University of Chicago Lab School Lower School Arts Blog: October 2015

Monday, October 26, 2015

Golden Shoes Project

This weekend, while downtown to see the Nina Simone documentary, I stumbled upon the most wonderful conceptual art installation.

The Golden Shoes Project is a street art installation created by the Chicago community to raise awareness of the number of people who were lost to violence in Chicago during 2014. Each pair of shoes represents a life.

You are invited to take a pair of shoes and put them somewhere else in the city. I took Paul Land's shoes. He was a 29 year old male who died from a gunshot wound. I placed them in a dry spot on Wabash because it started to rain while we were downtown. If you see these around town, think about taking part of this powerful art installation!

Monday, October 12, 2015

Ms. Beaulieu goes to Brooklyn!

This past week/weekend, I went to Brooklyn to present curriculum at the Progressive Education Network. It was so amazing because not only did I get to hang out with other great teachers, but I was able to tour a school similar to Lab, go on a subway adventure to see both new and old tile work, and head to the Brooklyn Museum and Botanic Gardens. It was a blast. Here are some pictures I took of the trip!

Brooklyn Museum: Yinka Shonibare

Brooklyn Museum: Kara Walker

Brooklyn Museum: Kenojuak Ashevak

Brooklyn Museum

Brooklyn Botanic Gardens: Rose Garden

The Manhattan Country School: 6th Grade Classroom

The Manhattan Country School: SHOP!

The Manhattan Country School

East Harlem

Subway Adventures

Gallery Stop

High Line

Adults installing their conceptual art!

Carroll Gardens

Adults installing their conceptual art!

Mrs. Bloom and I walking the Brooklyn Bridge!

Sunday, October 4, 2015

Gordon Parks Arts Hall

It is a very exciting time to be a Lab student (and arts teacher!). We just dedicated the new middle and high school arts wing named after the writer, film maker, photographer, and musician Gordon Parks.
Thirteen of his photographs are on display through the winter holiday on the first floor of the new hall, and I took my fourth grade classes to examine and discuss feelings, emotions, and aspects of the photographs. We talked about stereotypes, strong artistic elements, and grazed the surface of social justice issues brought forth from the images.