Community Time

Rules:
-Our first activity consisted of coming together as a group to create rules for all students to follow.
-Since a lot of the students came from UAY and already understood the idea of UPR, this activity was not effective, and resulted in a very quiet community time. In retrospect, a more interactive activity would have been best, to get the students moving around and excited for the classes.


Pencil Cases:
-Students took clear packing tape, and decorated the sticky side with tissue paper before sealing the design with more tape. Students would then fold the tape, and seal the edges, to create the final product.
-I think project was a success, because students could either do this quickly and return to conversing with their peers, or take up the whole time to create the project. The only people who took longer than the allotted time were those who were not staying on task.


Cups:
-Students were given ceramic mugs and made their own designs on the mugs using Sharpie. After they were done, these cups were taken and baked in an oven to set the design, before returning them to the students.
-This project also worked out well, because it gave students a lot of freedom to create whatever they wanted. It was also a simple activity, so they could draw and talk at the same time.,


T-Shirt Designs:
-Every year, UAY creates shirts for the art workshops,and the students are the ones who create the letters for the front and their own designs for the back. We decided that the design on the back would be something that they felt represented themselves- i.e. animal, form, object, etc.
-This was similar to the cup activity, because students could easily multitask. Since we kept the design they had to create for the back open and vague, we also got a lot of really neat drawings to put on the t-shirt.


Tie-Dye Shirts:
-To make each students t-shirt even more unique, we decided to have a community time spent tie-dyeing their shirts before the designs were printed onto them. Students were taught a few different ways to roll/fold their shirts, and after choosing their design, were then sent into the other room to start adding the color to their shirts.
-Although this activity was the coolest, it was definitely the most difficult and labor intensive. During community time, the students typically like to kick back and relax for a bit before going into the activity we have planned for them, but tie-dyeing was going to require all of the time. So trying to push students along to make sure they completed their shirt was very stressful, and it was a difficult transition from community time to class time. It also added more work for us outside of class, because we each had to take five shirts home to rinse off and wash before the next Thursday.


Sharpie Designs:
-Since the method of adding the designs onto the t-shirts was silkscreen, the t-shirt designs had to be outlined in Sharpie, so that they would show through the screen.
-We initially thought that the students might appreciate the down time before having to start class, but it took them a really short time to outline their designs. The amount of time between them finishing and class beginning was really awkward, but adding in another activity might have proved to have been more hectic. This day could have been combined with the first t-shirt design day, but it was a detail that slipped our minds.


Dog Tugs:
-Our professor, Clar Baldus, encouraged the idea of eventually taking the focus off of the self and towards society, which is when we decided to do a community project. We then came up with the idea to create dog tugs, and donate them to local dog shelters in the area. We had cut long strips of fleece prior to the class, so all the students would have to do is braid them into tugs. Since the braids had to be really tight, it was best for students to buddy up, so one could hold the knot while the other braided.
-I think this was another successful project, because the students who wanted to do the activity and go back to snacking could create just one dug tug, and those who wanted to stay engaged throughout the whole period could create two to three. The time management was a lot better on this activity, and I think the students enjoyed the opportunity to give back to the community.


Artist Statements:
-Since most of us were going to be focusing on artist statements during this lesson, we decided to have an intro activity to get all of the students into the right schema. After discussing what an artist statement consists of, we put a prompt on the board, and then allowed the rest of the time for students to write out an outline for their own artist statements that they could later use in class.
-I do not think that the discussion went as well as we would have hoped, and we only had our prompt questions up on the board, despite encouraging them to chip into what they think would be a good question. Also, despite reminding my students about their outlines in my class, I do not think they even glanced at them while they were writing their final artist statement for their works.