Jane Ingram Allen

Arts in Education Programs - Installation Art and Papermaking

Projects in the Schools

For additional information follow these links.
Installations Available for Exhibition in Schools, 2002-2003
Arts in Edcuation

Jane is offering arts in education programs in the schools on installation art and papermaking. During the 2002-03 school year she is working with the Capital Region Center for Arts in Education, Albany, NY, as a presenting visual artist. This program with CRC includes an installation of Jane's work in the schools and interactive presentations in the exhibition to school classes. For more information and to register for a presentation in your school, call the Center at 518-442-4240 or e mail to crcaie@albany.edu

Jane is presenting her installation work "The Map Room" for the CRC program at the following schools in the New York State Capital Region during 2002 and 2003:
Nov. 18 - Slingerlands Elementary School
Nov. 19 - Glenmont Elementary School
Nov. 20 - Clarksville Elementary School
Nov. 21 - Hamagrael Elementary School
Nov. 22 - St. Catherine's Center for Children
Jan., 13 & 17 - Ichibod Crane School District at Northpointe Cultural Center, Kinderhook, NY
Mar. 26 & 28 - Ichibod Crane School District at Northpointe Cultural Center, Kinderhook, NY
Mar. 17-25 - Rennselaer Junior-Senior High School, Rennselaer, NY (special extended residency)

Jane is also offering programs in the schools through the New York State BOCES arts in education directory. These programs include both one-day and 5-day residencies in the schools and are approved for BOCES funding. To inquire about papermaking and installation art residency programs in your school please contact Jane at info@janeingramallen.com

During Spring 2003 Jane will be an artist in residence at the following schools:
Schenectady High School of the Arts, Schenectady, NY Mar. 31 - Apr. 9
Yates Magnet School (elementary), Schenectady, NY, May 6-15

During the 2003-04 school year Jane will be working with the McCallum Theatre Institute, Aesthetic Education Program in Palm Desert, CA to present her programs on installation art in Palm Desert area schools. Visit the website at www.mccallumtheatre.com for more information about this Institute's programs.

Work with Aesthetic Education Institutes as a Presenting Artist: Arts in Education Institute, Utica, NY, 1999-2000 Aesthetic Education Institute, Rochester, NY, 2000-2001 Southern Tier Institute for Arts in Education, Binghamton, NY, 2000-2001.
Clinton Schools, Clinton, NY, 5-day residency - I exhibited my artwork in the schools and worked with students to create two collaborative installations with components made by each student. The theme was the scientific elements in Grade 5, and the Middle East with the 6th grades. The students made paper for two days, constructed for two days and installed on the final day. An opening reception was held in the evening for parents and friends. The 5th grade made an installation in a hallway near the elevator, and the sixth grade installation was made in the classroom. They had a very large classroom that was shared by both sixth grades. The 5th grade installation was called "Web of Molecules" with each student designing a molecule and then joining them all together in a suspended installation. I installed my work "Ganglia" on the stage in the cafeteria of the Elementary School, and my work "Maps" in the Middle School Library to go along with the themes the teachers and I had worked out with the students.

The 6th grade installation called "Piece of the Middle East" contained three pyramids made of handmade paper patchworked together with each student making symbols of the Middle East on his part of the sides of the pyramids. We also made a Nile river of blue cellophane, and papyrus reeds with handmade paper leaves attached to green painted dowel rods. We even had a handmade paper sphynx and special lighting in amber and red. The floor was covered with brown wrapping paper that had sand sprinkled over glue to give a desert look.

West Winfield Elementary, West Winfield, NY, 1 day papermaking workshop and installation - grades 4 and 5. I installed my "Bird Watching" installation in the school foyer and hallway by the art room. I worked with the children to make handmade paper for an installation that they created with another teaching artist in 4 subsequent days. The theme was "Spring," and students made flowers, birds, butterflies and insects with the handmade paper they had created. The collaborative art installation with each student contributing a part was installed in a public space at the school.

Ilion Elementary School, Ilion, NY, 5 day residency - I worked with students in grades 1, 2 and 6 to make paper and create their own collaborative installation. The theme for the children's installation was outer space and the planets. I installed my work "In the Clouds" on the stage in the cafeteria and made presentations to the children in the exhibition. The children's installation was installed in the large classroom used for grades one and two. We made the paper for the installation, and each student designed a planet, star, comet, asteroid, etc. for the outer space installation. We used black plastic with holes punched in it to create star patterns when the light shined through it as the backdrop for the installation. We suspended the handmade paper space objects in the space using clear fishing line and used special lighting to give an outer space effect. The installation remained on view in the classroom for several weeks and was presented at a parents' night at the school.

Martin Luther King, Jr., Elementary School, Utica, NY, 5 day residency. I installed my "Bird Watching" installation in the school foyer and removed my work on the 5th day when the children's work was ready to install in this same space. The theme for the children's installation was the rainforest which they had been studying in their social science curriculum. I worked with two special education classes (grades 1 & 2), one first grade, one 3rd grade and one 5th grade class. Children learned to make handmade paper and use it for the installation. Each child created an object for the rainforest-many leaves, flowers, birds, butterflies, bugs, snakes, etc. The installation was installed on the last day of my residency with representatives from each class working with me. We also used painted carpet tubes for tree trunks and real branches stuck into the carpet tubes to attach the handmade paper objects the children had made. Some leaves and objects hung from the ceiling creating a rainforest effect. The installation had a handmade paper sign with the title "The Rainforest" and each child artist's signature on it. The installation remained on view in the school foyer.

Jefferson School, Utica, NY, 1 day papermaking workshop and installation art presentation. I installed my "Bird Watching" installation in the school foyer hanging from the ceiling and perching on cabinets. I conducted papermaking workshops with the elementary age students, and the students produced handmade paper that they used to make their own installation art. The students worked with a teaching artist for four other days to create their own installation for a public space at the school. My birds remained at the school for two weeks until the children's installation was ready to go up.

The Children's School, Rochester, NY, 1 day installation art presentation. I installed my "Clouds" and a few "Birds" in the school library hanging them in the space available. I arrived early in the morning before school to begin my installation. The first class of kindergarten students came in at 9:15 while I was still putting up some of the clouds. They got to see how the installation went up and work with me on final placements. They helped me put out the birds on windowsills and cabinets in the library and advised me as I hung a few birds from the ceiling. Other classes came in each period during the day to see the installation. I talked with each group for about 45 minutes about my work, ideas and installation art and they asked me many questions. I also demonstrated how to make the armature for a bird from a coat hanger and talked about how paper is made. I took down the installation at the end of the school day. The students worked with a teaching artist before and after my visit to make their own installation art project.

McGuinness Intermediate School, Endicott, NY, 1 day installation art presentation. I installed "The Map Room" in the front foyer of the school before school classes began. I made presentations about my work to classes in grades 5 and 6 throughout the school day. The students interacted with me in the installation and asked questions about the work. I talked with them about the concept of mapping and demonstrated my methods and techniques. I also talked with them about abstraction and the art elements of color, shape, line and texture as well as ideas and concepts about installation art. The students worked with a teaching artist before and after my visit to the school to create their own installation art project. My installation remained on view for one week at the school, and one of the teachers took it down and returned the work to me before my next presentation in another Binghamton area school.

Greene Primary and Intermediate Schools, Greene, NY, 1 day installation art presentations. I installed "The Map Room" in the Intermediate School multi-purpose room before classes began. I made presentations to five classes in grades 3, 4 and 5. The next day I installed "Bird Watching" in the Primary School multi-purpose room and made interactive presentations to the students in grades K-2 at that school. My installations remained on view at the schools for one week. Students are planning to make their own installations working with the teaching artists from the Southern Tier Institute.

Work in Schools with Other Organizations

New York Mills Schools, New York Mills, NY, 5-day residency, Spring 1998 - I exhibited some of my birds in the school foyer and led students in creating their own installation in the school's new outdoor classroom space. The theme for the children's installation was "Spring" with birds, butterflies and bugs. I worked with art classes in grades 7-12 to make handmade paper and construct birds, butterflies and bugs for a collaborative public art installation. During the lunch hour I also worked at a table in the hallway with students in all grades-K-12 to create components for the installation. Acrylic paints were used on the handmade paper, and wire was used as the armature. Polyurethane was applied to the finished objects for outdoor installation. This artist-in-residence project was sponsored independently by the school's PTA.

Philadelphia area schools, 2-day workshop, Spring 2001 - I was an artist in residence at the Schuylkill Center for Environmental Education, Philadelphia, PA, through a grant from the Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation Artists As Catalyst program. One project I worked on during my three-month residency involved school children in creating a collaborative environmental art installation with handmade paper. I worked with 4th grade students from Heston Elementary, 9th grade students from Lankenau Motivation (alternative public high school) and junior high school students from Presbyterian Children's Village. I taught the children to make paper from plant fibers and recycled materials, and we created an 18-foot diameter "Earth Quilt/Earth Garden" installation for the Center's Earth Day celebration. Each student made a part of the large handmade paper quilt representing the earth painted with food coloring. The handmade paper quilt acted as a mulch cover for a bed of wildflower seeds planted under it in the appropriate colors. At the end of summer, the quilt made a living, blooming image of the earth.

Updated 7-5-02