A Cupcake Party: An Introduction to Wayne Thiebaud

I am a 3-D artist.  I went to school to study ceramics.  I was the studio tech for both the ceramic and sculpture studios.  My 3-D skills have led to me remodeling sections of my home and building furniture for it. It is what I am passionate about. I love the tactile touch and ability to manipulate materials to create.  Because 3-D art and the process of making 3-D work is so important to me it is something I want my students to experience.

I have been teaching for three years now.  Most of the art teachers I have met along the way have had a 2-D background as their focus.  Even when I was in my art ed cohorts my peers were mainly 2-D students.  I would be begged by my peers and professors to create lessons to present and share that were sculptural or clay based.  I didn't mind sharing those ideas that I had but I always felt like I was being jipped because I wanted experience teaching a 2-D lesson prior to teaching in the classroom.

As I got into my first classroom (I shared it with the Mandarin teacher, so it wasn't really mine yet.  I got the room to myself the second year I was at that school which made a huge difference in my teaching) I felt absolutely panicked.  I'd been making pots most of my college career with a sprinkling of painting, drawing, printing making, and color theory here and there. I can draw and paint but it always felt like this foreign land to me. So I sent emails to peers, scoured Pinterest, and eventually dug my way out of the resources to develop lessons that were solid. Not all my lessons were successful.  Some failed because of extenuating circumstances and outside factors.  I had lessons that had been fantastic, yielding beautiful work and a classroom of engaged learners in the rural, middle part of Michigan but were complete flops in the urban setting of Detroit.  I had lessons that crashed and burned because students weren't at the developmental level that I had expected them to be.  But while I was testing out lessons and getting a feel for teaching art, I noticed just how expensive 3-D materials are!  It all made sense to me now, looking back at my elementary and high school art experience.  We created mainly 2-D projects to save money.  I admit paper is expensive but you can service a lot more students for the same price as clay and glazes for one project.  Even tools are expensive. This was something I never really thought about while in college.

Which brings me to my focus here, I'm now teaching elementary art.  I did some pre-internship work at the elementary level and subbed for two weeks in an elementary art room but that was the end of my art teaching experience.  Prior to my new job, I was teaching middle school art 2 miles outside of Detroit starting right after I graduated. My student teaching experience was even at the high school level.  I did have some experience running a before school care program for K-5 students where we did arts and crafts but that was different from a classroom setting.  The students had a different mindset, even I had a different mindset.  So now that I have been teaching elementary art, I've had to step back frequently and think about all the skills one must have mastered to use a stapler, roll paper, and measure with a ruler.  Basic skills that I have taken for granted as an adult, artist, and previous middle school art teacher.  This frequent reflection I feel has helped improve my teaching.  I feel like my learning targets are more easily managed by students and my process of giving directions has improved as well.

So all of this comes together with my last project before the New Year with my students.  My birthday is Christmas; December 25th, 1987.  Every year I look back at previous birthdays and holiday experiences and I always seem to remember being forgotten, having to do extra chores to get the house ready for guests (though my siblings didn't have to work at all on their birthdays), or being given one gift to service both occasions .  Even Ben, my soon-to-be husband forgot my birthday while we were dating one year and bought me a bag of M&Ms...very romantic to say the least.  I feel a little childish knowing that these experiences still bother me.  I mean, at 26 I should be over this by now right? But I'm not.  So this year I decided that I was going to teach a lesson that celebrated my birthday and it was going to be a 3-D lesson. What better way to celebrate my existence than doing something I love with the students I enjoy so much...plus kids are always so excited!

I made a quick presentation on Google Drive about Wayne Thiebaud for the class with lots of images.  My three months of teaching elementary art has taught me to keep my talking short and not to overload them with facts like middle and high school students.  We discussed a little about Wayne Thiebaud and looked at his paintings.  I told the class about my birthday situation and how I wanted to throw a party for myself at school so my students could be part of that celebration.  This made them all excited.  We created cupcake sculptures modeled after Thiebaud's Four Cupcakes of 1971.  I did see a lesson similar to this at the Michigan Art Education Association Conference this past November, but I didn't spend the money on the fancy frosting ($14 for about a pint of foamy paint--not going to go far if you have a class of 27) I just made my own.  The recipe is at the bottom of this page!

This was my first 3-D lesson with my students and they did a great job following procedures and rules  while making their art, especially with it being the week of winter break.  The first day I taught it, I hadn't anticipated the students having such a difficult time stapling bulletin board boarders on a cup.  I spent a lot of my time stapling for them.  This caused a way more down time for some students, which could have been problematic, but I was impressed with how they entertained themselves and kept from causing trouble (they drew faces on people they found in the newspaper we were using).  Other than that it went smoothly.  I went home that night, trying to figure out how I could improve the lesson so there wasn't so much free time for some students.  My solution: I implemented stations.  I made a name writing and teacher code station, a stapling station, a cupcake stuffing station, the frosting station, and a candle and sprinkles station.  For students that finished early, I found a How to Draw Olaf in 12 easy steps and posted it on the board and made that the last thing they could do.  Class went super smoothly, the room wasn't as messy as the day before and I wasn't worried about students causing trouble because they all wanted to draw Olaf.

When finished, I setup all the cupcakes in a display case outside of the library for all to see.  People loved them and were amazed at the supplies we used.  It was a real great moment for me to hear how excited the younger kids and parents were when they walked by.  I definitely feel like I'm making a place for myself at this school. It was very exciting for me to see how all the cupcakes turned out.  Some of them, I thought, looked pretty legit and almost edible.

Below you'll find a basic lesson plan format and the recipe for the frosting.  I hope this inspires you with your own projects and classroom.

Happy dabbling.

Faux Frosting Recipe

Title: A Cupcake Party: An Introduction to Wayne Thiebaud
Grade: 3-4                Class Periods: 1- 60 minute Class

Elements of Design: Form, Color, and Texture
Principles of Design: Emphasis, Movement, and Contrast

Materials & Resources:
Previous student work                                                        Teacher demonstration/work          
9oz or 5oz   Plastic Cups                                                    Images of Thiebaud's Work
Construction Paper Scraps (Various Colors)                  Scrap Bulletin Board Boarders
Staplers                                                                                Staples
Glue                                                                                       Scissors
Newspaper                                                                           Tape
Paint                                                                                      Shaving Cream
Sharpie                                                                                 Hole Punchers

Objectives: 

• The student is able to describe and identify a sculpture. 
• The student can create a sculpture utilizing form and texture.
• The student has an introductory knowledge of Wayne Thiebaud and Pop Art.  

Learning Activities:  1 Day Project

1. Show and discuss Wayne Thiebaud's artwork along with basic Pop Art and sculpture information.
2. Students  should write their name on the bottom of their plastic cup in Sharpie. 
3. Have students staple and fold the bulletin board boarders around the base of the cup.  The cup should be hidden by the boarder to create the look of a cupcake wrapper. 
4. The students should drizzle a little bit of glue on the inside of the cup.  Emphasize the importance of putting glue on the bottom and side walls of the cup to ensure the newspaper will stick. 
5. Crumple up a ball of newspaper, about the size of a softball and stick it in the cup so the top puffs out just a little.  If you can get the newspaper smooth on the top, it will make hiding the newspaper easier.
6. Apply the faux frosting to the top of the newspaper.  Emphasize the creation of texture to make it look like real frosting.  
7. Students can use hole punchers to create sprinkles from the scrap pieces of construction paper.  Students can also roll construction paper to create a candle if they wish.
8. Set aside to dry for at least a day and then display.

Assessment:

4.0 - The student understands and can make a sculpture utilizing form and texture without help.            They can help another student or teach a friend.

3.0- The student understands and can make a sculpture utilizing form and texture with minimal            help from the teacher. 

2.0- The student needs help from the teacher to make a sculpture utilizing form and texture.                 The student needs assistance when identifying and describing a sculpture.  

1.0- The student is dependent on help from the teacher to complete a sculpture utilizing form               and texture.  The student needs assistance when identifying and describing a sculpture.   

0.0-  The student is unable to create a sculpture utilizing form and texture even with a teacher's           help.  The student does not understand nor can they identify and describe a sculpture.