REPOST: Blank Artist Statement Form

Hey everyone! Last post for today (I think!)-

I was recently asked for the pdf for my Blank Artist Statement Form. I posted about this before, but realized that I never put it on my Teachers Pay Teacher site. 

I've been using this Artist Statement Form in my art classes since 2016!

I designed this Blank Artist Statement Form to help my upper elementary and middle school students write a better artist statement and reflect on their learning. I include it in every sketchbook I make for my students grades 5-8.

Younger students can write directly on the form and older students can use it to compose a final draft on the computer.


Description:

This one page handout/resource can be used for all types of artwork (2D and 3D). It's also a note-taking sheet so you can customize it for your specific lesson.



What you get:

THIS PURCHASE IS FOR A DIGITAL FILE ONLY. You will get a digital file for a one page black and white pdf of my Blank Artist Statement Form. Note: This file does not have any dates written on it, so you can use it for any year and any class!



How to use this file:

1. Download the file from TpT
2. Print on regular paper (not included with purchase) or share via Google Classroom, etc.
3. Customize by having students take notes on it or use the backside to plan/sketch

You can use this printout on its own or glue it into a sketchbook



Legal Stuff/Niceness Clause:

I work hard to create these resources. I believe that you are using them for personal/classroom use and will only make copies for yourself and your classroom and will NOT resell these, repost my files (for free or for sale) or sell them as your own. Be kind!

To get this resource, click here.

7th and 8th Grade Final Projects

A rite of passage in the art room for the middle school students at Amherst Middle School is the final project. Despite its name the project is started pretty early on in the semester because it has a bunch of components to it.

Anthony's project inspired by Roy Lichtenstein

Here's a basic outline:

• Students are shown a Powerpoint presentation of famous artists and artwork (7th grade focused on the art from 1900-1950; 8th grade focused on 1950-today)
• Students choose an artist to research
• Students create a paper/brochure/poster/oral report, etc. about the artist's work and life (details below)
• Students propose a project to do that is inspired by the artist they researched, but should be personal to them (the sky's the limit here--they can use whatever media they wish, but no copying the artist)
• Students complete a final project
• Students write an artist statement about their project

It's quite the process and it really was a wonderful opportunity for me to get to know the students and help them explore a variety of materials. Some of the students struggled with the open-endedness of the project, or with the writing component, and again, it was a great opportunity for me to hone my teaching skills to help each student succeed. I really love these projects and how unique they are! Unfortunately, I do not have photos of all of the projects--that's the problem with doing something like this at the end of the semester--final grading and clean-up take away from documentation, but you get the idea. Students worked in acrylics, watercolor, colored pencil, clay, assemblage and more. We had a great range of 2D and 3D pieces. When I do this project again, I also have some ideas for tweaking it slightly to make it easier for the students to understand and to push them to develop their ideas even further, but it was a great first run for this project--definitely a keeper!

The graphic organizer I created for the students to use for research.
I was hoping a design like this would help them organize the information better
than giving them a list of what was required. 

Here's the final project proposal form they needed to fill out
prior to starting their final project. This gave me a chance to meet with them
and SEE what they were thinking of doing for their final piece.

Beka's piece inspired by van Gogh, I think (it's hard to remember!)

Carrie's piece inspired by Claes Oldenburg

Clayton's helmet and shield inspired by ancient Greece

Hannah's piece inspired by James Audubon

Hunter's house design inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright
(designed on the computer and printed in 3D)

This little house was a lot of work! :-)

Nathan's still life inspired by Paul Cezanne

Nolan's sculpture inspired by Alberto Giacometti

Top: Daniel's piece inspired by Robert Delauney
Bottom: Patrick's piece inspired by modern street art

Trey's piece inspired by Roy Lichtenstein

Artist Statement Form for Middle School

I love to have my students write about their work. Even the littlest people can have a lot to say about their creations! Also, having the students self-assess their work is part of the National Core Art Standards...

When I was at Amherst Middle School, 7th and 8th grade students needed to write artist statements for their final projects, but I also dabbled with having the 5th and 6th grade students create them as well. I found that quality artist statements took a bit of prompting, so I created this Artist Statement Worksheet to get them started. Once the students had this form in front of them, the quality of the artist statements increased dramatically. Sometimes filling out the form was enough, but with the older students, I had them use this as a "rough draft" and students needed to type their final artist statements in Word and print them out to be displayed alongside their final projects.

Do you have students write artist statements? What do you ask them to include? Let me know in the comments below!