Art Shows and Displays

Art Shows and Displays

After a class has spent time making a project, try not to take for granted that you get to see all of the end results - the students don't always get that! It can be rewarding for everyone to see all of the artwork together and take a moment to reflect.

• The Quick Display
• Gallery walks
• I mentioned this in another post, but I love to do a quick 2-3 minute "gallery walk" while works are in-progress or finished. The artwork stays at the seat and the students walk around to see different approaches and get new ideas. They often give each other compliments, which is great to hear.
• Put it all together
• For more impact, grab an empty table, counter, white board, or space on the floor to simply put all the artwork next to each other. It allows you to really feel what a class has been able to accomplish, often with striking results. Allow students to gather around so everyone can see and share their thoughts. If any self-conscious feelings bubble up, I try to steer the conversation to the benefits of diversity. We are all different people, so we work differently as artists. Artwork is far more interesting when each piece has unique qualities versus a whole board full of boring sameness.
• The Hallway Display
• Bulletin boards and display cases
• As I am putting away finished projects into their class spots, I try to pull out a few pieces to hang that are standouts. For certain projects, like small 3D work, I may display the entire grade at once (and this helps with storage as well). 
• Over time I have learned that my display cases need to be locked, because for some reason the temptation to open the doors is just too much for some students.
• The kids especially love looking at all of the projects on display and notice when new ones are put out. For those few minutes they spend walking by, they ooh and ahh, and search for their own work or friends' works. 
• Walls and sticky stuff
• Schools will differ on how they feel about artwork being hung up on the wall, usually dependent on the age of the school itself. Where I student taught, we were free to use tape to hang all over the brick walls, and I put a whole display of frolicking first grade monsters just by the ceiling, cartwheeling and leaping over doorways. Alternatively at my own school, tape is forbidden, and nothing stays hanging on the painted cinder blocks anyway! Sticky tack is my best bet, but e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g falls. Experiment. Cry a little bit. Accept the impermanence of the universe.
• A Yearly Art Show
• Methods I've tried
• No matter what, artwork gets elevated to another level by adding some kind of display structure. This may be matting at the high school level or mounting on fresh construction paper at the elementary level. You'll be surprised how much it can change the look for the better.
• Early on, I mounted all artworks to long strips of black bulletin board paper and hung these with yarn and binder clips from the ceilings in the hallway. The kids loved how it transformed the halls for a week or so that it was up, but everything would sway in the breeze, I had to use ladders, and it was a TON of prep. Meh.
• Other art teachers have used folded up cafeteria tables as temporary display walls for their own bulletin board papers with artwork.
• I eventually got some money to use from the PTO and bought a bunch of PVC pipes and connectors that became a high school shop project to cut into specific measurements. These measurements made rudimentary frames upon which I could hang and staple the bulletin board paper with artworks. Hurray! I was still displaying in the hallways, which had impact, but it also impeded the flow of traffic and wasn't always the most stable structure. Hmm...
• The next year I moved this setup into the gym. MUCH easier not having to navigate huge frames through multiple doorways only to get knocked into by viewers.
• My new go-to
• This year I used part of my budget to purchase black fabric - no more use and toss paper! Less prep! Classy! Yay! The fabric will work like a big pillowcase over the display frames (which will now also be glued at the connectors for more stability). Artwork will be attached to the fabric with black safety pins and mini binder clips. Easy up, easy down. The whole display will be in the gym for ease of traffic flow and to allow for other activities as I've teamed up with Family Night for more collaboration and support. We may even be able to have a separate class viewing schedule for teachers to bring their students the following day (not everyone can make it to the after school event), and bonus, be able to pick up their own artwork!
• These fabric-covered frames could be used for additional school activities and registration events. Sharing is caring!