Art at RMS

My new middle school class tumbled into the art room for their first day of art last Tuesday and it was as if they never left. One student was carrying his shiny black star craft, almost finished before the summer “interruption,” One reached for his “moon station”, on the shelf where he left it last June, and the two plugged in the hot glue guns and started in. Across the room, a student who before summer interruption was involved in acrylic paintings on canvas board, set up his palette and began. My youngest student prepared to use the potter’s wheel (a scramble for me because I hadn’t planned on even opening the clay center yet!) and proceeded to instruct a new student in the finer points of wheel throwing. There was “J,” over at the drawing center, starting a new, intricate line drawing with his favorite fine-tipped markers, as two friends settled in at the clay table with some new hand-building projects. Two confirmed digital-artists grabbed seats in the computer center and was joined by another new student, eager to try a computer program he had heard about but “never had a chance to try before.” A dedicated collage artist decided instead to try his hand at puppet-making, and his collage-partner headed to the Construction/Sculpture Center, to make a light-saber handle. ”D,” who spent many classes last spring making complicated puppets, arrived with plans for a series of puppets to compliment those waiting at home. He got right to work mixing papier mache’.
I looked around with pride and wonder at this motivated, capable, self-directed group of young artists on their first day of art. Our Choice-Based art studio was humming with activity and off to a grand start.