Alethea and Sigi have been working on these pieces inspired by the ‘collaging’ in the last project as well as their experiences over the recent lockdowns. They have experimented with making sounds with what was available to them, banging together pebbles, using hairbrushes to play the ukekele, using their voices as instruments and playing each other their favourite piano pieces.
Collective Art
Interpreting Where Shall We Go with Reika and friends
2020, 10 years old, 11 years old, 13 year olds, 8 years olds, 9 years old, 7 years old, 6 years old, 5 years old, Collective Art, Dear You Art Workshops, Finland, Make Together, Mixed age group, Together 2020, Together We MakeCommentTaideleirin aikana teimme teoksia Dear You:n Where Shall We Go -projektista. Kaikki unelmoivat, visualisoivat ja keksivät erilaisia tapoja ilmaista ideoitaan ja paikkoja minne haluaisivat mennä.
During the art camp we made artworks from Dear You's Where Shall We Go project. Everybody dreamt, visualized and came up with different ways of expressing their ideas and places of where they would like to go.
Storytelling time in Taizhou!
2017, 8 years olds, 9 years old, China, Collective Art, United KingdomComment
For the last session of this ‘Inspiring Stories ’project , we first divided the whole class into groups, then let each group choose a British children's work. According to the content of the works, we encourage students to start imagination, then create stories and then write down the scripts. At last, the children shoot the script into audio or video works with the help of teachers or parents during the spare time.
The event was a new experience for the children, and they were excited and happy.
Best wishes,
Lisa
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 in Class 4 (8-9 years old) at Sneinton C of E St Stephens Primary School in Nottingham, England Both groups are aged 8-9 years old.
The Monkeys and their epic stories
2017, 5 years old, 6 years old, Australia, Collective Art, Dear You Art Workshops, Dear You Workshop Leader, FinlandComment
The Monkeys did an amazing job working together to create their stories! They thought about the characters in the story, what the main idea of the story would be about, and then how the story would begin, progress, and then end.
Another great part of this Inspiring Stories project is that we first looked at the artworks from our friends in Australia to gain inspiration. So you could say, K/1HT had a helping hand and was an important part of this creative process! We inspire each other!
Thank you K/1HT for being such great friends to us! We love your artworks and hope you like ours as well! Wishing you a great 2018!!
With love,
Arlene & The Monkeys
The Monkeys from Your School in Espoo, Finland are making and sharing art with K/1HT class from Bulli Public School in Bulli, Australia. All artists are 5-6 years old.
These are pictures The Monkeys drew as they listened to the story, The War of the Animals.
Listen to the Tigers tell 'Joulupukki goes to India' and 'The Ice Cream Story 1'!
2017, 4 years old, 5 years old, Collective Art, Dear You Art Workshops, Finland, USAComment
Who wouldn't be in the creative mood with the smell and looks of these delicious handmade gingerbread cookies?!?! With these in the air of the Tiger's room, we got straight to making the art work for our Full Moon friends in Philadelphia!
We started by looking at all of the artworks they mailed us. This gave us inspiration for our stories. We got into two groups and worked together to come up with characters and an amazing story line. Have a listen!
These artists create and told the story of Joulupukki goes to India! ps. Joulupukki means Santa Claus in Finnish :).
Jumping with joy, the artists of The Ice Cream Story 1 say woo hoo!!
The Tigers are so grateful and happy they had this time to make and share art with you all! Thank you and we wish you a HAPPY HAPPY New Year!
With love,
Arlene & The Tigers
The Tigers from Your School Espoo, Finland are making and sharing with the Full Moons from Moonstone Preschool in Philadelphia, USA. Both groups are 4-5 years old.
Your art inspires stories!
2017, 5 years old, 6 years old, China, Collective Art, FinlandComment
Inspiration is everywhere! To see how our inspiration directly comes from our friends in Shenzhen, China we looked at the artworks they had sent us. This got our creativity buzzing!! It was also fun to review all the Dear You projects we have been making these past few months.
We then got into three small groups where a teacher helped the students to write down their thoughts on who the characters are in the story, what happens in the story, and how does the story end. Have a listen to the artists at work:
When the groups were ready with their story they had a quick think about how to TELL the story using their voice and intonation as an art form. As you can hear, they all did an amazing job!
Thank you for being friends with us! It has been great getting to know you through your artwork and videos!
With love,
Arlene & The Explorers
The Explorers, 5-6 year olds, from International School of Helsinki in Helsinki, Finland are making and sharing with the artists aged 6 years old at Shenzhen Primary School in Shenzhen, China.
This is our story!
2017, 4th Grade, China, Collective Art, Dear You Art Workshops, United KingdomComment
We had the most fun doing this project! The class really enjoyed looking at all of the images sent by the children in Jiangsu, China. They all chose different images as inspiration for their stories, working in pairs they told their stories to Heather, even making their own sound effects. Heather then chopped up their stories and put them together to make ‘their story’ and played it to them after they had just performed their Christmas play. They laughed a lot and enjoyed hearing their own voices!
I noticed that many of the stories encompassed the ideas embedded within the project…asking questions, making friends and reaching out to others. I would like to get the children to draw this story now and create a montage with the original images.
It was a perfect end to a fantastic project and I am sure that it is an experience that they will always remember. I have really enjoyed getting to know the children and going on this journey with them and you all! See you in 2018!
Thanks Dear You!
Heather Connelly
The artists in Class 4 (8-9 year olds) at Sneinton C of E St Stephens Primary School in Nottingham, England are making and sharing art with Grade 3 (9-10 year olds) at Taizhou Pheonix Primary School in Jiangsu, China.
"Ladybugs"
2017, 4 years old, 5 years old, Collective Art, Dear You Art Workshops, Finland, USAComment
When I got to Your School I was so happy to hear that another magical package from Moonstone Preschool in USA had arrived!! We opened it and pondered over the amazing questions the Full Moon artists posed to us. In short, YES! We like Halloween too!!
For this next project, Weaving Environments, we thought about how the art technique can support the idea symbolically, but also practically. Since the aim of this month's project was to make a book cover, we first talked about the title of our story. How do we unanimously decide on something when there are so many of us? For example, when our friend wants to play a different game from you, how do we come to a peaceful conclusion? The Tigers had so many lovely ideas such as take turns. Seeing that we are such a big group, we thought to take a vote, which is something the Tigers do in the classroom too.
Here are the many different ideas that the Tigers came up for the title of their story.
Everybody could have one vote. And the winner is Ladybugs!!
This was the first time the Tigers had a go at weaving. They all did an amazing job taking their time and making sure that they are going under and over when needed. They got very good at seeing where things need to be corrected, which is a big part when one is weaving. The artists could choose if they wanted to write the title 'Ladybugs' or draw ladybugs on the book cover.
I am so proud of them and they are of themselves, which is the most important part!!
We hope the Full Moons like our patterns, weavings, and book covers!
With love,
Arlene, The Tigers, Iveta, and Atefeh
The Tigers from Your School Espoo, Finland are making and sharing with the Full Moons from Moonstone Preschool in Philadelphia, USA. Both groups are 4-5 years old.
The perfect picnic!
2016, 2nd Grade, Dear You Art Workshops, Collective Art, Finland, USACommentHow happy we were when the table cloth arrived! It is a beautiful piece – and the fish is so appropriate because here we love fish and Siglufjörður is famous for fish industry (herring industry) in the past. And also now, although we don´t fish herring still. We have already had picnic twice and used that beautiful tablecloth, as you can see on the pictures. It was quite a good idea to have the names of the kids on the cloth, then their friends could sit at the „right“ place.
All the projects in the Dear you work have been inspiring and brought out creative thinking – good for both children and teachers. We would be happy to take part next year, it would be better not to start in August/Sept. .... maybe January would be good for us like this year. Tomorrow is the last day of school for the kids, but teachers will be working until 9th of June.
Thank you Kathleen and Arlene!
All the best,
Halla and Guðný.
The 1st and 2nd graders at Grunnskóli Fjallabyggðar in Siglufjörður, Iceland are making and sharing art with the 2nd graders at Amy Parks Heath Elementary School in Heath, Texas.
Hyvää ruokahalua! Enjoy your meal!!
2016, 7 years old, 8 years olds, Collective Art, Dear You Art Workshops, Finland, Russia, CanadaCommentSo turns out when we are eating, the thing we want to see the most is food. Second favourites include looking out the window, listening to the birds singing. We enjoy having a meal in the company of our family and pets. On the other hand, we don’t so much like sharing our food with ants.
My last sessions with 1 A and 1 B classes very really fun! We made two very different, but beautiful ornamented table cloths. The artists drew their own patterns on graph paper, and then we all spent some time together joining our creations to make one large picnic blanket. When we finished the artwork, we took some time to write a letter to our friends, saying that we wish they enjoy their meal. Hyvää ruokahalua!!
Anastasia Artemeva
The 1A artists at Viertolan Koulu in Vantaa, Finland are making and sharing art with the artists at Кепа школу (Kepa School) in Karelia, Russia. The 1B artists at Viertolan Koulu in Vantaa, Finland are making and sharing art with the artists at Sheppard Public School in Ontario, Canada.
A beautiful place for your meal!
2016, 2nd Grade, Collective Art, Dear You Art Workshops, Dear You Workshop Leader, Iceland, USACommentPrintmaking and putting it to use is not only fun, but so rewarding for everybody. In this case, the Texans' friend in Iceland will enjoy their food even more when looking at such lovely designs!
Kathleen Finan and her group of 2nd graders at Amy Parks Heath Elementary School in Heath, Texas are making and sharing with the 1st and 2nd graders at Grunnskóli Fjallabyggðar in Siglufjörður, Iceland.
Enjoy your meal : )
2016, 4 years old, 5 years old, Collective Art, Dear You Art Workshops, Finland, Pre-School, South Africa, VietnamCommentWhat a creative and colourful project this was!
We have learnt so much about ourselves and our friends across the oceans by doing this project. The children were so excited to show off all of their new geographical knowledge. We have marked all of the places we know on a large map, so now we can easily find them.
We remembered all of the projects in this series so far, our masks decorated with skin patterns, our rhythmic paintings using so many painting objects and our food book. Now it's time to combine them all! We started a discussion about our dinner table, and what we need to put on it. Plates, knives and forks, chopsticks? What about under them? We need a beautiful table cloth or placemats. We gathered a range of objects in different shapes and sizes. We found cd's and blocks, triangles and rectangles and squares.
We started by choosing one shape and we made some traces with it. Then we chose a second shape and then a third if we wanted. We watched how the lines overlapped and it made different shapes on the inside.
When we were finished it was time to colour! We coloured each section with a different colour. How amazing and bright they looked with all these beautiful colours.
When we were finished we all looked at each other's and tried to put them together to make one big table cloth, but we decided that it was much more exciting if each guest at our international dinner table had a different piece of art under their plate.
The children have absolutely loved being a part of the Dear You project. Now as the little Tiger cubs and Puppies graduate their last year in kindergarten, they enter big school with knew knowledge of cultures, geography, creativity and wonder.
Thank you for letting us be a part of this project and we hope to continue work with you in years to come.
Lots of love to our friends overseas,
Teacher Steph, the Tiger Cubs and the Puppies.
Below are pictures from the workshop with the Puppies.
Below are pictures from the workshop with the Tiger Cubs.
The 4 year old Puppies from Just Kids in Hanoi, Vietnam are making and sharing art with the artist Tigers at Your School in Espoo, Finland. The 4 year old Tigers at Just Kids are making and sharing art with the 3-6 year olds at Oakdale Montessori School in Cape Town, South Africa.
Dynamic Dinosaurs at Açi Preschool in Turkey share their atmosphere
4 years old, 2016, Turkey, India, Dear You Art Workshops, Collective ArtCommentWe are finishing our 1st semester here in Istanbul, Turkey. So we’ve been busy all these weeks but of course children were excited to hear about the new project of Dear You Art Project.
When the teachers informed them about the new project, the children got excited in learning about atmosphere. Some of the children drew some zig-zag lines, some of them drew curly lines and some of them did their own design on it. They also told many creative stories related to their drawing which were written at the back of their drawing by the teachers. We sent our work to our friends in India and are waiting for their work too!
We enjoyed making this project and we hope you’ll like it as much as we do!
Take care,
Dynamic Dinosaurs
The Dynamic Dinosaurs from Açi Preschool in Istanbul, Turkey are making and sharing art with the artists from Praxis School in Mysore, India. Both groups of artists are aged 4-5 years old.
Environment Consciousness Week in our thoughts
2015, 4 years old, 5 years old, Collective Art, Dear You Art Workshops, EstoniaCommentAs there was Environment Consciousness Week right before the Atmosphere project, children drew air and land, polluted air and clean air. After taping all works together kids did not feel like adding anything.
So long, enjoy holidays and time!
Best,
Evelyn
Evelyn Müürsepp and her 4-5 year old artists in Mooste Preschool in Mooste, Estonia are making and sharing art with Kristina Laine and her 4-5 year old artists at Kalinka Päiväkoti in Helsinki, Finland.
Looking towards the horizon in Estonia
2015, 4 years old, 5 years old, Collective Art, Dear You Art Workshops, Estonia, GermanyCommentTöös osalesid lapsed vanuses 4-5 aastat: 6 poissi. Tööprotsess neile meeldis. Eriti see, et sai valida mitmesuguste pliiatsijoonte vahel, millega pind täita. Vaatasime rühmaaknast välja ja leidsime oma silmapiiri - taevas ja maa. Sellest tulenevalt ka värvid sinine ja roheline. Laste jaoks oli põnev koht, et piltidest kokku tekkis justkui pikk maastik orgude ja kõrgndikega - meie Lõuna-Eesti maastik.
Ja meile õpetajatele, mulle ja Lissile, meeldib lastega kunsti teha ja seda protsessi kõrvalt nautida.
Aitäh meie igapäevaelu rikastamise eest!
Inge
***
Most of kids from our pre-school have viruses, therefore only half of the group is together. 6 boys, aged 4-5 years participated at the project. They loved the process. Specially, that they could choose between different pencil lines with what to fill the surface. We looked out from window and found our horizon- sky and earth. From there the colours: blue and green. It was also interesting for kids that pictures together made long spanning landscape, with valleys and heights- our Southern Estonian landscape.
And for teachers, to me and Lissi, we love making arts with children and enjoy the process.
Thank you for enriching our everyday life!
Inge
Thanks to Evelyn Müürsepp for the English translation!
The Tigers work together to create a beautiful atmosphere!
2015, 4 years old, Dear You Art Workshops, Collective Art, Finland, VietnamCommentTogether we connected the dots to draw lines that created a collective piece of art. We first asked each other, "What can be found in the ocean?" "What can be found on land?" "What can be found in the air?". From that we let our imaginations go and painted all the possibilities.
Afterwards when we put all of our individual paintings together to make one long Shared Atmosphere, we got out the Pop Up Homes and Puppets that the Puppies in Vietnam had made for us. We were coming up with some great stories of why our friend lives in their home and how their environment can make them feel happy, sad, or silly!
Thank you, Puppies for making and sharing art with us. We hope you like our artwork too!
With love,
Arlene and The Tigers
The Tigers from Your School in Espoo, Finland are 4 years old. They are making and sharing art with the 4 year old Puppies who are artists going to Just Kids School in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Exploring Finland from Vietnam
2015, 4 years old, 5 years old, Collective Art, Dear You Art Workshops, Finland, VietnamCommentThe children are so excited to begin the next project! They ask me everyday when we will make something new for our friends in Finland. So bringing this project to them brought on a lot of excitement in the classroom.
I started by drawing a person, and a house and then we started talking about what else we can draw. I was met with suggestions of trees, and a sun and many other things from our environment. We then started a discussion about Finland and what the environment looks like there.
I then showed them 2 videos of Finland. We saw the beautiful long summer days and the long, cold winter nights. We were mesmerised by the beautiful northern lights. "I want to travel to Finland!", "I want to LIVE in Finland!".
So then we discussed what we did see in the videos of the Finnish environment. I showed them their next project and they were very eager to begin. Many stars and lots of snow, hot suns and water for boats. I was getting a lot of comments about the environment they were drawing, so, most of the pictures have small descriptions for our new friends to read. We also had the world map up on display for the children to be reminded of. The kids loved finding some of the new countries they are learning about!
We stuck them all together and followed our environment line from end to end. What a beautiful product!
We hope you enjoy our artwork. It comes with a lot of love!
Teacher Steph, the Tiger Cubs and Puppies.
Below are pictures of the Puppies's Shared Atmosphere collective painting. The 4 year old Puppies from Just Kids in Hanoi, Vietnam are making and sharing art with the artist Tigers at Your School in Espoo, Finland.
Below are pictures of the Tiger Cub's Shared Atmosphere collective painting project. The 4 year old Tiger Cubs at Just Kids are friends with the K1 artists at International School of Helsinki in Helsinki, Finland. Exciting!!
K1 paints a beautiful landscape for their friends in Vietnam!
2015, 4 years old, Collective Art, Dear You Art Workshops, Dear You Workshop Leader, Finland, VietnamCommentK1 has been talking about life in the Atlantic Ocean these past couple of weeks. This project allowed us to combine all the great things about life on land and life in the water! Originally I thought we would use oil pastels and colored pencils, but as I was explaining to them that this painting was about the ocean, they suggested we use watercolor paints. How perfect! So we got them out and added them to the mix!
Before we got began we first looked at the Pop Up Homes the Tiger Pups in Vietnam made for us. That started churning the imagination wheels in our mind for our landscape. After we finished our individual paintings of land and water we taped them together to make one super long Shared Environment. Now we have received the Imagine Me Puppets, Pop Up Homes, and soon we'll have the Shared Environments from Hanoi. Our world is piecing itself together and our Tiger Pups are getting insight as to who we are what our lives are like way far up North : ).
Thank you everybody for going on an adventure with us!
With love,
K1, Arlene, Kristiina, and Bibiana
The 4 year olds from International School of Helsinki in Helsinki, Finland are making and sharing art with the 4 year olds from Just Kids in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Together we make it our world
2015, Dear You Art Workshops, Dear You Workshop Leader, Collective Art, Finland, USACommentOur third meeting, where we where making Our Shared Atmosphere went really well. At the beginning we made time to watch the video message we received from our friends at Amy Parks Heath Elementary School in Heath, TX, USA, which was very sweet and encouraging for the kids. Then we spent a few minutes learning how to fold the paper to make the line that will unite our individual works, turning them into a collective art work.
It seemed like a good idea to stick to only using grey pencil, which allowed us to focus on the mark-making techniques and on expressing feelings, sounds, light and shadow. We talked about how some students came to school early and it was dark and rainy, and how one hour later, for other students the walk to school was bright and sunny.
I think our time was managed really well this time. At the end we stuck all the drawings together with tape, to make one reeaaallly long picture of autumn time in Vantaa.
At the workshop we speak both English and Finnish - well, I mostly speak English and Riitta-Liisa translated, to make sure no one is left out.
A xx
Anastasia Artemeva is the Dear You Workshop Leader for the 4th grade class at Viertolan Koulu in Vantaa, Finland. This group of Finnish artists will be making and sharing art with Kathleen Finan's 4th graders at Heath Amy Parks Heath Elementary School in Heath, Texas.
The Solar System strings us together!
5 years old, 2015, Collective Art, Dear You Art Workshops, Pre-School, USACommentHi,
We had a great time doing the February Dear You art project. We have been focusing on the solar system and talking about how we are connected to everything, so the project tied in perfectly with our curriculum! We have also been working on sharing and teamwork, so each piece was a collective effort.
Have a great day,
Michelle
The 5 years old at Moonstone Preschool in Philadelphia, PA, USA is making and exchanging artwork with Pre-Kindergarteners at The International School of Antwerp in Antwerp, Belgium.
