LOWER ELEMENTARY Posted by Cheryl Allen.Monday, March 23, 2015

Each month we study an artist. We usually read a book about the artist, look at some examples of his or her work, and do work in the style of the artist. This month we are studying Jeff Koons, an American artist. Although he is a prolific artist and has worked in many mediums, we focused on his sculptures that are easily enjoyed by children. We looked at his Puppy and Split Rocker sculptures which are covered in living plants and his huge balloon sculptures which look like balloon animals but are actually stainless steel with beautiful shiny coloring. We found pictures of how the flowers are planted for Puppy and Split Rocker and enjoyed seeing that process. We readThere Are No Animals in the Book (Only Feelings) by Chani Sanchez and Jeff Koons, which contains pieces by Jeff Koons and other artists. We all loved the book and the art work.

Since we could not make a huge sculpture and plant it with live flowers, we created our own version. On the shelf sit styrofoam pieces, a cone, a cylinder, a rectangular prism, and (the favorite) a wig stand type head. Next to these is a tray with a basket of flowers and a smaller basket with a jumbo push pin. Students get to make a hole if needed and cover the styrofoam with flowers. They return the flowers to the basket after their sculpture is complete and they have been able to show it to us or a friend. We also set out a container of Kinetic Sand and a tray for a creation. The sand feels amazing and students have loved to create with it.