Special Guest: Saric Feng From the Andy Warhol Museum

A couple weeks ago, a good friend of mine came to visit the 4th and 5th graders of Allentown Academy!  Saric is an Artist Educator at The Andy Warhol Museum.  As an Artist Educator, Saric teaches museum patrons how to do some of Andy Warhol's art processes in the open studio called, The Factory.  Along with that, she gives group tours to museum goers, facilitates various workshops, and outreach to schools--like she did with us.

 

In order to honor the legacy of pop artist Andy Warhol, the theme of our projects were based on the 4th and 5th graders favorite celebrities.  Before Saric came to visit, the students voted on their top favorite celebs; which included:  Nicki Minaj, LeBron James, Beyoncé, Tyler Perry, Michael Jackson, and B.O.B.  To prepare the lesson, Saric created silk screens and materials for an acetate collage with the favorite celebrity faces on them.

To begin, students had the chance to first choose either Nicki Minaj or LeBron James for the silk screening project.  They could use markers to fill in the outline of Nicki and LeBron and add lots of bright colors before they silk screened.  The kids were incredibly creative and really dove into the project; adding beautiful color patterns to their artwork. 

Once the students were satisfied with their colorful picture of LeBron or Nicki, Saric introduced them to the process of silk-screening.  A couple of the students were asked to be helpers, and they eagerly stood by her side to aid in the process.  After silk screening, students had a chance to begin an acetate collage.  These collages had the faces of Beyoncé, Tyler Perry, Michael Jackson, and B.O.B.  Students could add colorful paper to their acetate collage to give it the Andy Warhol feel.

I am so glad our students had the opportunity to learn about the fellow Pittsburgher Andy Warhol and had the chance to silk screen and collage their favorite celebrities.  Saric did an amazing job engaging the 4th and 5th graders by making the project completely relevant to the students interests.  The students really loved the visit and asked if she could come back again soon.  It makes me happy the kids took such an interest in learning about an iconic artist.

-Emily