August Masterpiece Response - Olympic Art

Where art meets sports we find the visual expression of the Olympics!  In our last blog, we took a peek at 12 commissioned UK artists' visual expression of the
London Olympics and Paralympics 2012. 

In the photo above, we see my students engaged in creating an abstract Olympic ring painting like UK artist Rachel Whiteread's below.  This is a great project for K-2nd.

Rachel Whiteread

Here's another fun project that can be adapted for K-1 and perfect through grade 4 that relates Kingdom character qualities to the Olympics through art:

 For this project you will need:

• plastic transparency sheets
• squares of colored tissue paper
• Deuteronomy 31:6 or verse of your choice printed on paper & cut out
• A copy of any Olympian athlete sihouette shape from Dsgn Wrld (enlarged)
• Q-tips
• Black Sharpie
• Black fabric paint (if desired)
• Mosaic glue, watered down 
• (Note: regular glue does not work because it lifts off the transparency.  Mosaic glue is used to attach glass/ceramic pieces for traditional mosaics so it's adhesive is strong.  You may wish to try Modge Podge or other decopage glue as well!) 
• hole punch and yarn/string/ribbon to hang them in the window 

1.  Enlarge a copy of one of the Olympic sport silhouettes above from the Dsgn Wrld link (or give each student a different athlete for variety!)

2.  Place a transparency over the copy and have your students trace the silhouette onto the transparency with a black sharpie.  For K-1s, you may wish to print off the image on the transparencies so all they have to do is glue down the verse and tissue.

3.  Choose a Bible verse and have copies ready for the students.  We used Deuteronomy 31:6 because we were talking about being strong, having courage and overcoming fear, but 1 Corin 9:24 "Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize" and many others work great too!  Type & photocopy the verse in a shape that will fit the size of your silhouette so it doesn't cover it.  

(I fit about 6 on one page and photocopied them then cut them into rectangles.)

4.  Apply mosaic glue or Modge Podge to the back of the Bible verse and glue onto the transparency without covering the athlete.  You may need to help K-1 with this.

5.  Apply watered-down mosaic glue or Modge Podge all over the transparency.  Using a Q-tip dipped in the glue, touch a square of tissue with the tip to pick up the square and set it down on the gluey transparency.  Repeat until all the transparency is covered with brightly colored tissue!  Some of the students opted to put black tissue paper for the silhouette of the man as below. 

6.  When the whole thing is covered in tissue, "paint" another layer of glue over the whole thing to seal.  

7.  When it is dry, you may wish to trace the athlete with black fabric paint to look like the lead on a stained glass window.   

 We punched holes on the corners and put yarn through so we could hang them in our windows to remind us that when the Light shines through us that we are strong and courageous warriors!

I wonder how many future Olympic athletes will make this project?

To see more Olympic artwork from students plan a visit to the Living Room Louvre !

Written by Laura Bird Miller, artist/art instructor Circle Christian School.