Community Art Reflection Cayla Nichols

Community art project The community art project was really fun! I was really excited to learn about community art! It is something I have never heard of before, but I think it is so great! Art really can bring people together, and it is obvious that happens at the Forest of Dreams Mural! For this project, my group picked sea turtles to make for community art. My class made baby sea turtles. We talked about using recycled materials for art since we used the bottom of plastic water bottles to make the bodies. Then, we had a discussion about community art. The kids all know the Forest of Dreams Mural and were so excited to have their own art there!

Concepts There were several concepts behind our community art. The first concept is the concept of community. All of the students worked together while painting their turtles. They talked to each other about their turtles and the mural. Their turtles will now become a part of art for the community as well! Another concept is sea turtles. My group did the sea turtle life cycle. One group did sea turtle eggs, while my group did the baby sea turtles, and another group did an adult sea turtle. The whole concept of sea turtle life was incorporated and discussed in class.

Teaching experience The teaching experience was so much fun! First, I asked the students what they thought community was. Then I asked if they might be able to figure out the meaning of community art! They came up with a great definition of what it really is! Then, I showed them a video of the Forest of Dream Mural. The students loved the video! After, I explained how they would be creating community art by making their sea turtles. I talked about recycled art while I showed them the bottom of the bottle they would be painting. Then I gave out the supplies and let the students paint. They loved painting the turtles so much. They did their best on them and had so much fun. Afterwards, we wrapped up by going over community art again! The whole experience was really great, and I would love to do it again.

Pictures from teaching

Installation experience Installing the turtles on the wire was really interesting! I have never attached anything to wire like that. It was pretty difficult to figure out how to attach my turtles on. I think if I were to do this project again, I would have made the turtles a little differently so they were easier to attach. We had to try several options before it worked. I was worried they would not stay on, so hopefully the hot glue and zip tie keep them on the fence! They look good now that they are all on the wire!

Expanding knowledge This project really helped me learn because I had never even heard of community art before this! Now that I know of it though, I think it is so great! I think art can be very powerful and influential and I never thought of how easy it is to use within a community! My goal now is to continue with community art. I want to spread messages about community art in my future teaching! I definitely have hopes to do a community art project with my students every year. There are so many simple but effective ways to do community art such as the mural and painting the rocks! I feel lucky to have learned about these concepts because I believe it is so easy to do and accessible for all people regardless of artistic ability. Everybody can do community art and that is what makes it special! 