Attarray

We are sooooo close to ending this school year. Today’s letter for Ray’s Countdown is W. The W is for Watermelons – and I bet you wanted to see a bunch of watermelon paintings. That’s great, because in an effort to dress-up this nothingburger of a blog post, I’ve put together a slideshow of still-life paintings featuring our favorite large, edible fruit.

However, if you wanted to read about how artists unwittingly captured the evolution of watermelons in paintings, you can read this article from Hyperallergic. It might be the most esoteric thing you rad all day.

Link: The Evolution of the Watermelon (Hyperallergic, July 30th, 2015)

Christo, along with his wife Jeanne-Claude, created huge outdoor sculptures – often temporary – using fabrics, plastics, and even barrels. Their artwork was great because it was so bizarre. Ever wonder what hanging a curtain between two mountains would look like. Christo did it. Ever wonder what planting 1760 yellow umbrellas in California would look like? They did it. How about over 1,000 blue umbrellas in Japan. Yup, they did that too.

In 2018, Christo completed his “London Mastaba” using 7,506 stacked barrels. This sculpture weighed over 600-tons (or 1.2 million pounds). Wow. The New York Times has a slideshow of some of his most famous works. You should check it out. It might inspire you. 😉

Link: Christo (Britannica Kids)

The world is changing fast. Just think, three months ago we were all in class, slogging through lessons on primary colors, or value, or perspective. Now it’s facemasks, stay-at-home orders, and sirens at night. This is America? This is America.

It’s been months since we’ve looked at a slideshow. Today, we’re going to take a look at some protest signs …you can even imagine we’re back in class. Sometimes it’s better to use anger and outrage to make art; I’m sure your local camera store would appreciate it. Click away, students…

The Fundred Project is a collective art project that is drawing attention to lead-poisoning in children. Although lead poisoning is 100% preventable, it still puts millions of kids at risk for lifelong brain damage and other health issues. By participating in the Fundred Project, you’ll join millions of others nationwide by drawing attention to the solution.

You can help bring attention to lead poisoning by drawing your own Fundred Dollar Bill and sending it to the Smart Museum of Art – where it’ll displayed on in a future exhibition. That’s a win-win-win.

More information is in the link below.

Link: Chicago Fundred Initiative: A Bill for IL

Happy Memorial Day, everybody. Enjoy the day, hopefully the weather is nice, and you can stand 6′ – 10′ away from your friends and neighbors and (try to) talk about something that isn’t pandemic-related.

Air hug a veteran – and thank an essential worker too.  They’ve earned it.

A new lesson will be posted tomorrow.

If scraps of paper and tape were money, I’d be a gazillionaire. My family doesn’t see it that way. They see these scraps as taking up valuable space for a train track or yoga mat. I can’t win.

I stumbled across this window art idea while looking for ideas; it’s a great idea. Turn you window into a public art installation – and when you’re done, bounce around Chicago’s Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) site. There’s a bunch of good stuff on it.

Keep hanging on. One day, the art museums will be re-open 🏛️

Link: CREATE: Squiggly Window Art