A Super Open Ended, End of the Semester Project

I wanted to share this great end of the semester project. I love this project because it allows students to truly think like real artists and develop their own ideas in a semi-organized way.

We start the project with a class discussion on all the things we covered over the course of a semester. I have a student write everything on the board because the teacher is a bad speller. Then we make a check off list of at least 10 art ideas we would like to try to cram onto one big piece of paper. I call these "design challenges".

By the end of the semester, the kids know how to use the room and I do my best to stay cool and help them with their ideas.  It is fun to see what they come up with and develop new problems for themselves - then I know they've got it!      

I always do my best to celebrate original ideas.

A note about CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT & GRADING: If a class does not clean up well, they lose access to that media next class - example: the fun stuff like painting or printing. Because it is the end of the semester, I usually do not grade this project (I do not tell them this) and run it right up to the last day - this gives me time to finish up much needed grading. Allowing students to develop the project gives them a sense of ownership and they become intrinsically motivated to develop thier own ideas, so almost all students are on task as they check off THEIR list.

Example Design Challenge: 

You will get 10% for exploring each of these art ideas WELL in your artwork.

Remember to be creative and develop your own ideas.

You will have to explain how you incorporated these ideas at the end of the project

1. Make a Background (probably 1st step)                         __/out of 10

2. Make 3 very different Lines                                                 __/out of 10

3. Geometric/ Organic Shapes                                             __/out of 10

4. Texture (2 kinds)                                                                   __/out of 10

        Actual texture - How something feels

        Visual texture - the illusion of how something might feel

     5. Value (Light/ Dark) to a color                                             __/out of 10

     6. Create a Complimentary Color Relationship                 __/out of 10

7. Glue something to your art (Collage)                              __/out of 10

8. Trace a found object                                                            __/out of 10

9. Print Something                                                                     __/out of 10

10. Pattern / Repetition                                                              __/out of 10

                                                                                              TOTAL: __ /100