REMEMBERING LIKE JUDY: STUDYING THE WORK OF JUDY ONOFRIO

USING OUR OWN MEMORYWARE

ABOUT THE ART-SHOP:

Logo of the ART-SHOP

The ART-SHOP was created as a way to make space in the elementary schools. Approximately 2000 children grades 3–6 attend the ART-SHOP. Grades 1 and 2 are seen in their classrooms.

We have a large room (the size of four classrooms that the students are bussed to approximately every three weeks. They come with another class so we have two teachers and team teach. Because of the large space, we are able to have a "gallery space" and a production area. As students are here for 90 minutes, we are able to spend a half hour in the gallery space and talk about art. The rest of the time is for production.

We use a theme approach—it may be an artist such as Onofrio, an art form like collage, an element like line or media like clay. We create an "Oh, wow!" environment each month to go with the theme and keep the students' interest.

All students grades 1–6 visit the Plains Art Museum once a year.

Students will understand the definition of mosaic, through discussion and examples shown.

Students will understand what an outsider artist is and be exposed to photos of their work in our region and around the world.

Students will be introduced to artist Judy Onofrio of Rochester, MN.

Session 1:

- Students will learn techniques to create a clay slab with coil embellishments.

- Students will make clay coils to be used on a US map.

Session 2:

- Students will use colored grout to mosaic their clay slab.

- Students will add clay coils to outline of the US map.

- Students will smash state plates and mosaic them to 6' x 8' US map.

To keep a plate from flying all over, we put a piece of contact paper on the back and broke them on the back side.

Display for Front of Room:

11" X 17" pictures of Onofrio's work and garden

11" X 17" pictures of the Dickeyville grotto, Prairie Moon Sculpture Garden in Wisconsin, Watts Towers in Los Angeles

Actual mosaic-covered objects: chair, birdhouse, shoe, seed mosaic, several clay pots, clay cat

Materials for US Map:

2 sheets 3/8-inch plywood
2 tubes of liquid nails
transparency of US map to copy onto wood
100 lbs. of white Super Flex Mortar (for both map and students' projects)

State souvenir plates from all of the United States.*

* Note from Judy: Four art teachers went on a grotto road trip in the summer of 2001. On the trip I came up with the idea to do something with state plates. I collected several on the trip. Art teachers and other people also watched for them at sales and thrift stores. At the end, I purchased the last few on the internet.

Materials for Student Slabs:

Clay
Clay slip
Sticks and rollers
Canvas to roll on
Fettling knives

Mosaic Material for Slabs:

Pea stone
"Stone by Stone" colored tiles, available from major art supply catalogues
Approximately 2 11 lb. boxes for our 400 students

Session 1:

Appreciation and History
Includes verbal and visual information and checking for understanding

• Students will be shown pictures of Judy Onofrio's art work and garden via CD.
  Click here to see selections from this CD.
  
  
• Students will see pictures of several other mosaic gardens and have a chance to see and touch actual examples in the ART-SHOP.
  Click here to see examples of grottos, mosaic gardens and the Watts Towers..
  
  
• Students will discuss how they can differentiate Onofrio's work from the other artists they have looked at.
  
  
• Students will view The Big Catch and hear the story behind it.

Procedure for Production Part of Lesson:

• Teacher demonstration on how to roll a slab.
  
  
• Students roll the slab, decide on the shape and cut it out with fettling knives.
  
  
• Teacher demos rolling coils and using slip to attach them to slab.
  
  
• Students add coils to decorate slab edge and clean up.

Session 2:

• Students will review vocabulary words and information on outsider artists and Judy Onofrio. Students will be introduced to new Onofrio images from the Web site.
  
  
• Pass out fired clay pieces. Discuss clay joinery, what worked and what didn't.
  
  
• Give directions for applying mortar, pea rock and tiles. (We had students draw with pea rock to conserve on tiles.
  
  
• As students worked on their individual projects, we called them up a few at a time to work on the large mosaic.
  
  
• We worked on the US map over several months, adding to it each time we had the 6th graders.

Books

Laurel Reuter, Judy Onofrio, (1993). Judyland, the Art of Judy Onofrio. North Dakota Museum of Art.

Deidi Von Schaewen , John Maizels, (1999). Fantasy Worlds. TASCHEN America.

Kaffe Fassett, Candace Bahouth, (1999). Mosaics: Inspiration and Original Projects for Interiors and Exteriors. Taunton Press.

Peggy Vance, Celia Goodrick-Clarke, (1996). The Mosaic Book: Ideas, Projects and Techniques. Trafalgar Square.

Marlene Hurley Marshall, (1998). Making Bits & Pieces Mosaics: Creative Projects for Home & Garden. Storey Books.

Emma Biggs , Tessa Hunkin, (2001). Outdoor Mosaic: Original Weather-Proof Designs to Brighten Any Exterior Space. Trafalgar Square.

CD of Judy Onofrio's garden by Diane Scully.

Click here to see selections from this CD.