Dear You Art Project

Mail Art + Pen Friends = Dear You Art Project

December 2016

Venturing with the artists at Viertola School!

2016, 4th Grade, Dear You Art Workshops, Finland, CanadaArlene TuckerComment

For our 4th meeting in Viertola School, in Vantaa I had prepared a slideshow of different modes of transportation. The images inspired us to think how these machines work, and we discussed ways to travel to places, for humans and fish, birds, and animals. Looking at inventions such as child seat on a bicycle or a sleeper train, we talked about journeys we take on our own and with a friend. 

The artists talked about their own travel experiences. Some travel home to a different country almost every weekend! 

Reflecting on the collective piece of art the artists created

Reflecting on the collective piece of art the artists created

Recycled materials worked well, I was very pleased to see students sharing materials with one another and creatively approach not only the design of the machine, but also of the environment around it. One artist even changed the “Air, Land, Water” to “Past, Present and Future”, to suit his time-travelling apparatus. 

As the artists were finishing their work, we gathered around the table in a Dear You corner that Kirsti had created, displaying artworks and letters from our friends, and talked about the scratch art homes that had just arrived from Canada. We had some exciting discussions in small groups, trying to guess where each of our friends’ character lives. Thank you for sharing art with us, teacher Dance and your wonderful students! 

Artworks from their friends at Ryerson PS in Ontario, Canada

Artworks from their friends at Ryerson PS in Ontario, Canada

Anastasia, Kirsti, and 4A class of Viertola School

The 4th graders from Viertolan Koulu in Vantaa, Finland are making and sharing with the 4th graders from Ryerson PS in Ontario, Canada.

The Monkeys collect, make, and mail art!

Pre-School, Finland, MexicoArlene TuckerComment

The Monkeys explored travels in the deep sea all the up to space. We first discussed all the ways one could travel. And then we put a twist on it since anything is possible in our imagination! From then on we had space rockets that could also act as airplanes and we had boats that could change to a million different speeds!

Continuing with the goodness of recycling, we used old candy wrappers and other papers to make our artworks.  The Monkeys thought, is there Fazer chocolate in Mexico?  They really hope so!

Looking forward to receiving artworks from our friends in Mexico! Thanks!

Our best,
Arlene & The Monkeys

The Monkeys from Your School in Espoo, Finland are making and sharing art with Rocio Fernandez and her artists from Prepri B from Colegio San Patricio Cumbres in Monterrey, Mexico.  Both groups of artists are 5-6 years old.

Our world is big, connected, and full of creative ways of getting from here to there :).

Our world is big, connected, and full of creative ways of getting from here to there :).

The Tigers make their way to Mexico!

2016, 4 years old, 5 years old, Dear You Art Workshops, Dear You Workshop Leader, Finland, MexicoArlene TuckerComment

I was so very impressed with how imaginative the Tigers were!  Some even made a three-dimensional boat to travel to their friends in Mexico!  Before getting started on the artworks we first had a good conversation about what vehicles were and how different vehicles travel.  The Tigers then decided to try to make some that fly, float, and go underwater!

The Tigers collected ice cream wrappers and candy wrappers from a recent birthday party to use for the collage. Have you ever had Penguin ice cream?

Thank you!

With love,
Arlene & The Tigers

The Tigers from Your School in Espoo, Finland are making and sharing art with Nursery A from Colegio San Patricio Cumbres in Monterrey, Mexico.  Both groups of artists are 4 years old.

Our connected world!

Our connected world!

K1 makes creative connections!

2016, 4 years old, 5 years old, Dear You Art Workshops, Dear You Workshop Leader, Finland, MexicoArlene TuckerComment

We have been getting to know ourselves and the world through making art.  Now let's put all the pieces together and make a collective piece of art which shows different ways to get to our friends in Mexico!

As we were using recycled materials, the artists realized that this was also a sensorial experience! They smelled the empty coffee bags and thought that this could help with the travels :).  Some K1ers said that Mommy likes to drink coffee.

Submarines, flying helicopters, jets, and more!

Thank you!

Our best,
K1 and Arlene Tucker

The 4-5 year olds in K1 at International School of Helsinki in Helsinki, Finland are making and sharing art with the 4-5 year olds in K2B class from San Patricio Colegio in Monterrey, Mexico.

Here's a panoramic view of K1's world!

Here's a panoramic view of K1's world!

Creative inventors in Berlin find a way to reach their friends in Mexico!

2016, 4 years old, 5 years old, Germany, MexicoArlene Tucker1 Comment

I am happy to send you some pictures of our creative discoverers from Berlin. 

The kids did not stop surprising us introducing the most unbelievable ways of getting to their friends in Mexico: starting from making a bridge and walking all the way to Mexico till the most innovative technologies with flying cars and submarines....

Here are some of the the stories and pictures of our journey: 

Emil: under there is water and up there is air and we break the air to get to Mexico.  
Raphael: From Germany we take a submarine and it sinks totally under the water. The clouds make lots of fog and we cannot go further for a time.
Basti: We take the submarine and the sun is there, the full moon and the earth. 
In case someone attacks us (the sharks) we can take the other submarines.
Aya: We can fly with an airplane and drive with a car. There is enough splace for my mama and papa.
Tarja: These are my parents and me. We build a bridge to Mexico and walk there.
Samira: We are in Germany and we go always around and around and when we want to go to Mexico we have to go out of this circle and take this way. This boat has wheels and this is an airplane and a smaller airplane.
Sonia: This is a girl who swims to Mexico. She puts up wings so that she can fly over the water. The airplane broke and the submarine broke as well. The girl has left her mask in the broken airplane. The sun gives warmth to the girl. The girl takes the snail to Mexico because the snail lives there.
Leiff: The boat pulls the car all the way to Mexico. 
Mia:  It's a car with ten wheels. This car can go up because of the sticks and the airplane can fly the car behind it. We go to Mexico all together, my four brothers and sisters and my father and my mother. 
Leyla: There are two boats, a ship and a submarine, my family goes in a ship and I am in the submarine alone. The airplane is for the seagull that wants to go back to Germany.

Best regards and thank you very much for organizing this beautiful project.

Happy Holidays and all the best!
Lusine 

Lusine Boyajyan and her group of 4 year olds artists from Kita Felix and Friends in Berlin, Germany are making and sharing art with Angy Castillo and her  Kinder A group from Colegio San Patricio in Monterrey, Mexico.

From Canada to Finland- we are making connections!

2016, 6th Grade, Dear You Art Workshops, Canada, FinlandArlene TuckerComment

These are the images of student vehicles that they created. They had the option to use any materials in the class or from home. They could create a real or fictional vehicle and describe whether it was for land, air or water travel.

A few students (large yellow wheels) and a long one with a parachute and green propeller actually wired them to operate (electricity was our first big project of the year).

Teacher Kaarina Losey

The 6th graders at Ryerson P.S. in Cambridge, ON, Canada are making and sharing art with the 6th graders from The English School in Helsinki, Finland.