Why Art Matters...To Teenagers.

Well, one of the aspects of art that I really enjoy is that it is for EVERYONE.  well at least it should be.  Sometimes I feel like the Statue of Liberty..."Give me your tired your poor Your huddled masses yearning to breath free."  Don't get me wrong, working with students who love art, create amazing artwork, and are going to art school is great.  But part of me loves teaching everyone else about the POWER OF ART! (insert thunderbolts here)
As I am currently teaching a high school general art type of class, I decided to put it all into a PowerPoint.  Cuz that's what I do:)  Why Art Matters  enjoy!  tell me whatcha think...

Whatcha Mean, what's a zine?!

Ok this is by far one of my favorite fall back, never fail lesson plans for any grade level.  ZINES are simply mini magazines for those of you new to the medium.  They can be folded many ways and incorporate collage, written stories, poems, drawings, cartoons, etc.  Often they are made to be cheaply reproduced and sold.  Zines are for sale in record stores, comic book stores, indy book stores, etc.   and are usually written by someone with a message to share.

This book is a great resource for learning more and to have on hand in the classroom.  If possible I like to show  this video of a teen girl talking about making zines...she's so much cooler than me!

When we make zines I usually use it as an introductory lesson for students to share a topic that relates to their identity (middle and high school).  Students are put ease because it's not an intimidating project and they LOVE to talk about themselves:)

As a long term art sub I recently used this lesson with the following results:

These were made on a simple piece of 8 and 1/2" 11" copy paper that's folded into fourths.

This lesson is a good indicator of student ability and creativity.

Thanks to Meri for introducing me to the world of zines in the first place:)