Artist Research Ideas
I wanted to do an artist research project with my high schoolers, but I wanted to make it more interesting for both me and them. Research is a word that high schoolers hear all the time and groan loudly about, and I wanted this situation to be different.
I think artist research is incredibly important, especially for young artists developing their style and techniques. Since I was teaching a Craft class, I decided to have them research contemporary Craft artists. I find that Craft is often forgotten about in the public-school system, and even when it is included there doesn’t seem to be a lot of talk about the artists working in the field. I think its crucial that these Crafts 3 students know about artists who are working in the same materials they are learning.
I compiled a list (attached here) of 45 contemporary Craft artists that ranged in all five Craft mediums. I let students choose the artist they wanted to work with and had them fill out some information about them in a little booklet. Once they finished their research, I wanted an “art object” to be the visual representation of this research. I decided to have them design and create 3D paper shoes that were inspired by the work of the Craft artist they chose.
I bounced around a lot of ideas for a “product” that could come from the artist research.
Here are a few:
-Paper shoe design
-Paper dolls with 1 casual, 1 formal, and 1 athletic outfit
-Room diorama with décor inspired by the artist
-Matchbox book
-Sculptural Hats
-Pop-up Books
Categories Spring 2018, Student Teacher Blog