Wood sculpture characters.

Whenever possible, I try to incorporate the work of artists who are included in the collection of nearby museums. Our school is close to the Dallas area and visiting the Dallas Museum of Art is in the realm of possibility. The DMA has a sculpture in their collection by artist David Bates called Seated Man #4. The fact that Bates lives and works in the Dallas area is relevant to this choice of focus for a lesson in three-dimensional design for my third-grade art classes.

I don't know about you, but I have noticed that throughout my teaching career, I have frequently been asked the question from my students, "Is this artist dead or alive?" It occurred to me that so many of the artists that we have studied are dead.

To present a far broader picture of the arts, I found it necessary to include artists who are living and producing art.

When I introduce Bates via a slide presentation of his sculptural work and paintings, I include the fact that Bates grew up in Dallas and went to college there. Much of the information that I have found on Bates has been in the two books listed in the resources for this article, as well as the North Texas Institute for Educator's for the Visual Arts Web site in their Art Links section, and the DMA's Web site. I also tell the students that his work may be seen at the DMA and the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth. I think it is important for students to know that it is possible for them to go see his work because it is just a short distance to these two museums. So often, this is not the case!

We review terms such as shape, form, symmetry, and asymmetry. Terms such as additive and subtractive sculpture are defined and we identify examples of each. I have used a wooden figure carved by my son at camp and a bronze figure I made from a sculpture class in college. When we view Bates' Seated Man # 4, the students identify whether it is additive or subtractive sculpture.

Create

On the first production day, students each choose a piece of wood to serve as the face and wood scraps for facial features, plan a design, glue everything together, and lay the work flat to dry. Faces may be symmetrical or asymmetrical and must stand up and not be too top heavy. I encourage students to have a backup plan if their pieces will not stay glued, or something is not balanced.

On the second production day, students paint the faces first with the larger brush and then add details with the tiny brushes. Another day of painting may be needed to finish.

Conclusions

The project works on many levels with my students. Art elements and principles are incorporated in the sculpture and comparisons to math are made with the additive and subtractive sculpture. Students learn about a living artist and his artwork which makes the visit seem relevant and accessible to their world.

Materials

* wood scraps, including larger ones to serve as the foundation or base of the sculptures (Get a parent volunteer to cut them in smaller sizes if needed.)

* craft sticks, wooden spools, beads, assorted small odd sizes of wood, corks, etc.

* wood glue (one large bottle to be shared per table)

* tempera paint, brushes (large and small for detail)

Resources

Price, Marla. David Bates, 40 Paintings. Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, 1988.

David Bates: Recent Work. Gerald Peters Gallery, Dallas, Texas, 1998.

NATIONAL STANDARDS

Students use different media, techniques, and processes to communicate ideas, experiences, and stories.

WEB LINKS

www.arthurrog erg allery, com/artist_pages/Bates/bates_sculp.html www.artcyclopedia.com/artists/bates_david.html www.artnet.com/artist/2086/davidbates.html

Beth Hubbert is an art teacher at Perrin Elementary School in Sherman, Texas. [e-mail]