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Amazing artists and educators

Jessica den Hartog’s art made from recycled plastic

The use of plastic in classrooms is becoming an important issue for teachers. For example, public schools in the United Kingdom have been encouraged to eliminate single-use plastics (like straws, disposable water bottles and glitter) by the end of 2022. However, plastic can also be a wonderful material for artistic experimentation, as Dutch designer Jessica den Hartog shares with us in this post. Jessica is a researcher and designer whose artistic practice has explored the relationship between colour and recycled plastic. Based in Maastricht in the Netherlands, her art focuses on the importance of experimentation with the material. This is in contrast to making a specific end product. Image: Jessica in her art studio. Credit:Jessica den Hartog Louisa Penfold: I understand you have worked in both styling and design. Can you tell us about your background and how your interest in recycled plastic came about? Jessica den Hartog: My interest…

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Learning

How to use artworks in children’s art activities

Artwork projection at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris

Artworks can support children in imagining the world differently. I draw upon the work of Maxine Greene and John Dewey to explore the proposition that children’s learning through artworks has the potential to challenge dominant discourses, opening up new ways of thinking and being. There is also a resource list for educators and parents interested in incorporating artworks into children’s learning. “It is not that the artist offers solutions or gives directions. He nudges; he renders us uneasy; he makes us (if we are lucky) see what we would not have seen without him. He moves us to imagine, to look beyond” Maxine Greene (2000, p. 276). Artworks can be used in many ways for many different reasons in learning contexts. They offer rich possibilities for experiencing and imagining the world from new and multiple perspectives. Visual art as well as the arts more generally, have the ability to make people aware of…

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