Wool and Wires Art Exhibition at Lace School

Wool

4th graders at Lace School learned the wet felting process to create a piece of felt material. They alternated rows of sheep wool arranging the background and then adding colors. By squirting hot soapy water on the wool and rubbing the surface (FELTING), the fibers begin binding together. Next, students do the FULLING process. This takes muscles to wrap and roll the wool a total of 400 times to complete the binding of the material. Lastly, they rinse the wool in cold water to shock the fibers together for one last bind. The entire process for one piece of material takes about 50- 60 minutes.

Wires

After completing the wool, 4th grade students sewed buttons on the felt with conductive thread. The objective was to make their art interactive with sound. The conductive thread is clipped to alligator clips which are connected to the "Makey-Makey" box so that a person can touch the clip and a button to hear the sounds created in SCRATCH, an app for "Makey-Makey". By holding the alligator clip and touching the button, you have completed the circuit which allows it to make sound!

Wool and Wires Art Exhibition

After completing the Art and STEM portions of the projects, we are ready to exhibit them to the 5th and 3rd grade classes as well as parents who wish to attend. The exhibition has taken place during the 4th grade art classes. The students set up their wool and wires to show off the sounds that they created. Touch the alligator clip and the button to complete the circuit to see and hear ART. Great job 4th grade!