Course Outline and Objectives

Class: Smart Art 1

Tutor: Cindy Phiffer

Primary Text:

Publisher:                                        

ISBN#

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Where Available:

Other books/materials, etc. required for class: All printed material will be provided by instructor

***Parents are responsible for getting all texts and materials unless teacher specifies otherwise.

Yearly Tuition:   $272              Materials: $35       Supplies:  $15

With this tuition rate, I must have a minimum of  6  and maximum of  12  students.   

Overview of class: Everyday household objects, including trash, become objet d’art extraordinaire in a studio setting. Students create art alongside the teacher, who also creates each project. All projects are designed to 1) allow for creative time that feels unstructured while being properly planned, 2) show students through experience that creativity can be accessed any time or place, 3) create something of use and beauty out of something that might otherwise be thrown away. Oatmeal boxes join straps from worn-out bags and baggage to become Smart Art Cases. Claymate Comics begin as a four-panel, colored pencil storyboard and evolve through the 3D version made of clay and markers to a slide show via photography and videography. Scrap boards, corkboard, printed images, and magnetic as well as chalkboard paint combine to make Personality Message Boards. Other projects will be Books Forever Changed (altered books), Cap It Off (bottle cap creations), Card People (playing cards turned into characters such as Tin Man, Queen Bea—Bee? B?), Bottle of Dreams (tiny, antique bottles become the vase on which words and images from dreams are affixed and from which wire-stemmed buttons spring), and On Your Mark (cereal boxes become gift bookmarks reflecting recipients’ likes and dislikes). 

Prerequisites for this class: None

Recommended Grade Level(s) for this class: All

Estimated Difficulty Level of course for average student:   

Easy        average       above average           highly challenging

Average study time for this class will be approximately      0      hours per week.

Although there is no study time for this class, there is preparation time of two types: gathering items on Requested Household Objects List and regular, 1 hour per week sketchbook time

Tutor Expectations for Parents:

On Monday evenings, ask students what happened in art. Be sure to ask when you can listen to their responses. While in-person time is the best, communication is the goal. Whether by phone, text, email, instant message, or Skype, ask…and listen.

We will complete one project every four weeks or so. Ask about their collages or art cases or whatever they are working on. Take time to read the Additional comments section. It will help you know how to respond to the always fascinating, never boring, sometimes curious expressions of their innermost selves.

Additional comments:

My philosophy of art is that works in progress are seedlings and should be treated as such. A stomped on, dried up seedling has less chance of surviving than one that is tended to in a safe environment. Art is a personal expression of a unique point of view. Students will learn to honor their artistic talents by developing them. We will differentiate between constructive and destructive comments, give and receive constructive critique, and experience the value of discipline by creating freely within the “invisible” framework of a schedule.

Now that’s the philosophy. Here’s how I translate that into the classroom. We will be actively making art during our time together. We are going to spend some wonderful, fun, colorful time together, making some cool, artsy stuff out of life’s odds and ends.