Directions for Group Art Activities
- 1). Create a world together. Discuss with the group all the elements of a particular world, such as the rain forest, a medieval village, a circus, the solar system or the city where you live. Make a list of the ideas you generate on a blackboard or large piece of paper that is visible to all. Give each participant a piece of paper of the same size. Ask each person to select an element from the list to draw, paint or collage. Allow multiple interpretations of the same element (for example, the fire station) to avoid conflicts. Group the finished work on a wall and frame it with a paper border if desired.
- 2). Create a shadow party. Go outside onto a large blacktop or cement area on a sunny day. Divide the participants into two groups. Assign each person in the first group a partner from the second group. Direct members of the first group to pose however they want and freeze. Direct the second group to trace their partners' shadows in colored chalk. Have the participants switch roles and do it again. Tell the participants to color in their own chalk shadows however they desire.
- 3). Paint to music. Place a large piece of paper on the floor. Gather the group around the paper. Ask them to close their eyes. Turn off the lights. Turn on a piece of music and ask the group to listen quietly and think about how the music makes them feel. Turn on the lights after several minutes and ask the group to add colors and designs to the paper using markers that reflect the mood of the music. Repeat with a fresh piece of paper and a different style of music. When you have made several group drawings, hang them and label them with the titles of the songs you played. Discuss the experience together, focusing on the relationship between the sounds and the visuals.
- 4). Hold an art fair. Plan an event where the group can show their work to the community, family and friends. Use this idea when a group has been making art together over a period of time and each person has a choice of things she could share, such as at the end of a semester in an after-school program. Advertise the event by having participants design flyers and hang them in the community. Encourage participants to share feedback about each other's art. Include a suggestion box for art classes where students can share thoughts about the experience and ideas for new projects for the coming semester or for future classes.
