Dale Chihuly: 3D to 2D

I challenged some of my fifth graders to create a 2D representation of some of Dale Chihuly's 3D glass work. They used liquid water colors and fabric paints for their artwork. Their pieces were hung up as a collection at our district's Education Center for a few months.

Dale Chihuly Sculptures

While looking at some pictures of Dale Chihuly's glass sculptures, I got an idea on how to make some simple sculptures with my third, fourth, and fifth graders using recycled materials common household materials. The students worked together to wrap the cardboard tubes from lamination rolls and covered them in foil. They twisted the ends of the foil at one end to make a point. They then spread out sheets of tissue paper on the tables and sprayed them with Elmer's Spray Adhesive. They then rolled the foil covered tubes on them to create the color. The bases are just small pieces of scrap wood with dowel rods nailed/glued on. Our PE Coach helped me make the bases during our conference period one day. Yay for great teammates! This was super easy but cool. We still have them displayed in the back hallway where you can see them from the inside or outside.

Dale Chihuly Chandeliers

For a collaborative project my Kindergarten, First, and Second Graders created three Dale Chihuly inspired chandeliers made out of plastic. Each student was given a 3M brand lamination pouch. They opened the pouch and used two colors of permanent markers to color all over them. After they were done, I laminated them in our classroom laminator. (Fellow teachers, if you do not have one of these, get one. They are inexpensive and very useful for smaller projects. I personally think the lamination is thicker and better quality than typical laminators.)  Once they were laminated, the students learned how to cut the film into spiral shapes by starting with a large circle. They then worked together to connect five or six spirals in the middle with pipe cleaners. As they completed this, they brought them to me and we worked together to hook the pipe cleaners all together. Once completed, we originally hung them up in the windows by the art room but they were too heavy and fell. So, we ended up combining them into one large chandelier and hung them on a rolling garment rack that I previously used for a pocket chart stand.

Dale Chihuly: Third, Fourth, and Fifth Grades

As a part of our school wide artist study over Dale Chihuly, the third through fifth graders explored how heat can change an object. I try to incorporate as many general education connections into art as possible. To recreate a kid friendly, safe version of Chihuly's glass art, the students used permanent markers to design a clear plastic cup. After the students were done designing, we went to the Kindergarten kitchen to experiment. The cups were placed on parchment paper on top of cookie sheets and placed in the oven at 350 degrees. The students took turns watching the changes in the cups. Once they were cooled, the students were able to take their "glass" sculptures home.

Dale Chihuly: Kinder, First, and Second Grades

I did an artist study on Dale Chihuly with all of my students a few months ago. We looked at his various artworks, learned about the process to create glass, and then they made their own kid friendly version. Each student used washable markers to decorate a coffee filter in at least three colors. As they finished this step, they went to a station by the sink to spray their coffee filters with water. They were amazed at how the colors ran together. They then placed their coffee filters on top of a cup with a rubber band around it to hold it in place. After they dried, I sprayed them with spray starch to make the shapes hold. The students then glued them to a black cardstock base.