Artist Trading Cards

I can hardly wait to introduce Star Academy students of all grade levels to our Artist Trading Card project in a few weeks!  This project worked its way into my curriculum over the summer when I participated in a daily Twitter art challenge for a month with a group of fellow Art teachers from schools across the United States. One of the many amazing things that the Twitter challenge provided me with, was learning about an Artist Trading Card swap for art students at schools all across the United States.

Similar to trading cards of any variety (Pokemon comes to mind) Artist Trading Cards are small, baseball sized cards that are original works of art that can be traded with other artists, in this case, other art students from schools all over the United States.  Star Academy students will make several ATC's exploring various art techniques, mediums, and focus on specific elements of art to create their very own 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" masterpieces.  They will each select one card to send off to the swap and wait patiently to receive ATC's from students at other schools in exchange for our cards.

I am excited to introduce this project to students for a few reasons:

• Creating art on 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" canvas is FUN!  The space is small, so students are more willing to take chances with their art, knowing that if they don't like it, they can simply make another.
• I like how ATC's lend themselves to introduce students to a variety of art techniques, mediums, elements, etc and students get choices with their artwork!
• I am secretly hoping that ATC's will take hold at Star and students will be creating and trading their ATC's with fellow classmates beyond the organized swap.
• My wheels are spinning with thoughts of turning ATC's into a year long early finisher activity. An Artist Trading Card station could easily be set up in the Art room and students could demonstrate mastery of techniques and art skills by creating ATC's when they finish their class projects.  

Here are a few example ATC's that I made.  I had SO much fun creating these little guys and can't wait to see how my students take to Artist Trading Cards!  Stay tuned for ATC update in a few weeks!