Strange Creatures: an additive wood sculpture project - Recycling renaissance - Brief Article

Arts & Activities, June, 2002 by Andrew Wales

One of the greatest challenges for elementary art teachers is finding three-dimensional art projects that don't cost a lot. One source for inexpensive materials I have found is the leftover scraps of wood from people I know who enjoy woodworking as a hobby.

Whenever I start this project with students, I ask if anyone in the class knows someone who makes things out of wood. Everyone knows someone who does and a few send word that we're collecting scraps. Many are happy to give since they were planning on throwing them out anyway.

I do supplement this source with the bags of wood scraps available in the art-supply catalogs. From here we get wonderfully perfect wood spheres and other shapes we wouldn't otherwise get.

After we accumulate boxes and boxes of wood scraps, the students sit down with a pile of them and look at the shapes they see and what the shapes remind them of. We glue them together with white glue. Sometimes the constructions require pieces of masking tape to hold the wood together until it dries.

On the following week, any tape is removed and we begin painting the project. On the week after that, we begin adding any details. The theme for the class is "Strange Creatures." To construct a model of their newly discovered creature, students add yarn, feathers, eyes, bits of fabric, beads and so on.

When finished, the students write a paragraph about their creatures, describing where it lives, what it eats, what sound it makes and whatever else they want to share.

For other classes, the theme is "Transportation of the Future." These classes design the jets, spaceships, cars and other vehicles we will be seeing in the future. Whatever the theme, children love to create three-dimensional projects. Our wood box station is an inexpensive introduction to additive sculpture.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Students will ...

* create artworks that use organization principles and functions to solve specific visual-art problems. (They will construct a freestanding sculpture from bits of wood. If their creature keeps falling over, they will see this as a design problem to solve. They may have to rethink and revise their plan to create a creature that stands independently.)

* use different media, techniques and processes to communicate ideas, experiences and stories. (They will decorate the sculpture until it resembles a creature from their imagination.)

* identify connections between the visual arts and other disciplines in the curriculum. (They will write a paragraph describing where their creature lives, what it eats, what sound it makes, etc.)

* intentionally take advantage of the qualities and characteristics of art media, techniques and processes to enhance communication of their experiences and ideas. (Found objects such as feathers or fabric might suggest to the artist ideas about where their creature lives or how it moves.)

MATERIALS

* Donated scraps of wood

* Bags of wood shapes purchased from art-supply catalogs

* White glue

* Tempera paint

* Craft eyes and feathers

* Yarn

* Fabric scraps

* Beads

Andrew Wales teaches art in the Athens (Pa.) Area Schools.