My 6th graders and a few fifth graders are creating paper mache guitars. To initially start the project we discussed the theme of music in the art world. I showed a presentation about music being a common theme in art throughout the ages. I touched on Picasso using music as a basis 
for many of his artworks. We discussed how music has changed in our daily culture over time. How is it different now than it may have been in ancient times? Technology makes it much more accessible. We focused on the topic of "Popular Culture" what is it? How is music a part of it. What is pop art. We looked at a few pieces of pop art and we finally arrived at the artist Peter Max. We addressed how he took music from a theme in 2-D art, to a sculptural idea in his famous piano and guitar artworks. If you would like to see the full presentation click here. Once we had our discussion underway we began interpreting the project. Each student was going to be building their own guitar. They needed to come up with an initial design for the body and cut that out of two pieces of cardboard. This took some leg work on my part because I had to have my husband and my father cut about 300 sheets of cardboard. I gave each 
student one 12x18 drawing paper and two 12x18 pieces of cardboard. They needed to sketch out an outline for their guitar on the drawing paper. Once they had the outline they needed to cut it out and use it as a template to trace onto their pieces of cardboard. They then cut out both pieces of cardboard. To the right you can see the two finished pieces of cardboard a student cut. They were creating a guitar shaped like their favorite video game character.
for many of his artworks. We discussed how music has changed in our daily culture over time. How is it different now than it may have been in ancient times? Technology makes it much more accessible. We focused on the topic of "Popular Culture" what is it? How is music a part of it. What is pop art. We looked at a few pieces of pop art and we finally arrived at the artist Peter Max. We addressed how he took music from a theme in 2-D art, to a sculptural idea in his famous piano and guitar artworks. If you would like to see the full presentation click here. Once we had our discussion underway we began interpreting the project. Each student was going to be building their own guitar. They needed to come up with an initial design for the body and cut that out of two pieces of cardboard. This took some leg work on my part because I had to have my husband and my father cut about 300 sheets of cardboard. I gave each 
student one 12x18 drawing paper and two 12x18 pieces of cardboard. They needed to sketch out an outline for their guitar on the drawing paper. Once they had the outline they needed to cut it out and use it as a template to trace onto their pieces of cardboard. They then cut out both pieces of cardboard. To the right you can see the two finished pieces of cardboard a student cut. They were creating a guitar shaped like their favorite video game character.
Once you had a front and back for the body of the guitar you then stuffed it with newspaper and taped the edges together. I gave each student the neck of their guitar by cutting strips of tag board. They taped one strip to the front and one strip to the back and again stuffed the middle, and taped the edges. We also used small squares of tag board to create that top head of the guitar where the strings attach to the tuning pegs. 
After all that construction we finally started paper mache. It has been about 5 weeks and we are almost done covering them with all our layers of paper mache. Next, I am going to have the kids cover them in gesso and then paint on their designs. I bought twine for the strings, gems and buttons for decorating, and screws from home depot to create the tuning pegs at the top. The kids are having a greeat time, and I am so impressed to see everyone motivated in the art
room!!
To see my full lesson plan you can click here
After all that construction we finally started paper mache. It has been about 5 weeks and we are almost done covering them with all our layers of paper mache. Next, I am going to have the kids cover them in gesso and then paint on their designs. I bought twine for the strings, gems and buttons for decorating, and screws from home depot to create the tuning pegs at the top. The kids are having a greeat time, and I am so impressed to see everyone motivated in the art
room!!
To see my full lesson plan you can click here
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