AIR Happenings as of February 26th

February 26, 2015February 26, 2015Leave a comment

In two of Dr. Michels’ Social Studies classes we discussed Leonardo da Vinci, the arts during the Renaissance period, and the act of perception. Following this talk we did a couple drawing exercises including drawing some organic shapes, drawing flowers with our non-dominant hands, drawing the figure from an upside-down reference and blind contour (drawing without looking at the paper). These drawings turned out awesome and many of them are now being exhibited outside of room 218!

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Last week Sara introduced color theory to an Interior Design class and discussed important terms and concepts and how they relate to design. Everyone created a color wheel and got to see how various colors relate to each other within various color schemes and harmonies.

AIR Happenings as of February 18th

February 18, 2015February 18, 2015Leave a comment

It has been a busy couple weeks working with various classes at North as well as in the studio!

This week I had the chance to work on a very colorful art project with Beth Cesario’s class during their art time. We made glue sun catchers by filling plastic and metal lids with a layer of glue, adding some acrylic paint, and swirling this mixture around with the ends of paintbrushes to create a swirled pattern. When these dry they will each have a hole punched out and string added so they can be hung up. All of these turned out great; we’re all looking forward to seeing them completed and hanging in the windows!

There are also many new collages and drawings in the studio. Below are some of those more recent works!

AIR Happenings as of February 10th

February 10, 2015February 10, 20151 Comment

Hello all! I am so happy and honored to be your Artist in Residence this semester! Thank you to Mr. J and the rest of the faculty at NHS for inviting me to be a part of your community.

Much of my work explores the concept of landscape and utilizes found materials to create invented spaces and structures. Below are some views of my new work space as well as a couple in-progress images of what I have been working on since beginning this residency.

If you would like to see some of my work in person, I have a couple small collages and drawings hanging in the display case outside of the art room; feel free to take a look!

I am very excited to be an art resource for the students and faculty as well as have the opportunity to further develop my artistic practice. I will be working in room 17 Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays from 8am-4pm, so everyone is always welcome to stop by and check out what I’m working on!

–Sara Willadsen

Artist in Residence Happenings as of December 5

December 17, 2014January 6, 2015Leave a comment

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 as of November 28

December 17, 2014December 17, 2014Leave a comment

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!

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Artist in Residence Happenings as of November 21

November 23, 2014November 26, 2014Leave a comment

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!

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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!

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