District 728 visits the Textile Center

I was HONORED to receive a two grants from the Textile Center of Minneapolis.  I wrote a grant for my art club to have the opportunity to go on a field trip because there is no budget and I DO NOT want to have the kids pay to be in art club.  This grant was perfect allowing us to bus our kids down, meet after school, learn about fibers (a medium missed in our curriculum) and experience something new (in this case felting).

As I was writing the grant I thought, wouldn't it be nice to have parent volunteers write a grant or two for the school.  Then it dawned on me... I'm a parent.  I then wrote a second grant for my son's 1st grade class to attend.  What a treat!  I was allowed to chaperone the event and help the teacher out completely with all the paper work and so forth.  

I was able to provide something for my students and my son and his classmates because of this generous grant.  

Students started in the gallery viewing a members show.  The title was Common Thread.  Some of the favorite pieces were made of wire, crocheting  and there was one felted with poodle hair:)  The class included a interactive scavenger hunt.  The kids were given a image of a portion of a piece on display and they were asked to find the art work the photo was from.  It really helped the kids 'look' at the artwork.  

Both times the kids were lucky to have an adult class going on.  My middle school students had a demonstration of spinning.  They had so many questions and the general consciences was it would be fun to do ("in front of the TV").  Our first graders were able to learn about weaving.  They used LARGE looms and again... they were soooo into it!  They hung on the words of all the artist weaving.

First graders were got to wet felt a small project.  They all thought it would be so much fun but some were frustrated with the amount of time one needs to agitate the wool to make it stick together.  It reminded me how a first grade 5 minutes is an adulte hour... Thanks for the reminder kids:)

1st grade finished felted project.

Our middle schoolers  got to take the lesson in several directions.  They learned how to wet felt as well.  The thought was they could make an Artist Trading Card as this is our activity every art club.  Some made one but most did not want to trade.  This group also had an option to dry felt and make felt beads.

dry felting

felt bead.  They called these geodes... they remind me of a jaw breaker.

Overall, It was an amazing opportunity.  I appreciate all the chaperones we had for both trips and want to say thanks one more time publicly to the Textile Center.