Kanelit and the Monkeys make art at MIF!

Kanelit (Cinnamons) and The Monkeys got together at Museum of Impossible Forms in Kontula, Helsinki to make art!

It is amazing that the Monkeys from Your School in Olari, Espoo and Kanelit from Päiväkoti Pihapirtti in Kontula, Helsinki got to meet in person after months of making and sharing art from a distance!!  What an exciting morning we had at Museum of Impossible Forms!

We first got into small groups of mixed artists from the two schools to listen to the sound art we had made for the previous art project.  This way they could meet and get to know each other by physically making art with each other!  Everybody was so open and kind with each other. 

The first part of this session's artistic process was listening to each other describe what they saw in the environment.  This brought immediate smiles to their faces as they heard their own voices and their friends' on the loud speakers.  The Cinnamon group made these recordings and The Monkeys made these.  As they listened to the recordings they could draw what they heard.  They could be more abstract or more literal with their drawings.  For example, some chose to draw the soundwaves of children laughing in the background and some drew snow and sun as they were mentioned in the recordings.  The artists were free to go in any direction they wish, but the awareness of connecting sound to thought to visual output was discussed. 

After some time of collective drawing, the possibility to collage and build with maps was introduced. Maps were chosen for their symbolic purpose as our artists live in different locations, but have come together to meet and create.  Simple 2D maps turned into 3D bridges, people, and tunnels.  I was so impressed with everybody's creativity!  Masterminds at work!

We closed the day by taking a long caterpillar walk to look at the artworks and made a circle where the artists could reflect on the morning and their experience.  It seemed that everybody really enjoyed meeting their friends and making collages together.  In the closing circle, they realized that they had more in common than their love for making art!  The topic of languages came up and they discovered that their friends from the other school could speak Somali, Russian, Albanian, Finnish, and English!  What an amazing bunch of young artists and teachers that encourage their creativity and help grow their confidence!

The Monkeys stayed at MIF to eat their lunch before hopping on the metro to head back to Espoo.  Marianne Niemelä, one of the artistic directors of MIF, came up with the great idea to make wristbands!  Naturally, these were a huge hit with the kids and now they all want to come back to make more!  Thank you, Marianne!

Thank YOU and Dear You wishes you all and happy happy summer! Hyvää kesää!

With love,
Arlene

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.

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

K1 makes creative connections!

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!

A school of fish create a sea of inspiration!

The artists in Finland were very excited to have received their artworks from Mexico!  When they saw the fish we thought it would be great to create a collective piece of art and make a giant ocean. You will see colorful fish, mermaids, ships, and sharks!

Thank you, Ms. Laura Garza and Prepri A, the group of 6 year old artists from San Patricio Colegio in Monterrey, Mexico.

With love,
Arlene Tucker

Marimekko inspirations

Here are the pics of our table cloths. Pupils did like the task. It was easy enough and we discussed a lot about Marimekko designs.

Päivi Huhtinen and her group of 5th graders from The English School in Helsinki, Finland are making and sharing art with Kaarina Losey and her 6th graders at Pioneer Park P.S. in Ontario, Canada.

Dynamic Dinosaurs at Açi Preschool in Turkey share their atmosphere

We 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.

I can see so many things from my backyard

The children used colored pencil to create a landscape of the view from the back of their house, the front of their house or the their school. They were told to blend the colored pencils and work quickly with big strokes and pressing hard. We wrote a quick message and folded them like a screen that could be put behind their puppet and pop-up stage. So the background drawing is the environment where they live.

Kathleen Finan

Kathleen Finan, the art teacher at Amy Parks Heath Elementary School in Texas, USA, and her 4th Grade students are making and sharing art with the 4th Graders from Viertolan Koulu in Vantaa, Finland.

Kalinka artists share and care : )

In the last workshop the Siilit group from Kalinka Päiväkoti in Helsinki, Finland made a collective image about their environment. This time we used very simple materials: pencil, eraser and white sheets of paper.

I think they are always eager about the workshops. During the workshop, kids are usually divided into two groups because some speak only Russian and some only Finnish. I think it would be nice to have a Skype call, so that the kids could see who they are sending their works to. Of course, they realize this, but I think it would be nice to see each other too.

The children liked a lot the received mail from their Dear You friends in Mooste, Estonia. I showed them the works of Mooste Preschool's kids.

Kristina Laine

Kristina Laine and her 4-5 year old artists at Kalinka Päiväkoti in Helsinki, Finland are making and sharing art with Evelyn Müürsepp and her 4-5 year old artists in Mooste Preschool in Mooste, Estonia.

The Tigers work together to create a beautiful atmosphere!

Together 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.

The Inquisitive Monkeys!

One great thing about making and sharing art is that is brings out the inquisitive side in us.  We can surely see that it has for the Monkeys at Your School in Espoo, Finland.  During the November project, Shared Atmosphere, so many questions came up about our friends at Moonstone Preschool in Philadelphia, USA.

The Monkeys would like to know from the Full Moonstoners:

Is your country nice?
What is your favorite food that you get in school?
What are you favorite colors?
How much do you like to be in school?
Do you like our pictures?
Can you write something about your picture?
How cold is it in Philadelphia?
What do you like about your school?
What are your teacher's names and are they nice to you?
How big is Philadelphia?
Do you get any free play?

These questions came up whilst we were painting our atmosphere.  We got into smaller groups and divided our landscape into ocean life and land and air.  You'll find all animals, vegetation, and ways of getting from Helsinki to Philadelphia!

Thanks for sharing with us!

With love,
Arlene and The Monkeys

Exploring Finland from Vietnam

The 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!! 

Pencils dots piece together wonder

Hallo,

At the beginning children made a variety of exercises. For example, how can a pencil dot and line can make art.  Then using those skills, we drew nature we would we want to see by looking out the window in Mooste.

Aili Vassil

The 8 year old artists from Mooste Põhikool in Mooste, Estonia are making and exchanging art with the 8 years from Evangelischen Volksschule am Karlsplatz in Vienna, Austria.

K1 paints a beautiful landscape for their friends in Vietnam!

K1 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

Our 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!

Hi,

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.

Lotta in Finland and Anaana in Greenland make art together!

Lotta, from Espoo, Finland pulled me aside today to show me the picture she created. Anaana, her friend from Greenland gave her a picture and she drew on top of it. They are making art together! Thank you for sharing and opening up space for each other.