Wrap it like Christo, Art and Craft for Kids, How to make Sculpture, by Rob the Art Teacher

“Wrap it like Christo” is the 4th in a 4-part series of sculpture lessons for elementary (primary) school, middle school, and high school students. This lesson is ideal for remote learning and home-schooling, or the classroom. Each video in the sculpture series focuses on different ways of thinking like a sculptor, and in this video, we learn about COPYING AN ARTIST’S METHOD, 3D ASSEMBLAGE, the artist duo CHRISTO & JEANNE-CLAUDE, and DOCUMENTING OUR WORK. Each video has a simple and fun activity inspired by well-known artists. This fourth video’s art activity is WRAPPING FOUND OBJECTS to help students learn about creating their own sculptures in the style of a famous artist. All this, with materials any child will be able to find at home, and in any weather!

Lo-tech sculpture learning can be loads of fun! Most recently I have been teaching sculpture to children aged 9 to 13 years in a small primary school with no specialist art room or sculpture-making facilities and little storage space. The challenge is to provide the kids with hands-on art experiences rather than simply teach ‘about’ sculpture. I think it is important to make it real, and to make the learning experience something they can see mirrored in artists’ actual practices.

So, these in-school circumstances without ‘ideal’ facilities simply meant I had to get creative devising ‘real’ sculpture projects. Then the COVID-19 lockdowns began, and rolled on and on, month after month, so I doubled down on the inventiveness in creating sculpture lessons for online learning. Now, I am sharing my lesson ideas here because the feedback I’ve had from my children has been encouraging.

This new 4-part series of sculpture lessons titled “So small, too tall, gigantic and well wrapped” follows on from my hugely successful and popular “One-minute Sculptures as a School Project (Parts 1 and 2)” and “Lego-Minecraft #stayathome Sculpture Project” – check out those three videos here:
   • One-minute Sculptures as a School Pro...  
   • Learn One-minute Sculptures at School...  
   • Lego-Minecraft Sculpture Project. Art...  

“So small, too tall, gigantic and well wrapped” 4-part sculpture series:
“Part 1 Miniature Worlds”    • Miniature Worlds. Art and Craft for K...  
“Part 2 “The Tower Challenge”    • The Tower Challenge. Art and Craft fo...  
“Part 3 “Supersize Your World”    • Supersize Your World, Art and Craft f...  
and this video: “Part 4 “Wrap it like Christo”

REVIEW & REFLECT / FLIPGRID:
After each art lesson with my students, I believe it is worthwhile to pause for a moment of review and reflection. As stated in the video, I typically ask students to show me their work and tell me about it; and I also ask them what they have learned during the project. When teaching online I use a fantastic video communication platform Flipgrid. Have you tried Flipgrid? I have found it excellent for empowering students, improving online engagement, enhancing reflection and engendering discussion. Why not register now using my code?
https://signup.flipgrid.com/from/Robe...

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ARTISTS:

Christo and Jeanne-Claude are the artists featured in this video. LINKS to the works shown and others can be found on the artists’ website:

Realized Projects
https://christojeanneclaude.net/artwo...

Work in progress
https://christojeanneclaude.net/artwo...

Wrapped Cans and Bottles
https://christojeanneclaude.net/artwo...

Packages and Wrapped Objects
https://christojeanneclaude.net/artwo...

See also: “Christo and Jeanne-Claude Projects, Wrapped Objects, Collages & Drawings, 1958-2021 Highlights. An Inspiration Resource by Rob the Art Teacher” at    • Christo and Jeanne-Claude Projects, W...  

This video also includes student work by Zofia and Kosma (7th grade) from The American Elementary School in Gdynia, Poland

MUSIC:
This video uses the music “Dreams” from https://www.bensound.com

Patreon:   / robtheartteacher  

You can also find me on LinkedIn:   / robgarrettcfa  

Rob Garrett is an accomplished art teacher, writer, and curator. With fine art and art history degrees from leading New Zealand Universities, he is a qualified teacher with experience teaching art to all ages, having worked in primary (elementary) schools, high schools, and higher education art schools (academies), including a time as the Head of New Zealand’s oldest art school, in Dunedin. His international work with artists has included directing and establishing artist residency programmes, managing New Zealand’s presence at the 2005 Venice Biennale of Contemporary Art, and curating numerous public art exhibitions, festivals, and city-wide programs.