Environmental Posters with 4th and 5th Graders

Hello everyone!

So first and foremost, I have an announcement. In my last update post, I talked about how I was on the job hunt. Well, I found one! I'll be a Social Media Specialist and Graphic Designer for the Portland Jewish Academy in Portland, OR. I'm soo excited about this opportunity! I've been wanting to get up to Portland for awhile, since there's just so much going on there for artists. I've also been wanting to get into the Graphic Design field. It will be a great thing, I think. I'll be working half-time, but will be making enough to get by on. While of course I will need to be full-time, being able to pay my bills with part-time work initially, seems like a blessing. I'll be spending the rest of the work week trying to get my mural business off the ground in Portland. It takes a lot of time to do the networking/social media-ing/website building/business card-making, and all the rest that goes with promoting a small business. I'm excited to see what kind of new mural projects Portland will bring :) 

Since I'll be leaving Eugene in 2 weeks, I just finished my *LAST* school residency last week. This is really bitter-sweet. I have absolutely loved working for Lane Arts as a Teaching Artist. I've learned so much about teaching, and the kids have continued to make me laugh and inspire my own art work. If you are a teacher, please continue to follow my blog, as I hope to get on a teaching artist roster in Portland this coming Spring and will be posting more lessons as I create them. In the meantime, stay connected, as I'll be posting personal artwork and hopefully some mural projects as they happen. 

My last residency's theme was all about asking the question "Can art help save the Earth?". The 4th and 5th graders and I used that question as a base for our two weeks together during the after school program. We made a big mural with an environmental theme, and talked about how murals can be used to teach things to other people who view them, or express an opinion, or illustrate a concept. Because all 25 kids can't paint at the same time, we had other projects going while we rotated groups of painters. The poster project below was our first project. After introducing our "Big Question" about art saving the earth, we brainstormed some ways that we could use art in our own school, to help out the environment. We decided to make posters for the hallways and the bathrooms, that would help remind other kids (and teachers!) to use less water, less paper, etc. The kids could use any environmental theme they wanted though, so some of these turned out pretty funny. Anyway, I think they turned out adorable, and most of the kids really spent some time and effort on them. This would be a great Earth Day week project..... but really, do we need that as a reason? Every day can be Earth Day. :) Enjoy!