Giving students a real-world application for their art and design work is very important in my opinion. When the learning and inspiration takes place beyond the four walls of the classroom - students are more motivated to work hard and push their boundaries.
Every year Vans does a competition for all High School art classes called Custom Culture. The first 3,000 schools to register are sent 4 pairs of blank white Vans shoes. Every school gets to submit 4 design - one for each genre - Art, Music, Action Sports (bikes & boards), and Local Flavor. The shoes are submitted in a nation-wide competition and the winning schools gets $50,000 for their art program. The winner is based on the collection as a whole so every design is very important.
At Spring Lake we plan on having a school-wide voting competition to find our top design for each area. When the winners are picked they will get to turn their 2D renderings into 3D models on the actual shoes. Students were asked to come up with 10 ideas in any single or combination of genres. Students then took part in a small group critique and decided what their top 3 choices were. They made fully developed drawings of their top 3 design and took part in one more critique. After the final critique they decided which pair they would submit for the competition.
Every year Vans does a competition for all High School art classes called Custom Culture. The first 3,000 schools to register are sent 4 pairs of blank white Vans shoes. Every school gets to submit 4 design - one for each genre - Art, Music, Action Sports (bikes & boards), and Local Flavor. The shoes are submitted in a nation-wide competition and the winning schools gets $50,000 for their art program. The winner is based on the collection as a whole so every design is very important.
At Spring Lake we plan on having a school-wide voting competition to find our top design for each area. When the winners are picked they will get to turn their 2D renderings into 3D models on the actual shoes. Students were asked to come up with 10 ideas in any single or combination of genres. Students then took part in a small group critique and decided what their top 3 choices were. They made fully developed drawings of their top 3 design and took part in one more critique. After the final critique they decided which pair they would submit for the competition.
Students mounted their designs on card stock to display at the school in the winter when the competition gets closer. This was another project that students felt very proud about in the end of the trimester. This was my final lesson for the trimester and I think it was a very good note to end on!
What do you think of real-life application for art lessons?
What do you think of real-life application for art lessons?
National Standards Addressed
VA:Cr1.2.HSI
Shape an artistic investigation of an aspect of present-day life using a contemporary practice of art or design.
VA:Cr3.1.HSI
Apply relevant criteria from traditional and contemporary cultural contexts to examine, reflect on, and plan revisions for works of art and design in progress.
VA:Cn11.1.HSII
Compare uses of art in a variety of societal, cultural, and historical contexts and make connections to uses of art in contemporary and local contexts.
Shape an artistic investigation of an aspect of present-day life using a contemporary practice of art or design.
VA:Cr3.1.HSI
Apply relevant criteria from traditional and contemporary cultural contexts to examine, reflect on, and plan revisions for works of art and design in progress.
VA:Cn11.1.HSII
Compare uses of art in a variety of societal, cultural, and historical contexts and make connections to uses of art in contemporary and local contexts.