Meera Ramanathan

Collaboration is one of the most commonly used words in the world of visual art, and rightly so because of the value it brings to students, teachers, and schools. The reasons and benefits of integrating collaborative art projects during the school year are multifold:

• It teaches students how to contribute ideas to a group and how to compromise—an important life skill they can practice while creating art. No matter how small or big a contribution is, it helps shape the final work, and every student’s effort is appreciated.
• It builds a sense of community as students work toward a shared goal, with each student contributing to the same final objective.
• It improves critical-thinking skills as students analyze and synthesize ideas from multiple sources. They interact, plan their steps, and learn from one another throughout the process.
• Students share materials and take turns using tools, practicing flexibility and resilience through art-making.

Here are a few examples of the collaborative art projects my students have created that have brought much joy at our school:

I start the school year by having second- through fifth-grade students participate in a large collaborative work. Each student creates a design on a 6" (15 cm) paper square inspired by different artists or places each year, such as the terracotta works of artist Ron Hitchins or Zellij tiles from Morocco. Students complete their individual squares and glue them onto 24 x 36" (61 x 91 cm) white paper, which I install in our school auditorium.

About 500 students contribute to this project. Each class visits for about forty-five minutes, and the lesson is quick—about twenty-one classes over three and a half school days. The finished artwork serves as a backdrop for several fall events at our school, and students see it each day while getting lunch.

I received a grant to purchase six bicycle wheels and yarn and had all my fourth-grade students (about 120) weave yarn into the spokes. I demonstrated the over-and-under weaving process and cut yarn into several strips for students to use. I placed one wheel at each of the six tables so that five or six students could work at a time.

One student held the wheel steady while two students wove yarn between the spokes, another selected yarn in different colors, and one tied knots at the beginning and end. The finished wheels were installed on a large piece of wood on a wall at our school.

My fifth graders leave their positive mark on the school by creating a legacy mural at the end of each school year. I choose a theme, and each student creates an artwork—digitally or on paper—inspired by that theme.

Four works from each class are selected, and students collaborate to combine the strongest elements into a final design, adding a quote that reflects the theme.

No matter how small or big a contribution is, it helps shape the final work, where every student’s effort is appreciated.

Our school administration then selects the final design, which the entire group helps paint as a mural over the course of a week. This project brings together about 130 fifth-grade students, and some return while in middle school and reminisce about the part they painted.

Last yearʼs theme was “What has been your favorite memory of Zamorano?” with the quote “Imagine. Believe. Achieve.”

Here are some tips on creating successful collaborative projects that have worked for me:

• Keep beginning-of-the-year collaborative projects simple and differentiate if implementing across different grade levels.
• Show students examples of collaborative works from previous years to get them excited.
• Know your students and implement several art lessons before introducing a complicated or challenging collaborative artwork like the bicycle wheel weaving installation mentioned above.
• Keep administration and your school district updated. My district requires prior permission before implementing any project at our site, and approval can take two to three weeks.
• Enjoy the process and the product—collaborative projects can sometimes feel overwhelming.

Whatever lesson youʼre planning, break it into manageable steps and ask for help when needed. I hope these ideas inspire you to explore collaborative projects with your students.

Meera Ramanathan is a project resource teacher at Zamorano Fine Arts Academy in San Diego, California. mramanathan@sandi.net

Creative Collaborations Across the Campus