TASK Party Fun for 8th Grade Artists

The first day back in class after Summer Recess might be a tough adjustment for some students. Anticipating this, Visual Arts teacher and Department Co-Chair Kay Silva engaged her 8th grade students in a lively activity to help them transition back to art class in a fun way and get their creative juices flowing—a TASK part.

Created by artist Oliver Herring, Silva’s TASK party consisted of a slew of random, funny and interesting “tasks,” which she wrote on pieces of paper and put into a box. During class, students selected a task from the box and physically completed that task in whatever way they thought up based on the wide array of materials available to them in the art classroom. When students were finished, Silva invited them to dream up their own new tasks to scribe onto paper and add to the box before repeating the process.

Musical beats accompanied the creativity as students chose their tasks and worked on a range of inventive undertakings, creating such things as wearable art, a cape and then flying around the room, a tiny world, a mini turtle and hare and racing them, art with one’s eyes shut, a pet for the classroom and beyond.

 “On the first day of school,” Silva shared, “I want to set the tone for the year so students know that the art studio is a safe space to express themselves and let their creative imagination run free. It also reveals that the creative process can be chaotic and deliberate at the same time. Through the spontaneous interaction with each other and the art studio environment, an energizing flow of creative action is generated where anything is possible!”

Student laughter and energy filled the classroom once the TASK party started, and all students agreed it was a fantastic way to return to art classes this year.

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