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(Click below to see the whole plan of this year's Art's ON Campus.)
 * =Arts ON Campus 2009: "Arts—Right Before Your Eyes"=

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 * Throughout the halls of Wickliffe this year have been signs reminding us to: reduce, reuse, recycle (thanks to our service learning group, Roots & Shoots). When the Cultural Arts Committee met to plan this year’s activities, there was energy about bringing in three artists. These artists recycle “stuff” that we find in our environment to create art. “Rooted” in a school-wide focus, an arts theme emerged and directed most of our Cultural Arts choices this year. The theme is: "Arts—Right Before Your Eyes" and provides a name and focus for our Arts ON Campus program this year. Underlying questions for this theme include: How are found objects used in creating art, music, and dance? Why?

During March, we used found items to create instruments. In music, we explored and applied sound science concepts to design more musically effective instruments. In art, we built and decorated the instruments. Below are just a few samples of their work.

In April, Derek Mortland shared with our K-5th graders his calm, people loving, music making self; his stories (which included his enjoyment of sports and motorcycles); his openness to answering innocent student questions regarding his disability (paralysis as the result of a 1997 motorcycle accident); his well-performed guitar playing; and his ability to improvise and compose. *For more information regarding Derek, see the bottom of this site.

The songs we created with Derek were composed and recorded in about 55 minutes per class without much opportunity to edit and revise. Derek was able to pull and channel students' enthusiasm for their environment in this short amount of time and collaboratively compose the following works, which reflect working sketches more than polished and rehearsed performances. On a different day, the class used their found sound instruments and their musical creativity to make an accompaniment for their new song.

Below are the student songs we created with Derek (lyrics page, the song without student made instruments, the song with student made instruments). Kindergarten students saw Derek one time. That day they heard how Derek got into music and used their shaker instruments (made in art) to accompany improvised guitar music.

|| Lyrics Song media type="file" key="Boyd, Derek Song.mp3" Song with Instruments media type="file" key="Boyd, Derek Song, instru.mp3" || ==**Eirich's 1st-2nd Grade Class**== Lyrics Song media type="file" key="Eirich, Derek Song.mp3" Song with Instruments media type="file" key="Eirich, Derek Song Instru.mp3" || ==**Giles' 1st-2nd Grade Class**== Lyrics Song media type="file" key="Giles, Derek Song.mp3" Song with Instruments media type="file" key="Giles, Derek Song, instru.mp3" ||
 * ==**Boyd's 1st-2nd Grade Class**==

**Gill's 1st-2nd Grade Class**
Lyrics Song media type="file" key="Gill, Derek Song.mp3" Song with Instruments media type="file" key="Gill, Derek Song Instru.mp3" ||

**Niemeyer's 1st-2nd Grade Class**
Lyrics Song media type="file" key="Niemeyer, Derek Song.mp3" Song with Instruments media type="file" key="Niemeyer, Derek Song.mp3" ||

**Schriner's 1st-2nd Grade Class**
Lyrics Song media type="file" key="Schriner, Derek Song.mp3" Song with Instruments media type="file" key="Schriner, Derek Song.mp3" ||

**Walters/Jentgen's 1st-2nd Grade Class**
Lyrics Song media type="file" key="WaltersJentgen, Derek Song.mp3" Song with Instruments media type="file" key="WaltersJentgen, Derek Song, Instru.mp3" ||

**Taps' 1st-2nd Grade Class**
Lyrics Song media type="file" key="Taps, Derek Song.mp3" Song with Instruments media type="file" key="Taps, Derek Song, Instru.mp3" ||

**Hatcher's 3rd Grade Class**
Lyrics Song media type="file" key="Hatcher, Derek Song.mp3" Song with Instruments media type="file" key="Hatcher, Derek Song, Instru.mp3" ||

**Blair's 3rd-4th Grade Class**
Lyrics Song media type="file" key="Blair, Derek Song.mp3" Song with Instruments media type="file" key="Blair, Derek Song, Instru.mp3" ||

**Miller's 3rd-4th Grade Class**
Lyrics Song media type="file" key="Miller, Derek Song.mp3" Song with Instruments media type="file" key="Miller, Derek Song, Instru.mp3" ||

**Gildersleeve's 3rd-4th Grade Class**
Lyrics Song media type="file" key="Gildersleeve, Derek Song.mp3" Song with Instruments media type="file" key="Gildersleeve, Derek Song Instru.mp3" ||

**Nybell's 3rd-4th Grade Class**
Lyrics Song media type="file" key="Nybell, Derek Song.mp3" Song with Instruments media type="file" key="Nybell, Derek Song, Instru.mp3" ||

**Oberlin's 3rd-4th Grade Class**
Lyrics Song media type="file" key="Oberlin, Derek Song.mp3" Song with Instruments media type="file" key="Oberlin, Derek Song Instrument.mp3" ||

**Sorin's 3rd-4th Grade Class**
Lyrics Song media type="file" key="Sorin, Derek Song.mp3" Song with Instruments media type="file" key="Sorin, Derek Song, Instru.mp3" ||

**Glover's 5th Grade Class**
Lyrics Song media type="file" key="Glover, Derek Song.mp3" Song with Instruments media type="file" key="Glover, Derek Song Instru.mp3" ||

**Hinkle's 5th Grade Class**
Lyrics Song media type="file" key="Hinkle, Derek Song.mp3" Song with Instruments media type="file" key="Hinkle, Derek Song, Instru.mp3" ||

**Slater/McCombs' 5th Grade Class**
Lyrics Song media type="file" key="Slater:Mc, Derek Song.mp3" Song with Instruments media type="file" key="Slater_Mc, Derek Song, Instru.mp3" ||

Please enjoy these pictures from the day Michelle Stitzlein shared her work with Wickliffe students. Her morning began with a whole school assembly where she shared stories and showed slides about her life and work as an artist and answered student questions. The rest of the day she guided our 5th graders in making their art gifts for the school. Thank you 5th graders! And thank you, Michelle!










 * Derek Mortland** has served as a teaching artist with VSA arts of Ohio’s Adaptation, Integration, and the Arts Program since 2004. In 2009, he completed 5 residencies at four different schools, including Wickliffe. Through these residencies, approximately 600 students with and without disabilities were involved in inclusive curriculum integrated arts learning experiences. As a secondary benefit of these programs at least 800 people were impacted indirectly through Derek’s efforts. Derek is a recipient of the VSA arts International Teaching Artist Fellowship for 2008/2009 and the 2009 Ohio Governor’s Arts Award for Individual Artist. He is also a 2008 Native American Music Awards Nominee for Songwriter of the Year and World Music Album of the Year with the band SOTIW. Derek continues to perform his original music on an ongoing basis and has appeared at the 2009 and 2006 VSA arts Start with the Arts Festival and the 2004 VSA arts International Arts Festival.