welcome to the Factory ii!

Artfully yours,

Michael