Great Artist: Selection Process

We began the process of trying to select the sixth grade Great Artist in December. A Google Doc was created and everyone had an opportunity to add artists they thought might be interesting to study. The diversity of artists was impressive. The initial list included:

• Walt Disney
• Steven Spielberg
• Ansel Adams
• Kumi Yamashita
• Rob Gonsalves
• Tina Christiansen
• Mary Blair
• Robin Banksey
• Frank Lloyd Wright
• Harry Houdini
• George Seurat
• Gloria Muriel
• Kate Bingham Burt
• Andy Warhol 
• Anish Kapoor
• Ellen Grossman
• Leslie Wilkes
• George Lucas

 We reviewed the artists together and anyone who knew information about the artists shared their knowledge. Before we began narrowing down the list, students were given an opportunity to "pitch" an artist they thought would be a good choice of the class. They had time to do research and speak to the artists work and the potential as a Great Artist. Each member of the class cast three votes and we narrowed the list down to the top eight artists.

Students were given time to do further research and share resources before we made a final choice. As a class, we placed each of the eight artists on the board and brainstormed how we would approach studying the artist and potential projects (see images below) that we could achieve in the six-week time frame and a strict budget. We used Google Forms to make a ballot and the class voted. We narrowed it down to a final three artists and they voted again via Google Forms.


The class is excited to begin their study of ........Ansel Adams.

Stay tuned for updates on their work and exploration of Ansel Adams and his work.