The finished project.

However YOU pronounce it – Mo-bull? Mo-bile? Mo-beel? – we all know and love the ARTMobile, managed by the Eau Claire Regional Arts Council. There’s no specific vehicle, yet there are ample opportunities to partake in art with your children – babies through teenagers – while out and about in Eau Claire. “Art projects at the ARTmobile are designed by UWEC Art Education students to be easily replicated at home. Most projects use materials that can be found in any home,” explains Rose Dolan-Neill, director of visual arts at ECRAC. During the school year, on one Saturday per month the ARTMobile will be at the L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library. And over the winter you will find its art station at Oakwood Mall on Saturdays. Check out the calendar online (www.eauclairearts.com/artmobile.phtml), and if you can’t make it down – or even if you can – try the project below, courtesy of the ARTmobile staff!

Project Title: “The Eric Carle Menagerie”

Summary

The writer’s son at work.

Children can first read The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse by Eric Carle (author and illustrator of numerous classics, including The Very Hungry Caterpillar). Then they can create their own collaged animals in a style similar to what Carle employs in his illustrations, using wild colors.

1.  Kids can use a template of an animal drawn by an adult or draw their own on a white sheet of paper.
2. Choose a bright color to fill it in with, picking out different shades/similar related colored pieces of tissue.
3. Carefully cut, arrange, and glue tissue onto template/drawing.
4. Draw in eyes, whiskers, etc., if they choose.
5. If desired, cut out the animal shape.

Grade Level

Project should be easily accomplished by ages 4 and up with help from a grown-up.

Approximate Time

Project should be accomplished in 30 minutes or less.

Materials Needed

• Blank white paper
• Multicolored tissue paper
• White glue
• Markers
• Scissors
• Floor mats
• Paper towels (for glue messes)

Educational Aspects

• Participants will become more familiar with author/artist Eric Carle and his unique illustration style.
• Develop understanding of “collage” as a medium.
• Appreciation for the various uses of color, especially in “nontraditional” ways.

Objectives/Outcomes

• Teaches us to see the world in a new way and to use color deliberate, as a way to convey meaning.
• Teaches following step-by-step instructions to complete a project.
• Teaches skills in collaging.
• Teaches handling materials appropriately.