A sculptor may choose to work in a well-known medium like clay, marble, and bronze. Or, they may explore something completely different.
On Thursday, Jan. 30, nine district art teachers gathered at the Fredericton Education Centre for a personal learning session that explored the “completely different” option, in a effort to connect with and inspire their students.
That option? Upcycling, or repurposing recycled materials for art projects.
Trash or treasure? Well, both!
The Fine Arts, Enrichment, and Social Studies team, led by Coordinator Beth Christie and Visual Art Lead Lucinda Mills, guided educators in creating their own sculptures using recycled items like old boxes, paper towel rolls, drinks containers, and more, while stressing teaching concepts and connection with students.
“What are your assessment strategies in the art room?” Christie said. “Keep it easy, keep it efficient, but make sure that we’re getting this connection.”
The session added another dynamic to the creative ways art teachers convey the subject to students. An additional session was held for teachers in Florenceville-Bristol on Monday, Jan. 27 too.
Said Mills, “3D sculpture at the middle school level is not something that you see all the time. So I think encouraging teachers to upcycle is another way to allow them to explore 3D building, 3D art-making with students, and, perhaps, move away from some of the other traditional art forms that they’re used to using.”
Some teachers, being resourceful sorts, had already been using upcycled materials in their classes.
“I actually started using this with my grade six last term,” said Chloe McCollum, a first-year art teacher at Bliss Carman Middle School. “It was a way for us to learn about upcycled materials, because in an art room, it’s always nice to have materials that aren’t used all the time so that [students] can make something really cool, rather than just using basic materials that may cost money.”
The upcycled art projects she does with her students introduce them to more than just art concepts. Students learn teamwork and environmental awareness, McCollum said, “They haven’t gotten to the climate change and recycling aspects of social studies yet, so it’s nice to not just teach an art lesson, but to teach a social lesson too.”
Nashwaaksis Middle School art teacher Madison Price is also no stranger to upcycling: “I haven’t done much construction upcycling, but I do make my own pigments for paint with recycled coffee grains.”
“Coffee is a great medium to use because the more you add, the darker it becomes,” said Price, a first-year teacher.
And the low cost and accessibility of materials makes upcycling a sensible option for art educators.
“There’s a lot of kids that don’t necessarily have access to traditional fine arts materials,” she said. “But they all have access to cardboard, paper and that sort of stuff.”
Minto Elementary Middle School art teacher Peter Cullen said “the students I work with love drawing and they learn pretty quickly, hands on. So, I’m looking forward to implementing these ideas with them.”
“Just because it’s not brand new anymore, doesn’t mean it’s useless,” said Mills. “We’re going to use things until they’re gone.”
