Art as Social Activism Lesson 2

This week, we continued our lesson on creating art as social activism by working on carving and printing some images. The students were very involved with their work for the length of the class. A few of the kids even began printing this week, but most will finish up carving and printing the next class.

Melissa had everyone gather around the grouped desks to begin her lesson. She then gave them a step-by-step demonstration of the carving process and printing process. She asked the students a lot of questions as she did so that they were involved.

A few students would always carve in the wrong direction no matter how many times we told them, and we ended up with a few cutting themselves because of it. However, nobody really minded and they learned not to hold it in that direction, just as I did the first time I tried this.
We also had a little problem with one of the students who became really frustrated and wouldn't work on his project. Melissa and I both tried talking to him and persuading him to begin, but nothing was really working. In the end, he seemed to just want to use his friend's image to trace on his block. It was a minor road block, but it turned out all right in the end.

Overall, the students seem to be really enjoying themselves.