It's a special skill to do art with crowds. Here's how to do GIANT MURALS with crowds!
Cooperative Art is so much fun! You just don't know what the end result will be! Hook into the Big Creative Energy that exists among us! You can do these creative collage murals with a scout troop, at a party, a family reunion, or a Fair. A small group gathers around and develops a mural all at once, or it can grow in the course of a day...
THE ART: Pick a theme for your giant mural!
For a big fair, pick the fair theme (FOOD?) or anything fun: circus, zoo, space aliens... what do YOU like.
Plan to do several murals so you can have more themes!
MATERIALS
Scrounge, get free scraps from various companies, save leftover materials from earlier projects - keep it inexpensive!
LARGE cardboards- I would get them from a big store like CostCo... the big cardboard that lie flat between the products on a pallet.(call early in the morning, talk to the back room...)
Large colored papers for the background color.(teachers get this paper to cover bulletin boards in the classroom)
Collage materials: scraps of any kind of paper, feathers, shiny papers, fabric scraps, straw, and materials that lend themselves to your theme.
Scissors
Colored marking pens
Glue of several types. Basic white glue and some fabric glue will do you.
DOING A MURAL
-I'll pick a FARM theme as an example.
Set the scene: I cover the big cardboard with colored paper. Top third-blue for sky. Bottom 2/3-green for ground. Yellow or brown if you have a desert theme. Make your horizon line curvy. Maybe stick on a few purple mountains in the background, on the horizon. Maybe a creek wandering across the bottom (front)...
I cut out and glue on a good sized red paper barn,with the doors flapping open. Maybe a big tree too. That's it! The theme is set!
Special Materials good to have for a farm THEME: are fur fabric scraps (animal bodies), straw, cotton balls (lambies! Clouds!) some dried corn(chickens need food, yes?)
The rest will happen! You want to direct people to make something-maybe on a side table, then bring it over and attach it onto the mural. When you have lots of people coming and going, this lets more people participate at once.
You may have to do a little hinting: "What do you think is on a farm? Would you like this to be a kangaroo farm? Well, don't be afraid to be silly! Have fun!" That lets the kids feel free to create!
Be organized!
Keep the materials sorted in bins, baskets, jars. Keep putting the scissors and pens back in their boxes, ready for the next young artists to use. Tape trash bags to hang off the tables so kids are not confronted with a big mess.
HOT TIP! Big messes become bigger messes and don't help people do art.
WHAT TO DO WITH THE MURALS?
At a very large fair, we were working on about ten murals at once, and ended each day with a lot of murals. They've been on display all day. No, you can't keep them.'
SO, during the day have a sign: if you want to take one of these home, come back at 5 pm... we will draw names out of the hat! Do that. Spread the art joy!
In sum, collaborative art is a warm wonderful way to create a feeling of community as well as art! Using recycled materials makes it an inexpensive way to entertain the multitudes!
Author Melinda P Wallis
Author Melinda P Wallis
"Kids Art Goddess"
For 20 years, we've been doing art with crowds at fairs, festivals, malls, camps, parties library programs, and yes, even some creative schools!
Since 1989, I've been inventing creative projects for kids, to give them the thrill of using materials that they often don't get their hands on otherwise! REAL clay and clay tools, colored tumbled glass bits, leather, yards of windsock fabric, outdated phone equipment to make robots with... tons of interesting recycled stuff! Doing art with crowds is a FINE art in itself, and HAVE ART WE'LL TRAVEL knows how to do it!
Personal advice is available to you soon at my blog. Specific help for your special event or activity including the many tips for success that we learned from experience. I'm excited to share my experience with you! soon...
By Melinda P Wallis
Cooperative Art is so much fun! You just don't know what the end result will be! Hook into the Big Creative Energy that exists among us! You can do these creative collage murals with a scout troop, at a party, a family reunion, or a Fair. A small group gathers around and develops a mural all at once, or it can grow in the course of a day...
THE ART: Pick a theme for your giant mural!
For a big fair, pick the fair theme (FOOD?) or anything fun: circus, zoo, space aliens... what do YOU like.
Plan to do several murals so you can have more themes!
MATERIALS
Scrounge, get free scraps from various companies, save leftover materials from earlier projects - keep it inexpensive!
LARGE cardboards- I would get them from a big store like CostCo... the big cardboard that lie flat between the products on a pallet.(call early in the morning, talk to the back room...)
Large colored papers for the background color.(teachers get this paper to cover bulletin boards in the classroom)
Collage materials: scraps of any kind of paper, feathers, shiny papers, fabric scraps, straw, and materials that lend themselves to your theme.
Scissors
Colored marking pens
Glue of several types. Basic white glue and some fabric glue will do you.
DOING A MURAL
-I'll pick a FARM theme as an example.
Set the scene: I cover the big cardboard with colored paper. Top third-blue for sky. Bottom 2/3-green for ground. Yellow or brown if you have a desert theme. Make your horizon line curvy. Maybe stick on a few purple mountains in the background, on the horizon. Maybe a creek wandering across the bottom (front)...
I cut out and glue on a good sized red paper barn,with the doors flapping open. Maybe a big tree too. That's it! The theme is set!
Special Materials good to have for a farm THEME: are fur fabric scraps (animal bodies), straw, cotton balls (lambies! Clouds!) some dried corn(chickens need food, yes?)
The rest will happen! You want to direct people to make something-maybe on a side table, then bring it over and attach it onto the mural. When you have lots of people coming and going, this lets more people participate at once.
You may have to do a little hinting: "What do you think is on a farm? Would you like this to be a kangaroo farm? Well, don't be afraid to be silly! Have fun!" That lets the kids feel free to create!
Be organized!
Keep the materials sorted in bins, baskets, jars. Keep putting the scissors and pens back in their boxes, ready for the next young artists to use. Tape trash bags to hang off the tables so kids are not confronted with a big mess.
HOT TIP! Big messes become bigger messes and don't help people do art.
WHAT TO DO WITH THE MURALS?
At a very large fair, we were working on about ten murals at once, and ended each day with a lot of murals. They've been on display all day. No, you can't keep them.'
SO, during the day have a sign: if you want to take one of these home, come back at 5 pm... we will draw names out of the hat! Do that. Spread the art joy!
In sum, collaborative art is a warm wonderful way to create a feeling of community as well as art! Using recycled materials makes it an inexpensive way to entertain the multitudes!
Author Melinda P Wallis
Author Melinda P Wallis
"Kids Art Goddess"
For 20 years, we've been doing art with crowds at fairs, festivals, malls, camps, parties library programs, and yes, even some creative schools!
Since 1989, I've been inventing creative projects for kids, to give them the thrill of using materials that they often don't get their hands on otherwise! REAL clay and clay tools, colored tumbled glass bits, leather, yards of windsock fabric, outdated phone equipment to make robots with... tons of interesting recycled stuff! Doing art with crowds is a FINE art in itself, and HAVE ART WE'LL TRAVEL knows how to do it!
Personal advice is available to you soon at my blog. Specific help for your special event or activity including the many tips for success that we learned from experience. I'm excited to share my experience with you! soon...
By Melinda P Wallis
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