{"id":5959,"date":"2017-01-04T17:29:59","date_gmt":"2017-01-04T22:29:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/?p=5959"},"modified":"2017-01-24T18:38:26","modified_gmt":"2017-01-24T23:38:26","slug":"students-participate-community-based-instruction-moca","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/students-participate-community-based-instruction-moca\/","title":{"rendered":"Students participate in community-based instruction at MOCA"},"content":{"rendered":"

As part of the division\u2019s partnership with the Office of Programs for Exceptional Children and the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), middle school and high school students have the opportunity to visit MOCA through the museum\u2019s Student Art Start (SAS) program. The instructional field trip, supported by a grant from the Cohen Family Memorial Foundation of Virginia Beach, includes a one-hour tour of a current exhibit followed by a student art project based on artwork seen on the tour.<\/p>\n

Great Neck Middle School (GNMS) students and staff were among those who saw Turn the Page: The First Ten Years of Hi-Fructose<\/em> before it closed at MOCA Dec. 31. The exhibit highlighted work by 51 artists who have been featured in Hi-Fructose<\/em> magazine<\/em> during its first 10 years of publication.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo what makes this piece different than other pieces you have seen?\u201d asked Jonquil Moore, gallery teacher and museum volunteer. \u201cCan you walk<\/em> into other paintings?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"photo-1\"<\/p>\n

Students and staff turned in awe, admiring the colorful walls and floors of the \u201cMadder Hatter\u201d room created by artist Mark Dean Veca. String lights, paper lanterns and bean bag chairs completed the artwork.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do you see?\u201d asked Moore.<\/p>\n

\u201cSnakes and bumblebees,\u201d said one student lounging in a bean bag chair.<\/p>\n

\u201cI see a snail shell,\u201d responded another student.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis looks like a flower or a dolphin tail,\u201d added Moore, pointing to a swirl on the painted wall.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat do you think of the floor?\u201d continued Moore. \u201cDo you notice the similar design? Do you see any similar patterns repeating? Do you notice any repetitive colors?\u201d<\/p>\n

They noticed colors, patterns and more.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey make a lot of connections,\u201d Moore said after the student tour. \u201cThey notice the little things that bring up conversation about the art. They notice colors from different movies. They were referencing \u2018Ice Age\u2019 and different animals.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"photo-2\"<\/p>\n

\u201cThe great thing is that you don\u2019t have to correct them or tell them, \u2018This isn\u2019t about [that],\u2019\u201d said Moore. \u201cYou can just let them go with it and they learn their own thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nearby, gallery teacher Jade O\u2019Day encouraged the group of GNMS students with her to circle the stainless steel artwork by Wim Delvoye.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a special type of truck,\u201d she said. \u201cMaybe we\u2019ll look at it for a second and see if you can figure out what kind of truck it is. We can walk all the way around it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"photo-3\"<\/p>\n

\u201cCastle,\u201d said one student.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, that\u2019s exactly it! It looks like a castle, doesn\u2019t it?\u201d responded O\u2019Day.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it looks like a church,\u201d observed GNMS teacher Diane Campbell.<\/p>\n

\u201cYes, a Gothic style church,\u201d said O\u2019Day.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a cement truck,\u201d O\u2019Day told the group. \u201cHave you seen a cement truck like this before? It\u2019s kind of weird, isn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n

She moved to the area where the cement would pour out of a working cement truck.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo we think this is functional? Do you think it would hold cement? Do you think we could use this to mix cement?\u201d O\u2019Day asked.<\/p>\n

\"photo-4\"<\/p>\n

The group was unsure, noticing the intricate, laser-cut design in the artwork.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is true that this does actually function,\u201d said O\u2019Day. \u201cThe wheels move. The doors open. This spins. If we put cement in it, it looks like it would just slip through and fall down.\u201d<\/p>\n

Switching gears from the delicate piece by Delvoye, O\u2019Day asked the students if they wanted to touch an artwork.<\/p>\n

Based on their unanimous response, O\u2019Day turned to the couch with a crocheted cover and said, \u201cLet\u2019s go right over here. We can touch it. We can sit on it. What kinds of shapes do we see here?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFlowers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCircles.\u201d<\/p>\n

The inquiry and curiosity continued throughout the tour as students looked at sculptures, portraits and surrealist art.<\/p>\n

\"photo-5\"<\/p>\n

\u201cThey always notice the animals and the shapes and the colors that they are seeing,\u201d said O\u2019Day of student visitors. \u201cMy goal is trying to have them connect to those pieces in the artwork so the artwork isn\u2019t so scary for them to look at. But that they can have an interaction with it, be a part of it, and also put their own spin on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Putting their own spin on their own illustrations was the field trip\u2019s culminating activity. Art educator Jennifer McDuffie led the students and staff through a step-by-step process to design creatures inspired by Jennybird Alcantra\u2019s oil painting \u201cCreatures of Saintly Disguise.\u201d The artwork features a woman\u2019s body fused with animals and forest vegetation.<\/p>\n

\"photo-6\"<\/p>\n

Each student received a piece of paper folded in fourths and added one part of a creature before passing the paper to the person on their left.<\/p>\n

They started at the top.<\/p>\n

\u201cThink in your mind of some interesting kind of head you would like to draw,\u201d said McDuffie. \u201cIt can be anything. It can be an animal, dinosaur, monster, space alien, robot, insect, person \u2013 anything you want!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"photo-7\"<\/p>\n

They continued to pass and receive each other\u2019s drawings to add new pieces: arms, legs and feet.<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t peek,\u201d advised McDuffie.<\/p>\n

Many peeked and then giggled at the drawings on the hidden quadrants. Some even began to name the creatures after their classmates and teachers.<\/p>\n

More laughter.<\/p>\n

\"photo-8\"<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s more fun if you wait until the end to see what it will come out like,\u201d McDuffie told the students. \u201cIt\u2019s not going to ruin anything if you look, but, in the spirit of the game, you have no idea how these are going to come out!\u201d<\/p>\n

After students received the paper they started with, McDuffie talked with them about using color to unify the creature drawn in multiple pieces.<\/p>\n

\"photo-9\"<\/p>\n

\u201cI think this is absolutely wonderful for my kids. What an experience that they have a private artist giving them lessons on how to do certain parts of the creature they are doing. I think they are taking a lot away from this,\u201d said Campbell.<\/p>\n

She noted that a lot of her students don\u2019t speak, but the museum experience inspired some.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was so clear today and just so involved,\u201d Campbell said of one student at her art table.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou see different modalities,\u201d she added noting the artistic talents of another student she observed for the first time. \u201cI didn\u2019t know that. Now I know that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Campbell also praised the gallery teachers for make the visit time well spent.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe students really enjoyed the exhibit this time because it was so bright and colorful. The tour guides were really good and they took their time. They really engaged the children and they asked every single child for their opinion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Involving and engaging everyone is always O\u2019Day\u2019s goal.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s important to foster this feeling that everyone is welcome to enjoy artwork,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is made for everybody \u2013 equally. I think that\u2019s the most important thing: having the students in here viewing the artwork and having the same types of conversations and asking the same types of questions no matter who the children are.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As part of the division\u2019s partnership with the Office of Programs for Exceptional Children and the Virginia Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA), middle school and high school students have the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":5978,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[47,108],"class_list":["post-5959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-arts","tag-great-neck-middle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5959"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5959\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5980,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5959\/revisions\/5980"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.vbcpsblogs.com\/core\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}