Graphic Design Unit: Movie Poster Project

Happy New Year!

To start the year off, here's a fun and easy art project. This would work for a unit on graphic design.

Step 1: introduce the 4 fundamentals of graphic design. (see handout below)
Step 2: allow students to build an understanding of the 4 fundamentals by working through a few exercises
Step 3: review what worked and what didn't work in the exercises
Step 4: introduce the poster design project


Poster Design Project:

Part 1: use this article from the Globe and Mail to see some of the most successful movie posters from 2014

Part 2: write a summary of how your favourite poster uses the 4 fundamentals

Part 3: create a poster for your favourite movie using all 4 fundamentals

-Patrick

Ai Weiwei show at the AGO in August 2013

Great news: it has been confirmed that the artist Ai Wei Wei will be making the AGO part of his North American tour of According to What? 

The Globe covers it briefly here.

I have always been intrigued by his work, but, like many others, it seems like work best appreciated up close.  I'm definitely looking forward to this one.

Tom Thomson on Twitter?

From contemporary Canadian art news to classic Canadian art news, as discussed in this Globe article, an anonymous tweeter has taken on Tom Thomson as he would have tweeted during the last weeks of his life leading up to his tragic death on July 8th 1917.

The tweets feature photos, artwork and info that is historically accurate and is leading up to supporting a theory of how Tom was killed. What a great way to use twitter to make a historical mystery come alive again. As a huge Tom Thomson dork, I am looking forward to following these updates, and you can to:
http://twitter.com/#!/TTLastSpring.

Oh Canada: Contemporary Art from North North America

Here is a great overview article from the Globe  about a massive contemporary Canadian art show opening today and continuing until April 1st 2013 at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art.

The show features 62 artists with a total of 120 works, including work by: Michael Snow, Kent Monkman, Shary Boyle, Kelly Mark and Marcel Dzama. The show will also give less well-known Canadian artists the chance to have their work seen and represent our country.  Sounds like a show to see, I wish I could make it down there...

Canadian history curriculum: first nations.

In this article in the Globe today, Paul Martin address the current problem with first nations education and revisits the accomplishments of the Kelowna accord that was "scrapped when the Conservatives came to power." These accomplishments would have focused on making first nations education a priority. This includes increased funding for reserve schools and a change in the way we teach Canadian history: to include the Metis, the first nations and the Inuit. The visual arts curriculum includes first nations work, both historical and contemporary; there is no way to talk about Canadian art without it, however, there is room to improve that curriculum as well with more specific first nations content and classroom resources for teachers.

Lady Gaga submits a video to support tolerance campaign.

    A student at the Etobicoke School of the Arts wrote to a few celebrities asking for a video response to add to their anti-bullying campaign. Lady Gaga responded and the video was played at an assembly last friday at the school. The Globe covers the story here.

    By doing videos like this, celebrities call attention to these issues and get people talking. It is great to see them using their power to address such important issues, like Rick Mercers's rant about teen suicide earlier this fall (you can see it here).

Two Stories of Algonquin Park

    I came across two inspiring articles this morning. Although both are about completely different people separated by almost a century, they share one common centre point: Algonquin Park.

    The first article is about a new film about the life (and not the death) of Canadian painter Tom Thomson that is opening this weekend at the Vancouver film festival.

    The second article, that features a beautiful short video, is about a Canadian Olympic Kayaker who trains in Algonquin Park, on the lakes that Tom Thomson painted. These articles make me want to get back up to the park to catch the autumn, and do some painting and kayaking.

Financial Literacy

The Globe featured this article today about a new focus on financial literacy in the Ontario curriculum. I think it's important for kids to learn about money throughout school. This can be supported in any subject area to provide a comprehensive approach to financial literacy.

    An example of this for Visual Arts, that I would like to try, is how to plan an art show in Toronto. This would involve many related stages: planning the show, producing artwork, securing participants,  fundraising, organizing entertainment, booking a venue, promotion, establishing working relationships, opening night, sales, and a review of the overall experience from a financial perspective.

   Another example for Visual Arts is planning a small business in the arts or planning a freelance career as an independent contractor in the arts. This would involve writing a complete business plan and investigating need, cost, return, investing, borrowing and projecting results.

   Financial literacy is of course of utmost importance when students are considering post-secondary education and must be examined while addressing the careers in art lessons.

Any of these ideas would serve as the basis for a challenging and rewarding cumulative task.

Group of Seven paintings stolen from Toronto gallery

The Globe featured this article about last night's robbery of paintings from a Toronto gallery, including a few from the Group of 7.

Art Students: thinkers as well as makers

The Globe featured this article about how art education is giving students the skills to succeed in careers that don't even exist yet.