Who Am I (really)?Mask

I was really inspired by another art teacher blogger, Andrea Ream Ellwood at http://www.dreampraycreate.com/p/lesson-ideas.html who developed this Inside Out Mask for her high schoolers.  I really like her projects and her approach to teaching art.

My goal in this project is to get my students to think about who they truly are--I want them to think beyond what everybody knows about them and consider a way to visually represent the person that maybe only their family or best friends see.  In creating my example, I was honestly kind of stumped about what to represent in my mask.  I was struggling to even answer the question, Who Am I?  I like when I have these types of dilemmas because I know some of my students will likely face the same obstacles.  I set about answering my question, Who am I by writing down some words that would represent an idea that only the few people closest to me would know to say about me.  I felt like the way to answer this question was by thinking about the person I am when I am around the people who I feel most comfortable with.  After jotting a few words down, I called my best friend who lives in Florida and asked her for her input.  She was most helpful and by the time I got off the phone with her I had some more words and ideas to play off of and I felt a new surge of creative energy from connecting with my best friend.  Here was my list with my best friends words added to it:

Honest, Sensitive, Protective, Loyal, Hardworking, Artistic, Logical, Not complicated, Nurturing, Creative, Funny.  Once I had my list I immediately decided I wouldn't try to represent every idea but I chose to represent the words:  Artistic, Logical, Not Complicated, Nurturing, Hardworking, Creative.

To do this project you will need a plastic mask form and plaster gauze strips.  You will first create the mask out of the plaster and then begin to brainstorm who you "really" are.  Have students ask family members and friends.

Sketch Design for mask.

Paint mask, add any three dimensional elements.

Create artist's statement.