Often they were transformed by color and design rather than by becoming something else. Masks grew giant ears, horns, extra eyeballs, beaks, and textured skin. The students became aliens, monsters, wizards, cats, and one even became a unicorn. My 7th graders often left their masks in a format they could wear, and we often made them around Halloween times and made costumes to go with them, which we wore as we took a stroll through the school building. The missing photos from the summer program include masks that have been transformed into the center of a giant flower, the head of an alien, a butterfly, and more. The completed masks in the photos at the beginning of this post were all made by gluing the 'shell' onto heavy cardboard that was cut and shaped according to the students' plan, to make a sculptural piece. Once the mask was removed from the face, it was left overnight to dry. It was a badge of honor to make the mask.Ībove is the plaster bandage, and what the newly created mask 'shell' looks like before being transformed. Over the many years I did this project, very few students opted out of putting the plaster on their faces. They learned to drip and blot excess water off the bandage before putting it on the face, to prevent plaster from dripping into ears and eyes. The students pre-cut the plaster bandages and followed careful rules for safety and also to use the material most effectively. We used shower caps to protect their hair, and the students used washcloths to clean Vaseline and plaster off their faces when the masks were complete. We used Vaseline as a barrier, and covered everything on their faces except their eyes and nostrils. The 'victim' would lie on a table for the mask-making process. The students were taught to use plaster bandage to safely cast each others faces. The girls in the photos below (sisters) had just completed 3rd and 5th grade at the time of these photos and the younger girl still loves art. The student in the photo above just graduated from high school and is pursuing an art career! In this photo she had just completed 6th grade. I brought the project back for a couple of summers in a camp program sponsored by our (former) PTSA, working with small groups of kids for three hours a day for four days in a row. One of these days I'll try scanning them.)īut then sadly I stopped teaching 7th graders, and the lesson wasn't practical for the younger kids' or their once/twice a week art schedule. (NO, not PowerPoint slides, but actual slides to stick in a Carousel projector. I can't show you the photos of those 7th grade masks, as they are all slides. And yes, I have cast my own face on more than one occasion, so I'm not asking the kids to do that I was unwilling to do myself. I did variations of this project for many years, and students looked forward to making their own masks. Here's the history behind this project - years ago, I taught middle school and my favorite project to do with my 7th graders was a mask project that began with a direct cast of their faces using plaster bandage. I've 'disappeared' a bunch of the photos of this project so I'll do the best I can with what I can locate right now. ![]() ![]() ![]() I've decided that I will periodically post projects and photos that I haven't previously shown you, using photos from before I began blogging.
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