The Walking Gallery

I don't know about you all, but this time of the year I am just not putting Art up in the hallways anymore. This past week I had our annual Art Show and to prepare for that I took down ALL the work I had so nicely displayed in the hallway. It usually takes me about three full hours to change out a display and many more before and after that tagging and passing back work. With only a few weeks left of school I just didn't have the heart to put up the work again to just take it down again in a few days. However, as an art teacher I have this NEED to show off all the talent my kiddos have so I've come up with the perfect idea! I am now getting excited to present "The Walking Gallery"! My students are in the budding stag of this project so this post will need a follow-up, but I was just too excited to share and hopefully get some of you thinking of creative ways to keep displaying when you just don't have the time or energy.

Here's the example I made for my kiddos. An ode to my lovely husband and his rocking (i'll be it exaggerated) beard.

I had so much fun with the first one I decided to make another one with my kiddos. Inspired by the design I used on the cover of the Art Show program. In progress....

Shirts a plenty, in the making!

This lovely shirt is showing some very promising shading techniques. My kiddos rock!

For those of you interested in trying "The Walking Gallery", the process is very simple. Start with a shirt (white is definitely the easiest, but color works too!) and some good old fashioned acrylic paint. Yes you can paint on a shirt with acrylic! The trick is to use a little bit of water or gel medium in your paint to allow it to spread easily. Once your creation is complete, heat set it (I use the dryer or iron) for about 20 min (in dryer) or a couple of passes with the iron. Wash inside out as often as you remember :). The shirt color last for a good amount of time. It's definitely not screen printing, but after time it gets a really great vintage quality. I still have one I made in high school! Also sharpie works great for adding some last minute details. Enjoy!