June Art Blog 2018

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Dear All, 

As this school year is coming to a close I would like to share with you my Teacher of the Year video produced by Ernie Holly @Timelinemp and MCOE. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbnpxp5_8Xg&feature=youtu.be


Thank you to KSD admin and staff for your encouragements and acknowledgments along the way. Thank you KSD Kik and PTA for your help and support. My art program would not be where it is today without all of your incredible efforts of supporting our schools. 

I hope that through my work I was able to demonstrate how art accentuates, extends and enhances all learning. It has been an unforgettable journey representing all of you hardworking, dedicated educators in Marin and California. 

I am looking forward to serving my community for many more years in sharing my passion for the arts and teaching. 


Warmly,

Barbara Libby-Steinmann
Marin County Teacher of the Year 2018
California Teacher of the Year Finalist 2018



Bacich Community Art Fence Culmination

The Bacich Art room was the center stage of making this school wide PLB work and learning visible.
Focusing on the question. How can artists positively impact their community?
Each grade level was creating a meaningful element of our community art fence.  Through arts integration methodology, aligned with grade level PBL focus work and cross curricula study, students worked in partnerships on the following themes:
  • ·      Transition Kindergarten: Sun
  • ·      Kindergarten: Clouds and Butterflies
  • ·      First Grade: Marsh Birds
  • ·      Second Grade: Trout and Watershed
  • ·      Third Grade: created the large Marin County Landmarks
  • ·      Fourth Grade: California Symbols



We have completed installation of the Bacich Community Art Fence and it turned out fabulous! 

Thank you to artist and illustrator Rafael Lopez for the layout tips, and thank you to teachers Mr. Bessonette and  Mrs. Yang for their amazing support and help. Thank you to AM construction for your expert help with installment, and thank you to Anna Rochester and Amy Wheeler for your help with layout.  Our community absolutely loves the art fence. We've been receiving many kind and appreciative emails. What a way to positively impact our community! 






















It truly looks spectacular from the street and even more impressive up close. The hard work, patience and commitment  of students and teachers made it all come together in such an inclusive and creative way. It was a monumental effort so it’s only fitting that the fence feels like it’s really a monument to our school and our community.

​​Here is a link to a time laps video of the art fence installation created by our custodian Jesus Zamarano: 
 Bacich Community Art Fence Installation.mov

Positive Interactions and Outcomes:

·      Student engagement and connection to their environment
·      Student and teacher collaboration
·      Community engagement including parents and a variety of community members, business  and associations
·      Allowing students to use tools like saws and hammers
·      Using a limited palette of exterior paint turned this project into an amazing color theory lesson of mixing colors
·      Students helping and working on pieces for the fence in their free time, during recess and lunch
·      Students helping each other
·      The use of upcycled materials adding texture and creativity
·      Meeting Rafael Lopes, a professional artist who creates community art

Fun Facts about the Bacich Community Art Fence:

1.    Our student body TK-4th grade plus teachers and parents created 350+ dazzling art pieces
2.    We used 600 sheets of tag board to sketch stencils and templates
3.    We used 11.5 sheets of 4X8 feet plywood
4.    Students used coping saws and teachers helped with a jigsaw to move the cutting process along.
5.    We broke 67 saw blades. Oh snap! I personally snapped two blades.
6.    We had thousands of plywood scraps, some of which we turned into art pieces, and some were taken home by students as tokens for their hard work sawing. (parent remark: “Oh that’s what the wood pieces are from in my child’s backpack?”)
7.    We used 40 sheets of sand paper
8.    We used 4 gallons of gesso primer
9.    And 6 gallons of exterior paint, of which we only bought the primary colors plus the shade and tint black and white, all the colors you see on the art fence were mixed by students with teacher assistance
10.Would you like to guess what the trickiest color was to mix? Purple!
11.We used hammers, pliers and endless nails to attach bottle caps
12.We upcycled millions of bottle caps collected by our community
13.I permanently stained two pair of pants, a couple of t-shirts and a pair of shoes, with exterior paint
14.We damaged two tables by sawing into their edges. Oops!
15.We used 30 spray cans of varnish to weatherproof art pieces
16.Each student spent between 4-6 hours, fully engaged, happy and proud
17.Total student hours 3275, and countless teacher hours
18.With the help of an amazing crew it took 10 adult 2.5 hours to install all 350+ pieces.


I hope you will in enjoy the Bacich Community Art Fence for years to come. 

Happy Summer!
Warmly,
Mrs. Libby







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