Art Projects

Music Projects

ARTIST COMMENTS

Xylophone--It was great. I enjoyed making music with the xylophone and even made guitar boxes to make a band.

Sign Vinyl Mini-Quilt--I liked how colorful I made the flag. We are going to hang it in a tree in our yard this spring. 

Wet-on-Wet Watercolor--I liked how you could see so many pretty colors. 

Thank you for your creation!

--Carrington (5 1/2) 

Reviews and Comments about BAM!

GENERAL

Dennis W (author, several homemade musical instrument-building guides):

I like the simplicity of it. Attractive inviting presentation. Folks should feel like they can actually do it.  Photographs look ample and clear.

Virginia C (children's librarian):

What a project, perfect for today's school/home environments. GREAT way to keep the arts in easy production at home or at school, wherever.

Sunny R (arts educator):

This project is AWESOME! I think you all did a great job! You have many visuals, snapshots of the project in progress and I like how the projects are kept to about 2 pages each! It is thoughtful, well organized, and worked out through and through.​​​​​

Amy C (music educator):

This is fantastic! I can tell that you and Brenda put your heart and soul into this project and it really shows. It appears that you have thought of every detail and as a parent, I appreciate that you have the symbol alerting parents to those parts of the projects for which they probably need to supervise. I also like that you share the potential challenges with each project. I also love the cultural references and "sideways learning." Helpful to parents who are trying to find safe and engaging things for their kids to do during the pandemic.

BAM! Bucket of Art & Music

518 E. Kentucky St.

Louisville, KY  40203

CLAY

Ann L (grandkids Drew 5 and Bear almost 3) 

Today’s menu item was the modeling clay. Started with Drew who initially had low interest because it was “hard and my hands can’t make it work.” Once we got it softened, the experimenting was fun. We were rolling it and making snakes. I didn’t realize he was looking at the guide page and suddenly he noticed that his snake was too skinny (the one in the photo was wider) and started to get frustrated. Once I put the book away and said we were just “practicing” and didn’t have to make anything, he had a great time. First idea was to make his face. We didn’t use tools and he ended up mixing a couple of colors and shaping a bowl and making gumballs to go in it. He was delighted with himself and will be eager to do this again.

PAPER COLLAGE

Ann L (grandkids Drew 5 and Bear almost 3)

Drew wanted to use the “unusual papers.” He stuck with this a long time and was very meticulous about cutting the pieces and arranging them and was clear he would make a design, not “something.” He really liked the “glamorous” papers (his words for the black and textured and green sparkly pieces). He was insistent on putting glue stick on the red paper not on the cut piece. After several suggestions, I gave up. After he spent a long time (maybe 30 min) on this, he declared that he didn’t really like it and said he didn’t do art at school. Then he grinned. 

Bear mostly wanted to cut, and preferred my kid-sized pinking shears, but some of the papers were hard for him so we started tearing.  He loved the glue stick, but it was the mastery of opening it and making the “pop” sound that was more fun than actual gluing.   

BULL ROARER

Ann L (grandkids Drew 5 and Bear almost 3) 

I had to do knots several times before we got it right.  Drew was really happy with the results and quickly discovered that, “the twistier the string, the better the noise.” He did the loop initially on his hand as the pix showed, but eventually, he decided to just use his thumb. Was eager to show me each time how twisted it was. He stuck with it a good while (on and off for the last hour we were outside) and was quick to show mom when she arrived.  Bear was just frustrated and quickly put it aside and moved on to “mowing my driveway” with his toy mower.  He was thrilled with the assembly process though.

MUSIC

Xylophone

Shakers/Extra Percussion

ART

Modeling Clay

Bucket Hand Drum

Chimes

Watercolor Projects

Tissue Paper Stained Glass

Sign Vinyl

Mini-Quilt

Brenda Wirth and Gregory Acker are married and live in Louisville, Kentucky. Abundant thanks to our many teachers, colleagues, family and friends who have helped us on our musical and artistic journeys!

Brenda—I grew up in a household of artists! My mother painted, my father sang opera, and my older sister and brother played guitar, drew, and painted. My family gave me the artistic support I needed—plenty of art supplies and lots of unstructured time. We all enjoyed the outdoors, and to us, a “family vacation” meant going to the forest or a nearby park. To combine my love of nature and art, I liked to draw perched in a treehouse we built. By 2nd grade, if anyone asked, I told them I was going to be an artist!

I’ve always loved observing the natural world around me—trees, plants, sky, water, and rocks—and responding to it with my art. I went on to study art in college and grad school (University of Louisville, Kansas City Art Institute, Indiana University), where I focused on painting, but also spent time drawing, printmaking, and taking photographs.

As a professional artist, I’ve designed murals and developed community art projects, and I show my work in local and regional galleries. As an art teacher, I encourage my students (of all ages!) to create art that is meaningful to them, and to use a wide variety of materials and art-making techniques to express themselves. I’m currently the preschool art specialist  at Highland Presbyterian Weekday School.

© 2022 bucketartmusic.com

Tissue-Paper Stained Glass

Andrew (5 yrs) and TJ (2.5 yrs) in Tucson, AZ

Paper Collage in process

Drew L (5 yrs)