6th Grade Dale Chihuly Abstract Art

"I never met a color I didn't like." --Dale Chihuly

6th Graders have been studying the artist Dale Chihuly.  It's been a fun beginning of the school year project.  It's teaching the students collaboration and how to loosen up when making their art work.  Students started off this lesson by talking about abstract art.  We then transitioned into the abstract art of Dale Chihuly.  Students watched this video "Drawings in Jerusalem"and learned about action painting.  We then went outside and made our own action paintings.

After collecting hundreds of plastic bottles we then made a Chihuly inspired chandelier.  As Dale Chihuly is known for his large blown glass sculptures, we made our own.  Some of the students have actually seen pieces by Dale Chihuly as the Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha has two pieces, shown here and here.   Using sharpie markers students colored their bottles and cut them in unique ways.  They attached them to a tomato cage, to aid for support.  I told them at the beginning of this project that this is something they would not be able to take home, but they were working together as a team to make a work of art.

Here are some images of the still work in progress.