For this year’s AIRS program we came up against many challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I was unable to physically be at the school, and while planning our classes we were unsure if all the students would be at the school as well. I wanted to create a program that would be accessible for students working both at home and at the school that would require very few supplies.
We have all been isolated at home so much throughout this last year so I thought our homes would be a great subject for this year's project. Each home represents more than a building, it represents a family who lives there, and each family is an important part of our community. Asking the students to draw their homes was an opportunity to reflect on this past year of isolation, as well as a tool for sharing and learning about their fellow classmates.
Each week I taught with a mixture of worksheets, pre-recorded videos and live webcam sessions. It was wonderful being able to include the few students who were isolated at home with their in-school classmates through these online sessions.
We started the program off by looking and observing through some fun ice breaker drawing exercises as well as an “architectural element scavenger hunt.” I taught the students some basic perspective techniques as well as techniques for how to represent light and shadow. It was fun integrating math and science into art class.
The bulk of the program was spent creating two drawings, one of the exterior of our homes and one of an interior space within our homes, using the new observational skills and drawing techniques we had been developing. I asked the students to think about ways to show their personality through their drawings and include memories and objects while taking artistic license to make their drawings unique and personal.
Each class we took time to look at each other's work and discuss and exchange ideas. At first some of the students were shy, but each week I noticed them becoming more comfortable and open to sharing their work, as well as to experimenting and exploring new ideas and techniques within their drawings.
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