I've Got a Fever, And The Only Thing That Will Cure It Is More Art apps!

In the creative world of Art 1 students are working on "pop" art inspired icon paintings (The Warhol: Great resource for lessons & slide shows about Pop Art & Andy Warhol). The students create these in a very similar method to that which Andy Warhol used for his famous portraits.  Students "appropriate" images from the Internet.

Appropriation is essentially "stealing" an image, someone else has created. This method of image acquisition allows for a healthy discussion of digital efficacy, fair use, copyright, and plagiarism. Students were asked to email to website creators for the websites that held the images that they "borrowed".  Here is a link to a good resource for teaching fairuse & copyright. http://home.earthlink.net/~cnew/research.htm.

Lesson Plans From The Warhol By Curriculum Area Based on Pop Art:
http://edu.warhol.org/lbipop/lbipop.html

The images students find are then altered to create a new original image. This new image will be used by students to create their own pop art icon portraits.  This marriage of digital and traditional art creation has every student engaged, and excited, especially to use new technology.

While students were waiting for their turn to use the only computer in my art room with Adobe Photoshop, another union of digital and traditional art was taking place. The students who were waiting  played around with my new iPad and an app I recently downloaded called Let's Create Pottery HD Lite.  This app allows for virtual pottery creation on the potters wheel.  I was amazed at how this one notebook with a single student user, had the other eight students who were waiting their turn, engaged, excited and focused on art.

Now throwing a pot on a potters wheel is no way, at all, as simple as this app makes it appear but, this app has given my students a taste for pottery and "throwing".  Even more exciting is that it has the students excited to try the potters wheel in our upcoming ceramics unit. The way this app excited my students has me thinking.  I'm thinking that I need more art apps as lead ins and resources to get students engaged.  Using both virtual art and traditional methods I can reach all my learners, or at the least keep them all focused and thinking art.

I've got a fever, and the only thing that will cure it is more art apps!