The 6th grade learned about the historical artist Alexander Calder, an American sculptor and artist most famous for inventing mobile sculptures. While a student, he worked for the National Police Gazette where, in 1925, one of his assignments was sketching the Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus. Calder became fascinated with the circus and in 1926 he began to create his Cirque Calder, a miniature circus fashioned from wire, string, rubber, cloth, and other found objects. Designed to fit into suitcases (it eventually grew to fill five), the circus was portable, and allowed Calder to hold performances on both sides of the Atlantic. He gave improvised shows, recreating the performance of a real circus.
We watched his 1927 performance at the Whiney Museum of American Art and discussed what it is like to "think in wire" (a quote from Calder). We focused on the aspect of community art - which takes a lot of initiative and positive collaboration. The circus was divided among the students and they worked both individually and together to create the circus, finding unique and incredibly creative ways to solve problems encountered. This lesson was completely in the hands of these dedicated students, whose enthusiasm and hard work truly paid off!
