National Art Experience

National Art Experience

2015–2016 Adult Coordinator Information

In partnership with

Tacoma, Washington

#CampFireLovesGlass

Adult Coordinator Packet Introduction

This packet of information will provide you with all the information you will need to successfully implement the 2015–2016 Camp Fire National Art Experience with your youth participants.

Glass is the 2015–16 art medium and includes a wide variety of forms, such as hot-blown, mold-blown, flame-worked, sculpted, sandblasted, fused, slumped, enameled, painted, stained, , recycled, or a combination of these techniques. Youth participating in the National Art Experience will get the opportunity to learn how artists working with the medium of employ a variety of hot, warm, and cold techniques. The youth will get to experience working with some of the glass techniques. Using small glass , youth could decorate objects, such as vases and picture frames. They could create jewelry from glass beads or recycled glass or build mosaic tiles. In some of their communities, youth may be able to find a glass studio to try basic fusing or experiences. There are an amazing number of different ways that glass can be used to create unique projects.

Camp Fire is continuing to follow the established six-year cycle of art mediums for the National Art Experience—painting, fibers, printmaking, photography, glass, and open medium.

The purposes of the Camp Fire National Art Experience are to enable youth to explore art as a career or hobby and encourage their creativity. Participants in any Camp Fire program—out-of- school-time, environmental and camp, or teen service and leadership—can participate in the National Art Experience. Participants can choose from several activities. These activities can be completed individually or as a group.

The National Art Experience is conducted through local Camp Fire councils. Each council may determine specific deadlines and local resources. Councils may encourage individual program sites to conduct local art shows or competitions, which may or may not also participate in a larger council experience. displays can be learning tools for youth and their families.

The National Art Experience is an opportunity to visit workshops, museums, art schools, galleries, artist studios, and craft and hobby shops in your area. In addition, the youth can be encouraged to explore information about glass at the library or on the Internet.

Camp Fire sincerely thanks Museum of Glass, Tacoma, Washington, for their significant contribution to the 2015–16 National Art Experience materials.

Museum of Glass is a 75,000-square-foot art museum in Tacoma, Washington, dedicated to the medium of glass. The mission of the Museum of Glass is to provide a dynamic learning environment in order to appreciate the medium of glass through creative experiences, collections, and exhibitions. Since its founding in 2002, the Museum of Glass has been committed to creating a space for the celebration of the movement through nurturing artists, implementing education, and encouraging creativity.

Camp Fire National Art Experience Objectives

The objectives of this experience are to help young people:  Increase personal creativity.  Increase competency in, and learn the appropriate application of, the art medium.

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 Gain greater self-awareness (for example, a sense of identity and self-esteem).  Become more aware of and reflect on their sparks.  Make choices and plan sequentially.  Experience a range of art forms.  Develop skills and find outlets for personal expression.  Consider related careers and lifetime interests.  Develop a sense of competence and self-worth.

Camp Fire National Art Experience Guidelines

1. The National Art Experience is open to all current Camp Fire youth participants. 2. Entries will be judged on originality, excellence, and creativity. 3. Entries will be judged by the Museum of Glass, Tacoma, Washington. 4. The art may be produced in any setting, including home, school, afterschool program, art or craft class, teen event, outdoor program, or club meeting. 5. Entries may be entered in other competitions. 6. Each Kids Design Glass entry must be completed no later than February 1, 2016, or the local council’s deadline (whichever occurs first). 7. Each Kids Design Glass entry submitted to the National Art Experience, cohosted by Camp Fire National Headquarters and Museum of Glass, must include a completed Entry Form. Entries must be received by February 8, 2016.

Each Camp Fire council may determine additional rules and specifications.

Camp Fire National Art Experience Youth Requirements

To complete the National Art Experience project, youth need to complete four of the 20 activities. We encourage every participant to enter a piece of artwork in the council’s experience:

1. Field Trip! Visit an art gallery, art show, museum, or art studio. View glass creations, and learn about the different ways that glass is used in art projects. 2. The Science of Glass! Glass is a particularly complex art medium. Artists working with glass must utilize lessons from chemistry and mathematics. Research how glass is made and conduct experiments to understand its properties.  See the videos on glass origins and properties, fabrication, and technology: http://www.netnebraska.org/basic-page/television/saving-your-treasures-glass.  Learn about the prismatic colors in glass by conducting experiments in this lesson plan: http://museumofglass.org/document.doc?id=698.  Try a lesson plan for glassblowing simulation: http://teachers.egfi-k12.org/lesson-glass- blowing/. 3. Talk to the Pros! Have a conversation with a professional glass artist. View samples of the artist’s work. Find out what kinds of tools, techniques, equipment, and processes they use to make art out of glass. Ask how they get ideas or inspiration for their work. Ask about their first experiences in working with glass. What else can you ask them? If you don’t have a glass artist in your community, tune into Museum of Glass Hot Shop Live and “Ask the Emcee a Question”: http://museumofglass.org/glassmaking/live-from-the-hot-shop. Make sure you email the

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Museum of Glass the day before so their Emcee knows you will be checking in: [email protected] . 4. Be a Culture Vulture! How long ago did humans use glass to make vessels and sculptures? Where have archeologists discovered glass artifacts? How long does glass last? Find out how people in ancient and historic cultures around the world used glass. Do their descendants still follow those traditions today? 5. Career Explorer! Do research—on the Internet, in books, or at the library—about at least three uses of glass. Learn how glass is used in different careers and/or how it is used by various companies. Share the research with other Camp Fire participants and your family. 6. Community Scavenger Hunt! Find glass displayed as art in your community. Take a picture and share it on https://www.facebook.com/museumofglass. Be sure to tell us what you like about the piece and to tag it #CampFireLovesGlass. If you don’t Facebook, use the hashtag in your favorite social media platform. 7. Hot, Warm, and Cold. Artists working with glass have many options. Research, compare, and contrast the ways artists work with glass—glassblowing /sculpting/casting/flame-working (hot), fusing//casting (warm), and sandblasting/cutting/grinding/polishing/engraving/gluing or reverse painting (cold). 8. How Is It Done? Find some online resources that explain the steps of making glass and try your skills with virtual glassblowing. Resources include the Indianapolis Children’s Museum: https://www.youtube.com/user/museumofglass or Museum of Glass interactive games: http://museumofglass.org/document.doc?id=142. 9. Cooking With Glass. Try these recipes to learn about the properties of glass: Gather honey on a chop stick, which is like gathering hot glass.  Make translucent potato chips that look like glass shards: http://www.themarysue.com/translucent-potato-chips-shards-of-glass/.  Make hard candy that resembles glass: http://www.food.com/recipe/beautiful-stained- glass-hard-candy-197124.  Make fudge and learn about non-crystalline (amorphous) solid: http://www.cmog.org/article/chocolate-and-glass-tasty-comparison.  Practice “blowing glass” using a sugar recipe. Gather the warm sugar work on the end of a straw and blow like a gaffer: http://www.craftsy.com/blog/2013/09/homemade-sugar-work-tutorial/ or https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081224154846AASqnsJ. 10. Become a Glass Designer Through Museum of Glass, Kids Design Glass Program and Exhibition. If you are 12 or under, submit an entry using the official entry form included in this year’s packet. Learn more about this program at http://museumofglass.org/public- programs/kids-design-glass-program or on You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzJfmNhpfzQ. 11. Glass as a Currency. Research how glass trade beads have been used as currency in many cultures. Try making your own string of trade beads. Trade them with your Camp Fire friends. 12. Glass Gems. Try making jewelry from found glass and recycled glass objects, or search for glass. Beach glass (also called ) is any old bottle or other type of glass that has been tossed out into the ocean at some point in its life. As pieces are tumbled by the waves and tides and eventually wash up on the , these fragments become perfectly polished, gemstone-like pieces. Beach glass can be found all around the world. 13. Watch Live Glassblowing in Person or Online. If you don’t have a glass artist in your community, tune into Museum of Glass Hot Shop Live

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http://museumofglass.org/glassmaking/live-from-the-hot-shop There are also lots of videos of artists making glass on You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/user/museumofglass. 14. Learn About Working With Warm Glass. Try making a fused glass in a clay kiln or at a workshop. Remember to always follow the instructions and safety guidelines! 15. What Can You See? Find examples of transparent, translucent, and opaque glass in your community. Why do you think the makers of these objects selected glass with these qualities? Learn how the transmission of light through glass creates these qualities. 16. Decorate Your Windows With . Stained glass windows have been used in buildings since medieval times as a major pictorial art form. Make a faux stained glass window or sun catcher using transparency paper, colored cellophane, or painted hard lasagna noodles to tell your own story. Make sure your design incorporates a framework to outline the imagery. 17. Decoration Inspiration! Find examples of the many ways artists embellish glass forms, such as using colored glass; painting; and adding texture or other materials (such as beads, tiles, or found objects). How do these add meaning to glass art? Which of these should be added while hot? While warm? While cold? 18. Mad for ! Mosaics, or pictures, can be as small as a vase or stepping stone or as large as a wall mural or monument. Participate in making a glass tile mural or mosaic sculpture. Find out how glass tiles are made to cover a wall or three-dimensional armature. Participate in the making of such a project by assisting in the design, cutting tile shapes, decorating the tiles, or installing the tiles. 19. Glass in Nature. Learn about the types of naturally occurring glass. How are they formed? Where are they used? 20. Glass Creations! Create an original vessel, sculpture, mosaic, tile, or other artwork using any type of glass. If you wish, add finishing touches to your piece with paint or other embellishment.

A Note on Safety: When working with glass, please be careful, wear eye protection, and ALWAYS follow instructions and safety guidelines for any studio you visit or any product that you use.

Camp Fire National Art Experience Background Information

Camp Fire has been conducting the National Art Experience (formerly National Art Competition) since 1973. This experience recognizes and encourages creativity, excellence, and innovation in the arts. It is conducted locally by each Camp Fire council, using national guidelines. In the early years, the experience was based entirely on creativity; there were no age- or program-level divisions. In 1994, age- or grade-level categories were put into place.

An art experience provides a special opportunity for youth to be creative and recognized. Camp Fire programs also link activities to life experiences. Therefore, this project was designed with rules. Judging guidelines are similar to art experiences held annually by the American Crafts Council and related professional art programs.

The National Art Experience provides encouragement for individuals to pursue art as a career as well as providing an avenue for youth to explore new interests, ideas, self-expression, and their sparks. Artists should be encouraged to express their own ideas and to persist with their work until it is exactly the way they want to present those ideas.

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The Importance of Art for Youth

Art education teaches youth the skills that are needed in the workplace: flexibility, problem solving, communication, creativity, innovation, and striving for excellence. In 2009 U.S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan outlined the importance of the arts as a core academic subject in U.S. public schools. Since school budgets throughout the country had cut arts education, Secretary Duncan wrote to school and education community leaders, stating, “The arts can help students become tenacious, team-oriented problem solvers who are confident and able to think creatively. These qualities can be especially important in improving learning among students from economically disadvantaged circumstances."

A 2011 study on the Maryland school system, called "Reinvesting in Arts Education," found that integrating arts with other subjects could help raise achievement levels. Moreover, the study revealed that arts education may help raise not just test scores but also the learning process itself. This report found that skills learned in the visual arts could help improve reading and that the integration of creative opportunities could be key to motivating students and improving standardized test scores.

Through the Camp Fire National Art Experience, caring, adult role models can foster a love of the arts in youth. With limited school budgets, Camp Fire can teach youth art techniques and develop an appreciation of the arts through this experience. The following list defines aspects of the importance of art.

Art is enjoyable. Beauty, order, a sense of meaning, humor, creativity, and emotion combine to make art one of the great pleasures of life.

Art provides self-expression. Expressing emotions through art enables youth to understand and analyze feelings as well as experience the power of emotion and put it into perspective. Art integrates the spiritual, the intellectual, and the physical.

Art promotes understanding of different cultures. Through art, youth learn to explore other cultures by connecting them with different types of ethnic art.

Art stimulates imagination. The ability to make images gives a young person more to dream, think, learn, and write about.

Art develops creativity. The choices involved in producing art by combining and reinterpreting visual elements teach the process of creativity—a productive form of play.

Art teaches thinking skills. Looking at and talking about art encourages the skills of observing, recalling, comparing, questioning, and making choices. Learning about art helps young people form and verbalize ideas, thus fostering creative thinking as well as language ability.

Art is essential for success. Art not only is fun; it also requires self-discipline, creativity, and confidence. These are important habits that will stay with youth and help them succeed.

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The Medium—Glass

Defining Glass

What Is Glass? Glass objects are made from a mixture of ground silica (sand) and other mineral modifying agents— flux, which helps to reduce the melting temperature; a stabilizer that helps reduce water solvency; and coloring agents (minerals or metal salts). These elements are melted together to create a molten glass. The molten glass is shaped by a variety of methods, including molding and blowing, into a shape that is allowed to slowly cool and harden.

Enamels on metal are also glass. They are melted in place on metal vessels, plates, and jewelry.

Glass as an Art Medium Most historians agree that glassmaking probably began some 5,000 years ago in the area that is now the Middle East, in and around Syria. They believe that actual glassblowing with a blowpipe started around the birth of Christ, over 2,000 years ago. Glassblowing is highly addictive, so it is no wonder that the “disease” spread like wildfire and infected people throughout the world. Further details about the history of glass can be found at Museum of Glass website: http://museumofglass.org/document.doc?id=38.

Glass includes a wide variety of forms, such as hot-blown, mold-blown, flame-worked, sculpted, sandblasted, fused, slumped, enameled, painted, stained, mosaic, recycled, or a combination of these techniques. Youth participating in the National Art Experience will get the opportunity to learn how artists working with the medium of glass employ a variety of hot, warm, and cold techniques. The youth will get to experience working with some of the glass techniques. Using glass tiles, youth could decorate objects, such as vases and picture frames. They could create jewelry from glass beads or recycled glass or build mosaic tiles. In some of their communities, youth may be able to find a glass studio to try basic fusing or glassblowing experiences. There are an amazing number of different ways that glass can be used to create unique projects.

In general, working with glass can result in a project that may be functional or sculptural. An object designed with the intention of being used for something is generally called functional—bowls, cups, or flower vases. Sculptural refers to an object that youth have seen or imagined and does not serve a specific function.

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The Basics Types of Glass (Most definitions from: http://www.cmog.org/research/glass-dictionary)

Blown glass The technique of forming an object by inflating a gather or gob of molten glass on the end of a blowpipe. Traditionally and in modern furnace working, the gaffer blows through the tube, slightly inflating the gob, which is then manipulated into the required form by swinging it, rolling it on a marver, or shaping it with tools or in a mold. It is then inflated to the desired size.

Cold working Changing the shape or surface texture of glass using tools and processes that do not rely on heat. Cold working methods include grinding, carving, engraving, polishing, sandblasting, and other techniques.

Cast glass A glass art medium in which glass is melted in, or melted and then poured into, a pre-shaped mold to create a finished project.

Enamel Glass on which special paints (containing frit) have been applied in illustration or decorative pattern and then heated in a kiln to a temperature high enough to fuse the pigments permanently to the glass surface. The modern version of the original medieval "stained glass."

Flame-worked (or lamp-worked) glass The technique of forming objects from rods and tubes of glass that, when heated in a flame, become soft and can be manipulated into the desired shape. Formerly, the source of the flame was an oil or paraffin lamp used in conjunction with foot-powered bellows; today, gas-fueled torches are used.

Kiln-formed glass The process of fusing or shaping glass (usually in or over a mold) by heating it in a kiln.

Millefiori Italian for "a thousand flowers." Commonly refers to glass objects made from masses of murrini slices, an Italian term for long rods of glass that are sliced to reveal patterns or images that have formed. They have designs looking like flowers that ,when grouped together, resemble “a thousand flowers.”

Mosaic A picture or decorative design made by setting small colored pieces of glass or ceramic material into a surface using cement or grout as a bonding agent.

Reverse-painted glass The term applied to a number of decorative techniques, all of which involve painting, on the back side of the glass, a design that is viewed from the front (that is, through the glass). Because of this, the

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painter must apply the pigments in the reverse of the normal order, beginning with the highlights and ending with the background.

Pâte de Verre (French, “glass paste”) A material produced by grinding glass into a fine powder, adding a binder to create a paste, and adding a fluxing medium to facilitate melting. The paste is brushed or tamped into a mold, dried, and fused by firing. After annealing, the object is removed from the mold and finished.

Stained glass The generic name for decorative windows made of pieces of colored glass fitted into cames and set in iron frames. Strictly speaking, the term is inaccurate because, in addition to glass colored by staining, glaziers used—and continue to use—glass colored throughout by metallic oxide, glass colored by flashing, and glass decorated with enamel.

Tools Artists working with glass have a wide range of specialized tools, depending on the way they work with the material.

Glassblowers today use tools that are very similar to those used in the first century AD and include those that can withstand the heat while shaping and forming molten glass, such as jacks, tweezers, blocks, shears, and paddles.

Flame-workers need small torches with propane/oxygen and hoses, lighters, and, sometimes, claws.

Cold workers use sanders with diamond grit belts; engraving lathes with diamond, stone, and copper wheels; sharp-pointed tools for scratching; chisels; and other tools for chipping.

Youth working with glass will have access to these specialty tools if they attend workshops in any hands-on glass studio. Many have workshops for beginners. Youth working at home with glass can find many supplies and tools at local art supply stores for mosaic, painting, and etching.

Ideas for Glass Art Pieces • Cup or bowl • Serving platter • Jewelry • Wind chimes • Decorative tile • Candle holder • Picture frame • Holiday ornament • Architectural form, such as a birdhouse • Container with lid or handles

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Exploring the Art of Glass—Planning Youth Sessions

Depending on the ages of the youth participants, learning about glass can be done in several sessions. Following are suggestions; however, youth should help plan the sessions.

1. What is glass? Ask youth to brainstorm different ways glass is used. Share information about how glass is part of history. Discuss creativity and how creativity is part of creating works of art from glass. Give some examples. This session could also include a simple activity using glass.

2. Invite an artist who works with glass to talk with the youth. Or visit an art gallery, an art show, a museum, or an art studio. Explore glass creations in your community, and learn about the different ways that glass is used in a wide range of projects.

3. Organize a glass workshop. Organize three or four different options for the youth to use different techniques and tools in working with glass. At the end of the workshop, display the glass creations and discuss the advantages and challenges of each technique and tool. You can arrange for the youth to work in a hands-on studio in your community to experience blowing or fusing glass. Or you can organize a workshop to decorate glass objects, work with glass tiles in mosaic, or make jewelry from glass beads and recycled glass.

4. Have the youth do research—on the Internet, at a library or glass studio, or by talking to glass artists—about different types of uses for glass. At the next session, have the youth present the information and give examples—descriptions or photos of the art or the actual works of art.

5. Plan with the youth the types of glass art they want to create to enter into the National Art Experience. Arrange for supplies, and work with the youth to plan, design, and create their final pieces of art.

Here are tips for working with youth artists:

1. Start by describing the types of glass, along with tools and techniques. 2. Ask the youth if they have done or observed similar processes and, if so, to give suggestions. 3. Have the youth share where they have glass in their community. Talk about how it is used and the particular benefits of working with glass. Make sure you discuss where glass can be found other than in functional applications. Consult the history of glass materials to find examples. 4. Introduce the glass techniques that will be available to the youth. (Do you have access to a hands-on glassblowing/fusing studio? Or will you be working with a mosaic or painting technique?) 5. Then have the youth plan what they want to create and what tools and techniques they would like to use. 6. Artists working with glass often use drawing as a planning tool. Have youth sketch some of their ideas and consider how they could use glass. Have them consider what finishing

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touches they would like to add to their glass creations, such as paint or other surface decorations. 7. Have each youth reflect about the process. They can describe their art projects to the group, explaining what they liked about working with glass and describing any challenges they encountered along the way.

Sample Glass Project Ideas

 Go on a scavenger hunt: Your community is likely full of examples of glass being used in different and interesting ways. Look for examples of historic and modern tile installations, mosaics, public art sculptures, and even fireplaces along the way. Local community spaces—such as libraries, train stations, and sculpture parks—provide a wide range of opportunities to learn about glass and its many uses.  Virtual art exhibit: Create a display of art on your council’s website. Simply use a digital camera to capture images of the glass pieces created by participating youth at your council.  Mural, Mural on the Wall: Create a tile mural, at your council office or in the community, to which each participant designs and contributes their own work of art on a glass tile.

Glass Resources

There are many books on glass at the library. Find out about the history of glass in various cultures. Following are resources on the Internet that relate to glass.

The website Pinterest has many glass examples and ideas. Even if you have not joined Pinterest, you can still view ideas. Go to www.pinterest.com. Search for “glass,” “glass projects,” or specific types of glass artwork, such as “flame-working.”

Website References

Museum of Glass: www.museumofglass.org

Learn how glass beads are made: http://www.cmog.org/collection/exhibitions/life-string-35-centuries- glass-bead

Learn about the origins of glassmaking, chemistry of glassmaking, and designing glass artwork: http://museumofglass.org/document.doc?id=38

Explore various topics on glass: http://www.cmog.org/research/all-about-glass

Additional resources about the science of glass from the Chrysler Museum of Art: http://www.chrysler.org/learning-programs/online-learning-resources/category/science-of-glass/

Lesson plans covering a variety of topics on glass focused on Dale Chihuly from Indianapolis Children’s Museum of Art: https://www.childrensmuseum.org/sites/default/files/Documents/Educators/3- 5_FireworksOfGlass_UOS.pdf

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List of contemporary artists working in glass: http://contempglass.org/links/artists

Lesson plan on reverse painting on glass: http://www.education.com/activity/article/reverse-glass-painting/

Lesson plan for cut- stepping stone: http://www.kinderart.com/sculpture/steppingstones.shtml

Lesson plan for translucent sculpture: http://www.dickblick.com/lesson-plans/flexible-glass-sculpture/

Lesson plans for stained glass: http://www.opb.org/education/atschool/lesson_plans/21 http://www.digitalwish.com/dw/digitalwish/view_lesson_plans?id=1417

Lesson plan for glass panel book: http://www.dickblick.com/lesson-plans/glass-panel-book/

Video on how sheet glass is made for fusing at Bullseye Glass factory: http://www.bullseyeglass.com/education/what-is-glass.html

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