Dear You Art Project

Mail Art + Pen Friends = Dear You Art Project

2018

Taking time to explore

10 years old, 2018, 7 years old, 8 years olds, 9 years old, Dear You Art Workshops, FinlandArlene Tucker3 Comments
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To start the Dear You project the students and I sat down around a table and reviewed the photos sent to us from our new friends in China.  With each picture we took time to visually explore what was taking place. Was it a boy or girl? How old did they appear? Where was the photo taken? We explored what sort of information could we gather from elements presented to us in the photo?  

Following this activity we completed an journaling exercise where the students described things about themselves that they felt were important to share with their new friends. Then we completed the session by taking our self portraits.

Alexandra said: I like candy. I like to dance. My favorite food is pea soup.
I am Amos. I like school. I play my PS4. I have a big brother. I like pizza. I like candy.
I am Ebba. I like English club. I play football. I have a mom.
Felix said: I am 8 years old. I like candy. I play Minecraft.
Lucus said: I am short. I like my friend Benjamin. I play football. I have a little sister.
I am Maxim. I like Samuel & Benjamin. I do Ty-boxing. I have a dog.
Oskar said: I like playing my phone. I like candy. I am 7 years old. I play the guitar.
Sophia said: I also like to laugh. I like to play pretend mommy and daddy. I like my mom. My favorite food is spaghetti and I love bread. I like hotdogs and I like friends.

Thank you!

Sincerely,
Rachel Kangas

The artists in Grade 2 (8-9 years old) at Taizhou Pheonix Primary School in Jiangsu, China are making and sharing art with the artists at Linguajoy (7-10 years old) in Helsinki, Finland.

Olet inspiraatio!

2018, 4 years old, 5 years old, FinlandArlene TuckerComment
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(English below)
Kun palasimme hiihtolomalta takaisin päiväkotiin, meitä odotti ihana posti: saimme kirjeen. Kirjekuoresta paljastui upeita piirustuksia meille meidän omista leikeistämme ja kiinnostuksen kohteista. Kiitos Tiikerit!

Nyt olemme itse viikon ajan piirtäneet ja värittäneet kuvia kaavapaperin läpi teistä Tiikeri-lapset. Se ei ollut kovin helppoa, mutta hyvin me selvisimme siitä. Saatte postia piakkoin!

yt. Pippurit ja Mantelit

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When we returned to the daycare from the ski holiday, we had a wonderful package waiting for us: we received a package. The envelope had many amazing drawings, which came from our own jokes and interests. Thanks to the Tigers!

This week we have been painting and coloring pictures of the Tigers. It was not that easy, but we managed to make the artworks. You will receive mail soon!

Kindly,
Pippurit (gingerbreads) and Mantelit (almonds)

The 5 year old artists at Päiväkoti Pihapirtti in Helsinki, Finland are making and sharing art with the 5 year old artists from Your School in Espoo, Finland.

In winter 2018 Dear You project in Kontula is supported by the Museum of Impossible Forms.

The thoughtful artistic process in Barcelona

10 years old, 11 years old, 2018, 4th Grade, Dear You Art Workshops, Finland, SpainArlene TuckerComment

The artists at SOLC in Barcelona have shared their creative process of making a self-portrait.  They sketched their ideas of what personality traits and things about themselves they would like to tell their new friends in Finland.  Before they took their photographs they first experimented with the camera and found many different ways to play with the images.

Great job!

The 4th graders at Vesalan Peruskoulu in Helsinki, Finland are making and sharing art with the 5th graders at Escola SOLC in Barcelona, Spain.  Artists in both groups are 10-11 years old.

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Using light and transparency to make art!

2018, 4 years old, 5 years old, Dear You Art Workshops, FinlandArlene TuckerComment
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Using our friend's artwork as a direct inspiration for our artwork is a pure collaboration!  At first, the Tigers were wondering how can we do that?  How can we make something together with our friends when they live in Kontula?  This was the first time the Tigers used tracing in their artwork and they did an excellent job!

When they finished tracing we had a talk about the original artwork- what was the photographer trying to say with their image?  From that, the Tigers chose colors to try and bring that idea to life. We had a good discussion and compared the original artwork from their artwork they made. 

Colors and lines, make such a difference even if it's coming from the same source. We learned how we can "say" what we mean.

Thank you for being such an inspiration for us!

Sincereley,
Arlene, Floriin, Anna-Maria & The Tigers

The 5 year old artists at Your School in Espoo, Finland are making and sharing art with the 5 year old artists from Päiväkoti Pihapirtti in Helsinki, Finland.

The Monkeys translate their friend's artwork!

2018, 5 years old, 6 years old, Dear You Art Workshops, Finland, Pre-SchoolArlene TuckerComment
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Our new friends in Kontula have become even more alive as we all sat around to talk about the self-portraits.  What do you think this picture means?  What do you think our friend is trying to say with that gesture?  Through the process of trying to understand what the picture is conveying, we started to connect with the picture and the person behind the camera. "I like horses too!" "I like to do gymnastics too!"

We had a good discussion about translation.  Can we say something exactly in another language?  We practiced saying hello and how are you in different languages.  Even from that we sometimes got stuck because the direct translation wasn't always exactly the same. 

We tried applying this concept of translation to picture form by tracing the self-portrait.  Then when we added color, we could play around with how color enhances and changes the meaning of the picture.  All the elements come together so choose carefully what you would like to communicate!

The Monkeys did an amazing job!

Sincerely,
Arlene, Sanna, Ben & The Monkeys

The 6 year old artists at Your School in Espoo, Finland are making and sharing art with the 6 year old artists from Päiväkoti Pihapirtti in Helsinki, Finland.

I think we will make good friends!

2018, 3rd Grade, China, Dear You Art Workshops, FinlandArlene Tucker5 Comments

When I explained to the kids what the event meant and what to do, they were very positive and found out how many great pictures they had and asked friends to pick out the ones they like. 

Next, the kids told stories about the photos. Then, the kids talked about their photos one after one. They made self-introductions and wrote them down, they expect to be new friends with the kids in Finland.

King regards,
Teacher Lisa and Miss Wu Juehua

The artists in Grade 3 (9-10 years old) at Taizhou Pheonix Primary School in Jiangsu, China are making and sharing art with the artists at Linguajoy (7-9 years old) in Helsinki, Finland.

Festivities here and there!

2018, China, Finland, School visits, 13 year oldsArlene TuckerComment

Class 7C in Kontula were all very excited that they received a package from our friends in China!  We displayed their artwork and discussed them.  Many of the artworks had very warm and welcoming thoughts on them such as, "Welcome to China!".  Finally, we figured out what C & F stands for - China and Finland!  I hope we are right!

On one of the artworks had some questions written on them. 

These questions translates to: Firstly, it is very nice to meet you. Can we make an exchange using QQ? What kind of Chinese food do you like? Do you have some interesting festivals there?

These questions translates to: Firstly, it is very nice to meet you. Can we make an exchange using QQ? What kind of Chinese food do you like? Do you have some interesting festivals there?

We try to answer you the best we can:

It is very nice to meet you too!  We do not know what QQ is. What is it?

Some of us had said that they like the fried pork, fried rice, white rice and the duck.

Finland has all kinds of festivals. We celebrate Juhannus, which is called Midsummer in English. This happens towards the end of June where it is usually the longest day of the year.  We celebrate Pride, Vappu (May Day), Tikkurila Festivaali, Vegan Festivaali, and Ruis Rock, which is a big music festival.

Yesterday, in Helsinki there were two big celebrations. One is called Penkkarit and the other you will know very well, Chinese New Year!  Senior high school students ride on the back of trucks in costumes to celebrate before they have to start their matriculation exams.  There is lot of honking the horn and throwing candy at the crowd!!  The Chinese New Year celebrations were so beautiful this year! There was dancing, Kung Fu, music, Dragon Dance, Lion Dance, and ice skating too to happily bring in the year of the dog!

We wish you all a happy new year!

The 13 year old artists at Shenzhen High School in Shenzhen, China are making and sharing with 7c, 13 year olds, from Helsingin yhteislyseo in Helsinki, Finland.

Looking at us through a lens

10 years old, 2018, 4th Grade, Dear You Art Workshops, Finland, Spain, 11 years oldArlene TuckerComment
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The artists at Vesalan peruskoulu in Finland are so excited to have new friends in Spain!  We had a good discussion about languages and all the different ways we can communicate.  In the group we have people who speak Finnish, Russian, Arabic, English, and probably many other languages, but we realized that art is a language too!  And today we experimented with using photography as our medium! 

Since this was the first project in getting to know our friends we first thought of things we like about ourselves and characteristics that we would like to share with them.  

Then we experimented with photography!  The characteristics we wanted to highlight guided our camera.  Some of us went outside (in freezing cold weather!) to take the self-portraits while others used different techniques to spread their message such as drawing.  In any case, the final work was a photographic self-portrait.

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To round out the session we looked at some self-portraits from Nan Goldin, Josef Koudelka and Zev.  Everybody could share their own perspectives on how that photographic spoke to them.

We look forward to seeing our friend's self-portraits!

The 4th graders at Vesalan Peruskoulu in Helsinki, Finland are making and sharing art with the 5th graders at Escola SOLC in Barcelona, Spain.  Artists in both groups are 10-11 years old.

The Tigers get creative with their self-portraits!

2018, 5 years old, Dear You Art Workshops, FinlandArlene TuckerComment

The Tigers are so happy and excited to have new friends in Kontula!  A place fairly close to where the Tigers live in Espoo!  Since we haven't met our new friends yet, we thought about all the things we would like to share about ourselves with them.  We got into small groups and came up with a very long list of our favorite things!

Joann: bunnies, diamonds, butterfles
Vanessa: ice cream, butterflies, candy
Aapo: puu, sledding, sweets, skating, surfboard, wii, Mario
Erik: candy, ice hockey
Leevi: candy, presents
Achu: babies, scary stuff, ice cream, coffee
Oskari: jäähilejuoma, ice cream, candy, spiders
Cride: candy, ice cream, ice cream drink
Rishita: glasses, little sister, new year, earrings, lips
Arn: dinosaurs, ghost
Olivia: ice cream, candy, shakes (big ones), ice cream drink, penguins, storm
Renu: butterflies, good babies, spider, ice cream

Wow! Do you like these as well?

Then we thought about how to show our long list of favorites in a photograph. This will be our self-portrait. Some Tigers made props to wear or hold in the photograph, some Tigers wanted to act it out in the photograph, and some Tigers wanted to draw and picture and then take a photograph of that. In any case, everybody Tiger came up with their own way of portraying themselves to their new friends.

We hope you like our self-portraits!

Sincereley,
Arlene, Floriin, Anna-Maria & The Tigers

The 5 year old artists at Your School in Espoo, Finland are making and sharing art with the 5 year old artists from Päiväkoti Pihapirtti in Helsinki, Finland.

Through photography, The Monkeys tell about themselves

2018, 6 years old, Dear You Art Workshops, FinlandArlene TuckerComment

The Monkeys were very happy to hear that they have new friends in Kontula! They got even more excited when they found out that they will get to meet their new friends in May after making and sharing art with them for a few months.

Since this is the first artwork in the series, we thought long and hard about what we would like to share with our new friends.  Everybody chose things they like to do, things they are interested in or shared traits about themselves:

Adripto: cabin crew (I like to help)
Neha: dancing and drawing
D: drawing
Pauli: hockey
Pranav: skating and playing with friends
Aryan: I like flying on airplanes
Aleksi: hockey
Vika: drawing
Aliah: I would like to show them how I draw
Rafael: I like how to play Kimbu with my friends
Nithila: I like to draw and I want to show it to them
Miriam: I want to show how I make snowflakes
Kinshuk: I want to show them how I play with legos
Miska: I want to show how slow I am
Miro: Playing with my soft toys
Umer: I want to show how fast humans are
Mikael: I like building castles

Once we got into the project we wanted to share even more things with you! Umer said, "We have some powers to teach you."

The Monkeys said that they liked taking the photo and also liked pretending for the photo. We hope you did too!

Sincerely,
Arlene, Sanna, Ben & The Monkeys

The 6 year old artists at Your School in Espoo, Finland are making and sharing art with the 6 year old artists from Päiväkoti Pihapirtti in Helsinki, Finland.

Luovat eskarilaiset, Kanelit -ryhmä

2018, 6 years old, Dear You Art Workshops, Finland, Helsinki, January, Pre-SchoolArlene Tucker1 Comment
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(English below)
Eskariryhmässä on 15 lasta, iältään kaikki ovat tällä hetkellä 6 –vuotiaita. Ensimmäisellä kerralla lapsilta kysyttiin, mitä he haluavat kertoa itsestään tai mistä he tykkäävät ( 3 asiaa ). Sen jälkeen he saivat valita jonkin heille mieluisan asian, josta otettiin valokuva.

Esikouluryhmä Kaneleiden lasten ajatuksia itsestään ja siitä, mistä he tykkäävät eniten ( 3 asiaa ):

S; Mä tykkään hevosista, sota- ja rosvoleikeistä.
A; Mä tykkään mustekalasta, poliisi- ja rosvoleikeistä, Spiderman ja Superman vaatteista.
Sh; Mä tykkään kissoista, seistä päälläni ja värittää paljon.
Lu; Mä tykkään hevosista, kissoista ja värittää paljon.
To; Mä oon mustekala ja mun lempieläin on mustekala. Mä tykkään koirauinnista ja päällä seisonnasta.
La; Mä tykkään leikkiä palikoilla, koiraleikeistä ja tykkään leikkiä Pokemoneilla.
El; Mä tykkään leikkiä palikoilla Laurin kanssa, simpukoista ja meritähdistä sekä apinoista.
Le; Mä tykkään poneista sekä tehdä hamahelmiä, lumipalloja ja lumienkeleitä.
Lun; Mä haluun leikkiä ulkona, mennä Hoplopiin, tehdä sirkusta ja piirtää.
Ma; Tykkään perhosista sekä mennä ulos ja tehdä lumiukkoja.
Z; Tykkään mennä Hoplopiin, Lampipuistoon, olla ulkona ja leikkiä Terhin kanssa.
Te; Tykkään apinoista sekä tehdä kärrynpyöriä ja harrastaa jumppaa.
Ay; Tykkään päällä seisomisesta, siltakaadosta ja kärrynpyöristä.

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There are 15 children in the kindergarten group and all of them are currently 6 years old. In the workshop, the children were asked to tell something about themselves. For example, what are three things they like. After that, they chose one of their favorite things and figured out how to turn it into a self-portrait in photographic form.

Here are the children's answers;
Su; I like horses, playing war and robbers kind of games.
Al; I like the octopus, playing police and crime games, Spiderman and Superman's clothes.
Sh; I like cats, stand on the top of my head and coloring a lot.
Lu; I like horses, cats and lots of color.
To; I am an octopus and my favorite animal is an octopus. I like doggie paddling and making headstands.
La; I like to play with blocks, doggie paddling and I like playing with Pokemon.
El; I like to play blocks with Lauri, seashells, starfish and monkeys.
Le; I like ponies and to make hama beads, snowballs and snow angels.
Lun; I want to play outdoors, go to Hoplop, and to make a circus and draw.
Ma; I like butterflies and to go out to make snow angels.
Za; I like to go to Hoplop, Lampipuisto, and to go out to play with Terhi.
Te; I like monkeys, making cartwheels and going to the gym.
Ay; I like making headstands, making a bridge, and doing cartwheels.

The 6 year old artists at Päiväkoti Pihapirtti in Helsinki, Finland are making and sharing art with the 6 year old artists from Your School in Espoo, Finland.

In winter 2018 Dear You project in Kontula is supported by the Museum of Impossible Forms.

Mantelit ja Pippurit tekevät taidetta!

2018, Helsinki, FinlandArlene Tucker1 Comment
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(English below)
Viisivuotiaiden ryhmässä on lapsia kahdesta eri ryhmästä Manteleista ja Pippureista. Meistä on mukavaa, että voimme tehdä yhdessä tätä projektia. Ensimmäisellä kerralla lapsilta kysyttiin, mitä he haluavat kertoa itsestään tai mistä he tykkäävät: ”Kerro kolme itsellesi mieluisinta asiaa”. Sen jälkeen lapset saivat valita yhden heille mieluisan asian, josta otettiin valokuva.

Tässä lasten vastauksia:
Hamza: Jäätelö, karkit ja suklaa – myös paloautoilla leikkiminen on kivaa.
Laura: Piirtäminen & maalaaminen, keiton keittäminen, halit
Jasmin: Istuminen, äidin kanssa kaupassa käyminen, Danielin kanssa leikkiminen
Matvei: Elisein kanssa leikkiminen
Marva: leikkikaverit, lääkärileikki, poliisileikki, barbit
Adna: kaverit, palikat & palapelit, ponit
Amina: maalaaminen, piirtämineen, nukkekotileikki
Noor: kaverit, heppa-leikit, piilosta
Alniz: hevoset, kaverit, linnat

yt. Teija ja Satu

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The group of five-year-olds is a combination of two different groups; the Almonds and the Gingerbreads. We are delighted to be able to do this project together. During the first workshop, the children were asked to say something about themselves or what they like: "Tell three positive things about yourself". After that, the children were allowed to choose one of them, a nice character from from which they created a photographic self-portrait. The children took the pictures themselves!

Here are the children's responses:
Hamza: Ice cream, candy and chocolate - even playing with fire engines is fun.
Laura: Drawing & painting, making soup, hugs
Jasmin: Sitting, going with Mom to the shop, playing with Daniel
Matvei: Playing with Elise
Marva: playmates, playing doctor, police games, barbies
Adna: friends, bricks & puzzles, ponies
Amina: painting, drawing, playing with the doll house
Noor: friends, playing with horses, hiding games
Alniz: horses, friends, castles

Sincerely,
Teija and Satu

The 5 year old artists at Päiväkoti Pihapirtti in Helsinki, Finland are making and sharing art with the 5 year old artists from Your School in Espoo, Finland.

In winter 2018 Dear You project in Kontula is supported by the Museum of Impossible Forms.