Student-generated Projects

Do you ever have your students suggest art projects they would like to do?

Usually when I have students in group shows, I ask them to look around at the other student art to see if there is anything new to them they would like to do.

The mugs shown here came from a student request. Two of my fifth graders who were in Art Club asked if they could make clay cups which had faces. Then they asked if they could teach the lesson to their peers.

Of course I was delighted. The three of us did some research on historical African-American face jugs and the like and developed the lesson from there. Each introduced the lesson to his or her own class (they were not in the same class) and helped students individually as needed. Their fellow students were impressed and the two students were very proud of their efforts, rightfully so.