Art in the Community

This unit was assigned on May 18, 2020.

A community is a group of people living or working together in the same area.  They might go to the same schools, shop in the same stores, and do the same things.  They also help each other and solve problems together.  Your home is a community. Your town is a community.  Your state is a community.

Watch this video to better understand a community: Communities for Kids - Types of Communities

    Artists are an important part of a community.  Artist Camille Walala is an artist who lives in London, England and creates art in communities all over the world. 

Camille Walala

​Her artwork helps communities and makes them brighter and more beautiful. For one piece of artwork, she created inflatable playgrounds in London and Hong Kong:

Many of her projects help people who are hungry or don’t have a home. This art project changed a crosswalk into a piece of art!

Better Bankside

Camille also worked with a school to design their playground!

You can learn more about Camille in this video from Tate Kids: How to Be a Street Artist. She also partnered with LEGO to create a cool community house project How We Build A Giant House From LEGO DOTS With Camille Walala . 
Art can bring a community together to celebrate their city or town or raise awareness of a problem that needs to change.  Right now our communities look different as we are learning and working from home.  Our community is more important than ever as essential workers are working hard to keep us safe and healthy.
How can you make art to celebrate your community?
Pick at least one of the activities below to complete in the next two weeks:

Activities:

• Explore photography by creating a collage! Look for letters around you in your community or home.  These could be letters on signs or books or something that happens to look like that letter.  You could even arrange objects to look like letters! Pick a word that is important to you (maybe “home” or “love” or your name!) and spell it out with photos! If you don’t have a camera you can draw the objects!
  

• There are some buildings that are important to your community.  These could be fire houses, churches, schools, historic buildings, farms, parks, restaurants, or even your house! Draw a building in your community.  Think about colors, shapes, and the landscape around the building. You can work from a picture or ask your family to take a drive and you can all draw outside together!
• Pets are a part of your home community. PAWS CT Cat Shelter is a part of the community of our town! Pick one of the cats in need of a home at PAWS Cat Shelter and create a pet portrait of the cat. You can find the cats and more information here: https://www.rachaelbudd.com/pet-portrait-project.html Send a good quality picture (make sure you have good light and take a picture directly over the art) of the artwork to Miss Budd or pawsctshelter@gmail.comYou can also bring the original artwork to the shelter on Saturdays from 11:30-1:30 p.m.
• Make a map of your community! Show the important places that you go. Need some ideas of how to get started? Check out How to Make an Illustrated Map in 8 Steps

• Follow the demo to make a pop-up house! This could be a great card! Pop Up Houses!
• Street Art is like graffiti! The work of street artists are important to the community as they make spaces more beautiful or communicate a message. Meet street artist Camille Walala and see how her work changes the community. Meet a Street Artist – Kids' View then try making your own street art using this game (it works best on a laptop): Street Art – Game
• Friends are an important part of our community, make a friendship bracelet to share with a friend: Make a Friendship Bracelet – Cut and Paste
• Write a note and draw a picture for  an essential worker thanking them for their hard work!
• Make a paper house garland! Check out this demo Paper House Garland!
• ​Draw a picture of where you live! This could be a map of the inside or a drawing of the outside! Graph paper is great for inside floor-plan drawings!
• Write a note and draw a picture for an older person who is self-isolated at home!
• Draw your front door.  Sit outside and take a close look at what is around the door.  Are there plants or steps or a light?  Draw as many details as you can see.
• Make a plan for an imaginary city or town.  Think about bus routes, police stations, hospitals, schools, and other important buildings for a community! 
• Design your own building (or town) with blocks or legos.  
• Make an origami house! Here is a tutorial: Origami House- A Five Minute Make and Play Craft Add details if you like!
• Listen to Miss Budd read Home by Carson Ellis (on TEAM or here: Read Alouds)
• Listen to Me on the Map (Me on the Map by Joan Sweeney)