Elementary Art Criticism Elizabeth Bure, Artist Teacher, Barrington, IL

When kids walk in the art room and find out that they are talking about art and not “Doing Anything” They immediately become…..

Here’s what the process looks like:

Pretty when all you want to do is GET THE:  Paint  CLAY!  Wire  or even just the markers! And the LAST thing you want to do is sit in a chair and talk! ICK!

But kids need to be able to communicate about art and visual culture, especially as the world becomes increasingly more VISUAL! Is it possible to trick them into thinking that this talking about art thing is fun? I don’t know……but I’m giving it my best shot…..

Enter “Spiral art criticism” “Mad ART libs” and... “Magnetic poetic aesthetics” 3 games intended to trick kids into thinking art criticism is more fun than clay. (when really, we all know that nothing is better than clay.)

Spiral Art Criticism  In this game, kids are given a fun-looking spiraling worksheet and are asked to complete JUST 4, or 8, or 12 of the prompts…. (depending on their level)  They are asked to do the ‘s first, the ‘s second, the ‘s third, and the ‘s fourth.  (these symbols stand for 1, 2, 3, and 4 in my art room)

The ‘s are DESCRIBING prompts…. The ‘s are ANALYTICAL prompts…. The ‘s are EVALUTATIVE promts….. And, the ‘s are prompts requiring JUDGEMENT. A WORD BANK is provided to help them along The word bank is also divided into words used for each of the 4 steps in the art criticism process!

Some Sample description prompts are: Some Sample word bank items are:

Some Sample analytic prompts are: Some Sample word bank items are:

Some Sample description prompts are: Some Sample word bank items are:

Some Sample description prompts are: Some Sample word bank items are:

Magnetic Poetic Aesthetics! An inter-active art criticism activity engaging kids in the use of: * Rating Scales * Movable word banks * Drawing overlays * “Telephone”

Magnetic Poetic Aesthetics! Using RATING scales On a scale of dark to light I’d place this artwork: On a scale of happy to sad I’d place this artwork: On a scale of exciting to calm I’d place this artwork: light dark happy sad exciting calm

On a scale of dark to light I’d place this artwork: On a scale of happy to sad I’d place this artwork: On a scale of exciting to calm I’d place this artwork: light dark happ y sad exciting calm Here’s how we might rate Edvard Munch’s “The Scream”……………..

How do you BEGIN talking about an artwork with a group of children?

Magnetic Poetic Aesthetics! Using MOVABLE word banks (kids can also type in new words with powerpoint or write new words using the smartboard) smooth colorfull dark bright Movement light cheerfull shadow peaceful highlight line monochromatic sad textured Geometric shape dreary pattern Organic shape Free-form shape dark light 3-D shadow highlight dull static FOCAL POINT

Magnetic Poetic Aesthetics! Example: Using MOVABLE word banks (kids can also type in new words with powerpoint or write new words using the smartboard) smooth colorfull dark bright Movement light cheerfull shadow peaceful highlight line monochromatic sad textured Geometric shape dreary pattern Organic shape Free-form shape dark light 3-D shadow highlight dull static FOCAL POINT

Telephone! There is one priceless artwork in a flooding warehouse full of pictures! Describe it to the finder in the warehouse so they can save it from the coming flood! TELEPHONER: Describe artwork to finders FINDERS: Listen to Telephoner’s Description Telephoner tells teacher which painting she will describe secretly while FINDERS close their eyes.

Sources:  ur_steps_of_art_criticism