A careful considerate gaze or I am because you are

by Marla McLean | Nov 13, 2018 | 3 year old children, art, Atelier, Atelierista, Autumn, awe, beauty, bottle-caps, Citizens, climate change, community, Consructing, conversation, creativity, curiosity, early childhood, earth, explore, garden, global, Global Children, global competence, grow, Happiness, heart, imagination, Innovation, inspired, Joy, Kindergarten, leaves, Light, love, Maker Spaces, Marla McLean, materials, meaning, metaphor, moments, monarchs, NAREA, objects, observation, painting, PreK, preK children, process, project work, Rainbow, recycle, reflect, Reggio, Reggio Emilia, seasons, Sketching, social action, Studio, studio learning, Ubuntu, Uncategorized, vulnerable, winter, Wisdom, wonder | 0 Comments

Here’s some links to explore connections:

To explore the concept of Ubuntu

Link to NAREA (North American Reggio Emilia Alliance)

Link to Global Children at Harvard Graduate School of Education, Project Zero

Link to Brenee Brown

Link to article on Curiosity

Much love! And feel free to respond below and start a conversation.

And so, How Are You Different Than Nature?

by Marla McLean | Jun 14, 2018 | activism, art, Atelier, Atelierista, change, climate change, community, conversation, creativity, early childood, earth, earth day, environmental stewardship, global, global competence, heart, imagination, inspired, intent, Kindergarten, love, Maker Spaces, materials, meaning, metaphor, mother earth, observation, parade arts, PreK, recycle, reflect, Reggio Emilia, school, social action, upcycle, values, Wisdom, wonder | 0 Comments

It is the night before the very last day of the 2017-2018 school year. I just couldn’t let the year end without giving you this small gift.

I have here the link to the 12 minute video I made documenting our all-school Earth Day parade. (12 minutes)

The SWS Love Mother Earth Children’s Parade Video

I must thank all the folks who sent photographs and videos, both Erika and I had our hands full and were unable to do it ourselves. Thank you thank you thank you!

Thank you to Lynette Craig who did all the paperwork and phone calls to convince our city to shut down the streets for this parade (park service and the police!). She left to me- only to meet with the officers/officials and sign my name. You have powers!

Thank you to Erika Bowman, my sista Atelierista and dream-it-into-reality-parade- partner. I will miss you. But I get to keep the memories (and friendship!), lucky me.

After the video link is documentation of some of the early childhood experiences that inform the parade video.

As a team (Prek3, PreK, Kgn) we focused on a year long exploration of Global Environmental Citizenship. Here’s how it emerged in the studio context:

Have a beautiful summer.

I hope beautiful things live forever

by Marla McLean | Jun 10, 2018 | activism, aesthetics, art, Atelier, Atelierista, awe, beauty, Burning Man, change, Citizens, community, Consructing, conversation, creativity, early childhood, earth, Educating for Creative Minds, Embodying, explore, global competence, grow, heart, humility, imagination, Innovation, inspired, love, Maker Spaces, Marla McLean, materials, meaning, metaphor, moments, Movement, project work, public school, recycle, Reggio Emilia, Uncategorized, vulnerable | 1 Comment

Balance.

This year, in addition to the daily creating and expression and relationship building in the studio/atelier, I engaged and facilitated a Mardi Gras/Speak for Living Things Parade and an Earth Day Parade with my partner Atelierista, Erika Bowman

One weekend there was a community sign building for a national parade, this past week a pop up interactive art installation, then we made and completed and installed a kinetic sculpture attached on the side of the school “The Listening Sculpture”,

and there were three big field trips for students to encounter immersive, sensory, recycled, and out of the box art. (ArtTech House, The Glass Forest, and The Renwick)

And all of it connected to each other, overlapped, provoked, and embraced the idea of Global Environmental Stewardship (or as Amira, age 5, summed it up, “Dear Earth, Why are we here?)

…but no blog post. All my time and energy went into the hands on making and organizing.

Hence, the balance issue.

Yesterday, I represented DCPS by marching in the DC Capitol Pride Parade with my SWS sisters and brothers.

(YES, it’s been a year of PARADES!)

All to find myself home sick today, coughing, headache…seems like life gave me lemons, so here comes the lemonade!

Overwhelmed by the idea catching up from Earth Day, I am posting from the present- the most current happenings, (and will try and catch up the middle at a later date.)

I have no voice today, so I will stay with this as a metaphor and let the children/SWS speak through this vide0 I created, (since I was stuck at home in bed.) Enjoy the lemonade!

HERE’S THE LINK TO THE VIDEO (approx. 8 minutes):

The SWS Burning Man/Woman Temple, a pop up Installation

I want to thank the Renwick, they opened up No Spectators- The Art of Burning Man exhibit an hour early, so that some of the youngest citizens in DC (ages 4-6) could experience the wonder and beauty of the exhibit (without competing with taller and larger bodies.)

We were welcomed by Geoff, and his invitation to touch and explore was lovely.

The children were moved and wowed. Many felt the weight, the lightness, the sacredness, and emotions of the Temple,

and all were mesmerized by the plethora of possibilities within the art and ideas of the playa.

The upper elementary aged children who visited the exhibit with Erika during the previous weeks were also astounded and inspired.

Upon returning to school, the upper elementary children began to build a collaborative Temple out of recycled cardboard.

The youngest children used tools and helped each other (just like the teams of artists who collaborated in the exhibit) to create a small Burning Man/Woman out of recycled materials with a wish, hope, or memory.

“I remember when I was a little baby , I felt happy with my family.” Brooke, age 4

“My memory is going inside the Renwick gallery. My favorite room was the one with the television in the sky.” Malda, age 6

The pop up museum opened Friday June 8th.

It will be gone by the end of the week.

But maybe gone only in the material state.

The gift of this type of work is the deep resonating memories and the thoughts by the children and community left in the SWS temple.

The gift of this work is children learning first hand, the power of creating a vision and dream into reality with friends.

The gift of this work is creating something in community with others, with both personal and global ideas (reflected in the cards left in the temple.)

The gift of this work is creating the space and the safety to be vulnerable in interactions, sharing wishes, hopes, and remembrances, and in the actual creating.

It was not easy. “If it’s easy, your brain isn’t growing”, a common refrain of mine. “It’s supposed to be a little bit hard.”

This is education:

Inclusive. Cultural. Personal. Community based. Global. Reflective. Expressive. Scientific. Inventive. Kind. Meaningful. Fun. Hard. Connected and inter-connected. Responsive. Oriented from thought to action (and sometimes the other way around,) Most importantly education is being a part of creating a better world.

(I know that you always are with me.)

It was not easy.

But it was soul filling.

It was hopeful, it was love,

and it will live on.

What the World Needs Now

by Marla McLean | Mar 3, 2017 | art, Atelier, Atelierista, awe, beauty, change, community, creativity, early childood, Educating for Creative Minds, heart, love, Maker Spaces, Marla McLean, materials, moments, recycle, Reggio Emilia, studio learning, Uncategorized, upcycle, wonder | 0 Comments

This post documents the process of the making of our 4 foot by 4 foot bottle cap mosaic, inspired by the Wishes for the World Project. Both projects happened simultaneously. It created a wonderful back and forth between maker space production and socratic meaningful conversation. This piece will be auctioned off to support our DC Reggio Inspired Elementary Public School. xoxo

Marla Mclean

atelierista

I hope beautiful things live forever

What the World Needs Now