Week One at AVITA Spring 2012
I know all the campers are thrilled to be working with such a great group of people here at AVITA! We all had fun this first week just getting to know the participants and watching them draw self-portraits, flowers and lots of other things. This is one fun group to work with!
Week Two - Beginning the Paste Paper Paintings for the Harmony Garden Mural
This week we began our paste paper paintings. The participants had a great time painting, then using tools to carve out textures into their paintings. As you can see, there was quite a variety of color and texture used on the paste paper which we will later use to cut out the shapes for the flowers, leaves stems, etc. Some of the participants created so many paintings, we had a difficult time finding a place for them to dry! We are off to a great start!
Week Three - Tilling the Soil - More Paste Paper Paintings
Both the participants and campers were busy making more paste paper paintings as we realized we will need a LOT of paintings to make enough for the mural. (And this week, we were serenaded by one participant singing an old song: "You've Made Me So Very Happy"!)
Week Four - Planting the Seeds (and Cut Outs)
This week we not only continued to paint, but while the participants drew various shapes on the back of the the dried paintings, the campers diligently cut them out. The weather outside was perfect to get us all in the mood to work on our garden. Not only were the participants more talkative than usual, the campers decided to show off their paper cutting muscles! We had a difficult time keeping up with all the drawing, but by the end of the day, we had a nice stack of colorful shapes for the garden!
Week Five - Watching the Seedlings Sprout
As you can tell by the pictures, some of us were getting a case of Spring Fever! The sun was bright and warm outside and the campers and participants were busy inside making our final round of paste paper paintings, drawing shapes on the back, and cutting out what will become the "fruits" of our garden.
Week Six - Watching the Garden Grow
This week the participants finished drawing and cutting shapes out of the paste paper paintings. As a way to introduce the participants to color combinations, we played "Warm and Cool Color BINGO". Everyone had a great time!
Week Seven - The Flowers are Beginning to Bloom!
The mural is starting to come to life! The campers and participants both started putting together flowers out of the cut-outs from previous weeks to paste onto the mural board. The garden is taking on a beautiful form!
Week Eight - The Garden Has Grown!
This week was bitter-sweet as both the campers and participants realized we only have one more week together! Some of the campers and participants drew pictures of their favorite times in Artstream this semester. We also had the privilege of a member of NGCSU's news forum, The Saint, join us to do a story on the Artstream project! We all worked to get the final flowers onto the mural, and as you can see, the garden has taken on a wild and wonderful form all it's own! Just a few more finishing touches, and the mural will be ready to be displayed!!!
Week Nine - Party in the Garden!
This was our final week working with AVITA. All of our participants were awarded certificates for outstanding performance in art! We were also honored with the presence of Dr. Chris Dockery, the founder of Artstream, along with Sharon, from the Dahlonega Nugget! Since all the hard work had already been done, this week we just relaxed and played several games with the participants. Once the mural boards were installed in the hallway, we all were very pleased with the final results. It was so rewarding to see the participants' enthusiasm once they spotted the flowers or pieces they had created! Artstream may have left behind a little something for AVITA to remember us by in the mural, but AVITA has definitely left a piece of themselves in the hearts of the Arstream campers!
Spreading the Seeds
The word seems to be getting around about the work being accomplished by Artstream and AVITA Community Partners! North Georgia News recently published an article on the benefits of the Artstream project, not only to AVITA, but also to the Artstream students who volunteered! To read this article visit:
http://www.northgeorgia.edu/NorthGeorgiaNews/articles.aspx?id=4294979772#.T56HTZKlDvw.mailto
Also, see the recent article below in the Dahlonega Nugget!
Also, see the recent article below in the Dahlonega Nugget!