Donnie Stahlke
Before beginning his 20 plus year career as a public-school teacher in Chicago and then in Asheville, Donald was an artist who exhibited throughout the United States showing work in galleries and museums.
Working in mixed media after graduating with his bachelor’s degree in ceramics with a special emphasis in art history, Donald enjoyed drawing, collage, printmaking, painting, ceramics, iron, performance, and mixed media. His background was a more traditional study of art leaning toward realism and portraiture which led him to combine techniques and materials to complete a more conceptual body of art. As a founding member of TFSI, he has been an administrator and an Exceptional Children’s teacher. Through those years he has drawn and painted in his home studio and looks forward to teaching students once again the value of creating and enjoying art.
MIDDLE SCHOOL VISUAL ART SYLLABUS
What do I want you to accomplish?
- For students to develop their skills in communicating visually and verbally through visual art.
- For students to gain confidence in talking about and creating works of art.
- For students to learn more about themselves through art.
- For students to expand their knowledge of artists and art historical trends and periods.
What are we going to do?
- Making art: In this course you will have a chance to explore topics that focus on your interests through visual art. We will use a variety of materials including pencil, paint, mixed media, clay, and other materials.
- Talking about art: In class we will discuss artwork, current and historic. We will also critique, or talk about, your finished work.
- Writing about art: Several times over the semester you will be asked to write about your work and the work of others. This writing could take the form of poetry, a persuasive piece, or an artist statement. Writing is meant to ENHANCE the art making experience and will never be used as “busy work” or punishment.
Here is just a sampling of the grade specific projects students will explore…
5th Grade:
- Personalized Sketchbook to use for the quarter
- Coat-of-Arms
- Zen Doodle
- Still Life
- Monoprints
- Ceramic Plaque
6th Grade:
- Personalized Sketchbook to use for the quarter
- Optical Art
- Color Still Life
- Tesselations
- Artist’s Trading Cards
- Ceramic Faux Bois
7th Grade:
- Personalized Sketchbook to use for the semester
- Colored Pencil Bubbles
- Graphite Still Life
- Artist’s Pennants
- Ceramic Dwelling
- Unexpected Beauty
- Accordion Poetry
- Cubism
- Charcoal Boot
8th Grade:
- Personalized Sketchbook to use for the semester
- Blind Contours
- Momento Mori (Still Life)
- A Day in the Life…
- Charcoal Drapery
- Retablo Painting
- Ceramic Monster
- Fantasy Map
Here are some cool publishing and exhibition projects offered throughout the school year:
- Banned Books-organized by the Buncombe County Public Libraries (7th and 8th grades only)
- Mountain Express Kids Issue(s)
- Young Artist’s [Themed Issue]
- The FSI Student Art Exhibition
- Name
- Donnie Stahlke
- Position
- Middle School Art
- Send email
- Other
- Before beginning his 20 plus year career as a public-school teacher in Chicago and then in Asheville, Donald was an artist who exhibited throughout the United States showing work in galleries and museums. Working in mixed media after graduating with his bachelor’s degree in ceramics with a special emphasis in art history, Donald enjoyed drawing, collage, printmaking, painting, ceramics, iron, performance, and mixed media. His background was a more traditional study of art leaning toward realism and portraiture which led him to combine techniques and materials to complete a more conceptual body of art. As a founding member of TFSI, he has been an administrator and an Exceptional Children’s teacher. Through those years he has drawn and painted in his home studio and looks forward to teaching students once again the value of creating and enjoying art.