Pop Art and Mexican Paper Mache Fruits and Vegetables

I asked the 1st and 2nd grade, What is POP Art??? We talked about what is popular in today’s American culture and why. During our discussion, I showed them the work of Sculptor Claes Oldenburg, who sculpts large scale everyday objects. To guide the project in a direction based on healthy eating instead of popular junk food sculptures, the students chose their favorite fruit or vegetable to make. Their inspiration was the Mexican Folk Artists who create paper mache fruits and vegetables that are widely collected as works of art today. They could make their fruit or vegetable to scale or they could exaggerate the size like Pop Artist Claes Oldenburg did.

Having some of the fruits and vegetables to view while sculpting helped the students understand shape and form more clearly. After creating the form using newspaper and tape, the students had fun doing the paper mache. Once hardened, they painted their work with attention to detail. Learning that each fruit and vegetable has unique qualities to paint. We are in the process of making the large fruit bowl and will segway into learning about still life painting . Once we are all done with the making, we will play a fun game to learn the Spanish word for each fruit and vegetable made. The students are loving their fruits and veggies! #SaklanWellRounded