Our Cloud Gallery

This post highlights the celebration of our Cloud Inquiry as the school year came to a close and how our students helped transform our learning space into that of a Cloud Gallery! 

The inspiration for this idea of an Art Gallery came from when my wonderful grade partner, Melanie (@mela4education) and I had the lovely opportunity of visiting another amazing educator Robyn Ecclestone (@robynecclestone, http://tocreatered.wordpress.com) at Wendat Village P.S. in Stouffville. It was there where we were introduced to one of her fabulous grade partner's Hallie Montreuil (@my_wonderings). After discussing with Hallie how her class presented their various art pieces (e.g. drawings, paintings, etc) in the form of an Art Gallery, I immediately presented the idea to my DECE and we were sold! The exciting part of this process was taking the inspiration and making it our own to ensure that it was unique and meaningful for our students.

Considering our Cloud Inquiry was reaching new heights with the integration of various art techniques inspired by the Group of Seven, Heidi and I wasted no time in presenting the idea of an Art Gallery to our students! With the use of acrylics coupled with various painting techniques, our young artists truly embraced every ounce of learning that occurred throughout the process and we couldn't be more proud of all that they accomplished!

BEFORE THE OFFICIAL OPENING:
To recount the exciting preparation of events that took place over the course of the final two weeks of school, our students had a number of fabulous ideas:

1. Students created announcements that they read over the P.A. system to advertise and invite other classes in our school to come down and visit our Cloud Gallery.

2. Students created posters that were displayed around the school letting students, parents and staff know the title of our event, date, time and place!

3. Students created personalized tickets for their family members to attend the exciting event that were then sent home!

4. Students decorated Cloud Cookies to be given to parents on the day of our official Cloud Gallery opening! (Thanks to our good friend Joanne Babalis for the idea!)

5. Students fully embraced the role of an Artist as they explained to their family, friends and staff the techniques they learned and how they created their masterpieces!

DURING OUR CLOUD GALLERY:

On the day of our "official" Cloud Gallery opening, words cannot even begin to describe how proud Heidi and I were of our students and how truly humbled we were to have seen such an overwhelming amount of support from our parents! Their enthusiasm, participation, feedback and support was a true testament to parent engagement at its finest and we couldn't be happier! This event will be one that we'll always remember and look back fondly on as a true highlight in our careers (which have only just begun)!

Our model airplane to signify our connections to our Airplane Inquiry.

Paintings created by myself and Ms. Theis that helped inspire our students.

Official Cloud Gallery cards - every students' masterpiece was showcased.

The following are a list of events that took place during the "official" opening of our gallery:

1. Students and parents watched a surprise video that documented the entire process behind their masterpieces!

2. Students each had a special "Artist Station" that they led their parents too after the video that helped begin our interactive gallery approach. Each station contained the following: Cloud Cookies, "Ask an Artist" card, and official "Gallery Program" that included a list of the artists as a memory of the event.

3. Students, staff and parents contributed towards a collaborative cloud painting that will be hung in our classroom in memory of this event! (Thanks again to our good friend Joanne Babalis for the idea!)

4. When other classrooms visited throughout the afternoon, our artists became ambassadors and led their peers in a Scavenger Hunt (K-3) and an Artist Critique (4-8) around the room that incorporated elements of their masterpieces.

5. Parents, students, and staff also signed our Gallery Guest Book to act as a memory of this event!

The following pictures are of the incredible artwork created by our students and we hope you feel inspired by our young artists, their efforts and their undeniable talent!  

I apologize for the long post, but feel that in order to give our celebration justice, all of the above needed to be included. Thank you again to all of our wonderful parents who came out to this special occasion and we are thrilled to have ended the year on such high note! We hope you have a restful, relaxing and enjoyable summer and we look forward to seeing you in September!