Mel kolstad is our first artist in residence (air) at sheboygan North High school. She was our FA2014 AiR.

ARTIST IN RESIDENT, MEL KOLSTAD, SOLO SHOW AT THE 2ND FLOOR GALLERY

Mark your Calendar

Thursday, October 30, 2014 from 3:30-4:30pm

Join us at the 2nd Floor Gallery to celebrate our first artist in resident, Mel Kolstad. She has been working with NHS students, staff, teachers and administration on various projects designed to infuse art into learning and collaboration. Alongside with facilitating these hands on activities she produced a body of work, which will be on exhibit at our 2nd Floor Gallery. Join us for our closing reception.

ARTIST IN RESIDENCE HAPPENINGS

What a fun week! Firstly, Ms. Jorgensen brought Portfolio students Sam and Ashley to my studio to discuss altered books, which are works of art that are created from books already in existence. And since Ms. Gloede has a plethora of these books for kids and faculty to use, it was a perfect match!

I also took time out of my creating to see Rafael Salas, art professor at Ripon College. He was here at North to talk to Mr. J’s 6th hour students. So many great and varied artists have visited the SNHS Art Department this semester, and I count myself lucky that I’ve been able to see some of them!

ARTIST IN RESIDENCE HAPPENINGS

The week before Thanksgiving is always a short one, so what better time to do some updates? While Ms. Jorgensen was teaching, I helped Mr. J hang a new display created by Dr. Michels’ and Mr. Johnson’s Social Studies students – these are their “cave paintings”. Even better? The students were able to put their own spin on these drawings, including in the drawings things that are important to them. They even wrote an artist’s statement on the back. What a fantastic way to incorporate art into the curriculum!

ARTIST IN RESIDENCE HAPPENINGS

WOW! What a great couple of weeks in the AIR program! You may remember Mel Kolstad, resident artist, talking about visiting with Mr. Soik’s Honors Humanities class for their first unit – well, he asked her back to consult with the students about their second unit, which deals with ancient Sumerian and Egyptian culture, The Epic of Gilgamesh and the samples of Egyptian literature. What they created was incredible, as you can see!

Mel also met with Mrs. Reinemann’s Chemistry Club, which was SO much fun! The club made Solarfast prints and tie-dyed t-shirts! The students had a great time making these, and the project will be implemented in a future chemistry class. What a fun way to learn about photoreactive dyes!

ARIST IN RESIDENCE HAPPENINGS

Another big week of happenings with the AIR program! This week Artist in Residence Mel Kolstad was able to see Dr. Michels’ students’ “Mind Maps” that were created in the African/Asian Studies classes during 1st, 2nd and 4th hours! As you can see, the students put a LOT of work into these pieces, and they turned out wonderfully! Thanks again so much to Dr. Michels for allowing Mel to visit his classes – what an enriching experience.

ARTIST IN RESIDENCE HAPPENINGS

Mel spent some time in the IMC, where Ms. Gloede so generously invited her to take some of the discarded books from the library. She says she had a wonderful time looking through all the books, and took some for future projects! One of the pieces that she created includes some old cellophane tape that had yellowed, and she used that as the foundation for this piece. There is beauty in the mundane!

Mel also used her backpack press to create this 3-color letterpress print. In a true letterpress studio, the printer would use what’s called a lock-up to secure his or her blocks and cuts. It’s amazing what rubber bands can do in a pinch!