Attarray

The days are getting looooong. To keep my brain active (and help pass the time) I’ve been using the Chicago Public Library. They have a ton of online resources. Interested? I knew you would be.

First, you need to get a library card. You can do that here. Next, check out their Kids section – it has science projects, ebooks, audiobooks, and videos, plus homework help. Or you can be like me and listen to a 17-hour audiobook on Leonardo Da Vinci; it’s a pretty intense biography.

Stay safe, we’ll get through this. I promise. ✊

Link: Get a Library Card Online (Chicago Public Library)

It’s that time again: the Ray Elementary ABC Countdown has begun. Twenty-six activities for the twenty-six days we have left in school. Today’s activity is dancing. In fact, I’m dancing as I type thskjadaklda…

[embeddoc url=”https://attarray.edublogs.org/files/2020/05/abc_countdown_ray_elem.pdf” download=”none” viewer=”google” ]

Link: ABC Countdown – Ray Elementary (2019-2020) [PDF, 91K]

It feels like 100 years since I’ve last visited a museum. Seriously, how many reruns of The Office can I watch? Fortunately, there’s a small reprieve. The City of Chicago has launched their Stay Home. Click Play. site. Each week, Lori Lightfoot takes us all on a virtual field trip. The first week we took a look inside the Shedd Aquarium, then it was the Field Museum. Other places on the list include: the DuSable Museum of African American History, the Museum of Science and Industry, the National Museum of Mexican Art, The Art Institute of Chicago and Lincoln Park Zoo.

Wash your hands. Avoid crowds. We’ll get through this soon. Right? 🤞🏼

Link: Stay Home. Hit Play.

The Tate Museum (located in the United Kingdom) is a great resource to learn about art. I recommend you check out their Tate Kids section, where you can learn to make stuff, explore art and artists, and watch videos (including this one about Henri Matisse). You can also play games.

One of those games is their Street Art game. Using brushes, spray cans, stamps, and stickers – you can create a graffiti wall without leaving your chair. That’s a win-win-win situation.

When you’re done, click around the site. You might learn something 😹

Link: Tate Kids: Street Art
Link: Tate Kids

In conjunction with Ray’s local art museum, the Smart Museum of Art, artist Erik L. Peterson made a boat out of recycled materials. Using some basic art supplies, a twig, and envelope, and three plastic bottles, you can make a boat too. Maybe you could even give it a name? Who knows – it might be your new best friend in this era of social distancing. Watch the video and make a new friend ⛵

This boat was inspired by the material explorations in the exhibition The Allure of Matter: Material Art from China. There’s also a pair of curious coloring sheets you can download.

Link: Family Day: Pop Bottle Boats (Vimeo)
Link: The Allure of Matter Coloring Sheet: Chen Zhen
Link: The Allure of Matter Coloring Sheet: Gu Wenda

As an experiment, illustrator Christoph Niemann would spend his Sundays with an everyday object and a sheet of paper. Using his imagination and some basic art supplies, pennies became ice cream scoops. Scissors became legs. A sock became a dinosaur. You get the idea. Take a look at the gallery; visual puns are always fun.

Luckily for us, there’s a short documentary on his work called “Abstract: The Art of Design | Christoph Niemann: Illustration“. While the title may be clumsy in it’s use of orthographic punctuation, the video provides a fun look at the inner-thoughts and struggles of a working artist. An arts career isn’t always fancy shirts and champagne galas; there’s hard work involved too. If you think a career in the arts could be in your future, I recommend you take a look at it.

Link: Abstract: The Art of Design | Christoph Niemann: Illustration

Every weekday at noon, bestselling illustrator and graphic journalist Wendy MacNaughton is offering free, daily drawing classes on Instagram Live. It’s a good distraction and sometimes drawing is fun. I recommend it. Here’s a link on how to access it.

Don’t have an Instagram account? No problem. A YouTube channel has been created as well. There’s (currently) more than twenty lessons available. Draw away!

Link: #DrawTogether w/ WendyMac (Instagram)
Link: #DrawTogether w/ WendyMac (YouTube)

While we’re at it, here’s a small sample of her work. Enjoy, my young drawers…