ART TEACHER RECEIVES GRANT FOR AB ROUND ROBIN PROJECT

By SHERRY FOLEY

Sherry Foley: How long have you been doing altered books?
Deena East: One year.

SF: How did you become interested in altered books?
DE: My mother introduced them to me. She had bought a book about them, and had seen one at a local store. I went and looked at the altered book and really liked it.

SF: How did you decide to use altered books in your teaching?
DE: I thought that they would be a great way for the students to learn new techniques and be able to use them in a more personal way. At first I required the students to include specific techniques that we had learned in their book. The books that they did with the grant money focused on a certain theme and were done in a round robin between three schools.

SF: How have your students reacted to altering books?
"I really liked doing this project. If I was asked to do it again I would! Yeah!" - Caleb
"This project was a really challenging experience. You could learn things from stuff that you may normally not be interested in. It opens your eyes to new interests, and tends to make you less narrow-minded. All in all it was really fun. I’d do it again. Rawx on!!" - Kala

WORKING ON THE BOOKS

SF: What made you decide to apply for a grant?
DE: When I saw the topic for the triangle project grant, Art and Music: Bridging the Divide Partnering for Pride, I thought that an altered book round robin would word fit the idea perfectly. The idea behind the grant was to bring together three schools, one from each school system in Madison County (Huntsville City, Madison City, and Madison County) to create an art or music project. I called the person in charge and immediately started answering questions. Then I needed to find a teacher from a Madison County school and one from a Madison City school to work with me. It ended up being me, Deena East from Westlawn Middle (a Huntsville City school), Theresa Miller from Madison County (a Madison County school), and Tym Davis from Liberty Middle (a Madison City school).

TYM DAVIS - DEENA EAST - THERESA MILLER

SF: Tell us about the grant itself - what does it cover?
DE: The grant was given by The Schools Foundation in partnership with Boeing Corporation. Each teacher that was part of the grant received $400 for supplies for a total of $1200. For our lesson we were going to have each student start a book with a particular theme. They would trade the books with their peers first, and then trade the books with the other two schools.

THE BOOKS FOR THE AB ROUND ROBIN PROJECT

Hopefully, by being able to expose the students to a myriad of techniques and media while they are still in middle school, they will continue to be open to using new as well as familiar supplies and techniques in different ways. I want them to be able to see art as something they can relate to on a personal level and have fun with, not just something only a “real” artist can achieve. By using the altered book as the vessel for their artistic endeavors, they were not intimidated by a blank white piece of paper and they were able to jump right into the project and take chances with different techniques and supplies. The project was fun for every one and I was able to use up some really weird leftover art supplies as well as try some really cool new stuff.

SF: Would you have pursued altered books with your students even if you had not received the grant?
DE: Yes, my students had already done one book this year before receiving the grant.

SF: Tell us about yourself and the other teachers/schools involved.
DE: This was my third year teaching art at Westlawn Middle School. I have always enjoyed bookmaking and mixed media projects. I also have a short attention span, so altered books work great for me. It gives me chance to work with books, mixed-media, and you can do a little or a lot at a time. I presented an altered book program at the Huntsville Madison County Art Teachers Association meeting last fall and as a result I was asked to do a formal in-service workshop on altered books. I did the in- service workshop at the Huntsville Museum of Art in October. Several teachers attending this workshop have incorporated an altered book project in their classes (teachers at Catholic HS, Butler, Randolph, Grissom, and others). I did this project with my eighth grade advanced art class. They had done one altered book before participating in the round robin. Thersea did this project with her eighth graders from Madison County. Tym did this project with ninth graders at Liberty Middle.

WORKING ON THE BOOKS

Sherry Foley is an Altered Book artist from Huntsville, AL and is ISABA's Executive Vice President.