Olympics of the Visual Arts 2016

Ever since I retired, I've annually volunteered as a judge at the fabulous Olympics of the Visual Arts.  OVA is a program/competition for students sponsored by NYSATA, the NY state art teacher's association.  *Note: The artwork in the first 4 photos in this post are from the sculpture category, and are each a sculptural interpretation of a piece of contemporary popular music. 

Styled after the Odyssey of the Mind model, OVA participating teams come from schools throughout the state, in elementary, middle, and high school levels, competing in both long term projects and a spontaneous competition.   The long term projects are based on tasks in selected categories. Students use research and brainstorming in their planning and are required to submit a portfolio documenting their work along with the final presentation.  The categories include sculpture, architecture, fashion design, drawing, painting, illustration, graphic design, and photography. You can see my previous annual OVA posts here (2015), here (2014), and here (2013).  To read more about the program, follow this link and this link to info on the NYSATA webpage;  to read this year's intriguing long term problems, hop on over to this link.

 The next batch of photos are from the photo category.  The theme had to do with reflections, and interpretations of the word were broad.  For example, the group creating the piece directly below was reflecting about toxic waste!  There were reflections on identity, and there were much more literal reflections as well. 

I was again a judge in the photography category.  We had more photography entries than in previous years, so we were judging and adding up scores until the last moment, including judging/scoring the spontaneous projects as well.  Unfortunately, this meant gobbling down lunch while we added up scores, and I had very little time this year to snap pics of the array of incredible work.  So forgive me if my photos aren't up to par!   Then I had to leave before the awards were given out, due to another commitment.  But at least I have a few fun photos to share with you!!

I was looking forward to seeing the Illustration category, since they were based on one of my all-time favorite poems from a favorite piece of literature: The Jabberwocky, from Lewis Carrol's Through the Looking Glass.  When I was in high school, my older brother gave me a copy of the Annotated Alice, and this book is still one of the most beloved books in my my personal collection.  Here's a few images from the student work based on this poem.

Here's a slightly better close-up of the piece above -

The painting category involved imagining a creative environment, an environment that would encourage creativity.

The fashion category is always everyone's big favorite, with the most entries.  The work is amazing!  Unfortunately, I didn't get to witness the catwalk modeling, which is the spontaneous portion of the fashion category.  But I did get to see some terrific pieces, still on their mannequins.  The theme was "Trashy", and the pieces are all made from paper products often found in the trash.  And no, the black dress is NOT made from duct tape.  Not allowed!!

 There were, along with the amazing outfits, several glamorous hats (like the one on the mannequin above, left) and this pair of adorable shoes below!!

I don't know if any other state has an event like OVA.  If not, you really should look at the model we've set up here in NY, and give it a try!  It's a phenomenal event, and it can be a pretty viable bit of advocacy for art education!

Olympics of the Visual Arts

Today I served as a judge for the Olympics of the Visual Arts at the Saratoga City Center in Saratoga Springs NY, sponsored by NYSATA (NY State Art Teachers Association).  OVA is a creative competition for students. 

Student work on long-term projects was submitted in the following categories: drawing, painting, sculpture, architecture, fashion design, illustration, photography, numismatic design.  They could work individually or in teams, and they were judged in the categories of elementary, middle, and high school.  Each piece was displayed with a portfolio showing their research, planning, and thought process. The content and presentation of the portfolio was part of the judging, which was based on a rubric.  Some of these were absolutely amazing!

I helped judge the photography category, which I ironically did not photograph when I took the rest of these pictures.  Due to timing, I don't have photos from the drawing, painting, and illustration categories either, and really only got a chance to glance at them, since I was there primarily to serve as a judge and that kept me busy!

The students also had to complete a spontaneous project on-site, and these were also adjudicated.  The scores were added together with the long-term project scores for their total.

Above and below are several samples from the sculpture category.  The challenge was to re-design the classic lighthouse and re-create it as a monumental sculpture that will serve as a coastal beacon or a beacon of light in the darkness.  I've tried to include things in the photo to indicate the monumental size of these sculptural pieces.  This mushroom beacon below is structured from pieces of broken mirror.  Very cool!

The lighthouse below was an homage to Sandy Hook.  There are 26 'robots' hidden throughout the lighthouse, representing the children whose lives were taken in this tragedy.

This lighthouse below fascinated me, though I didn't get a chance to look at the accompanying portfolio.  The little waterfall next to it was a creation based on the spontaneous assignment.

And of course I needed to photograph this dragon lighthouse for you!

Again, I didn't read the accompanying literature, but this monumental piece really impressed me.

And now for a few sample from the architecture category, with the theme 'a conceptual skyscraper'.  These pieces were all amazing!

I think this one below is a hospital.

The Primary Place - a school, I presume?  Don't you love the Mondrian theme?  I think I see another waterfall on the floor next to the sign.

An elementary team created this adorable Seuss-a-Scraper!

Fashion designers had to design an outfit for themselves and their 'pet', based on an artist, art period, or art movement and created entirely from paper.  Inspirations below were Starry Night, Impressionism, and Klimt.

I'm actually not sure what category this piece below was in.  But it was provocative, for sure.

Numismatic designs below were currency based on American artists.

The photos below, all shot with my iPad, aren't great, but I love the homage to Judy Chicago's Dinner Party in this piece's presentation.

Here's a couple of close-ups:

 

The photography category assignment (which I judged) was to tell a visual story with a moral ending, using no more than 12 photos.  The presentations were unique - from displayed on stacked boxes, to a spinning star, to a 2-sided display with two separate endings, and more, many were sculptural pieces above and beyond the photographic storytelling.  Very impressive!

In a time when education seems to be all about testing and assessment, this day showcased real learning.  The kids had to solve problems that did not have one specific answer; in order to do this they had to do research, brainstorm, storyboard, test ideas, figure out how to manipulate materials, and document their process.  The creativity and uniqueness of solutions were impressive, and I'm convinced that they did a lot more learning than if they were just preparing to fill in bubbles on a test.  We need to protect and preserve arts education!  Nobody does this as well as we do!