Students first created masks and studied the art of mask making. They were asked to design a mask that had a purpose and a cultural significance, using both unique ideas of their own and design methods of a specific culture. After viewing many different kinds of masks in slide presentations and videos, students had the option to look up information on the web to find out more about a particular style of mask. Students also looked at authentic masks of various cultures displayed in the classroom, such as Japanese Noh masks, African masks, and Northwest Native American Masks. It was interesting to discover that mask making and wearing has been used for many centuries and in most societies. Students had a choice of media to use, either papier mache or paris craft, a fabric impregnated with plaster of paris. As students finished creating their masks they wrote legends or stories that described the purpose of the mask or how their mask came into being. They listened to a variety of legends about Native American Indians, African Anansi folktales, and Japanese children's stories to help give them ideas for stories.

Along with the mask project, Art students completed the Portrait Partners Project, a Challenge 2000 project based-learning lesson that was very successfully applauded last year. While some students were busy creating masks, others were re-creating a digital photo of themselves on the computer in Adobe Photo Deluxe. They drew inspiration from famous artists and their portraits such as Vincent VanGogh's   Self Portrait,  Andy Warhol's  Marilyn Monroe,  Henri Matisse's Fauvist portrait of The Woman with a Hat,  and an Ed Pascke print. The one requirement in the portrait project was for students to make a value study of the skin tones on their face. They could choose any hue but needed to paint in the light and dark values accurately. After the digital images were completed students formatted the images for web page production and Mrs. Goldman posted them on this website.

The thought process for the computer manipulation was similar to the mask. Before beginning to change their image students were asked many of the same questions that were asked in the mask project, such as: Who do you want to be? What purpose do you want to portray? What color or special effect best represents you now or in your future? How would you like others to react to your image? What feeling or emotion would you like to portray? The finished images are posted here along with poetry written by English classes.

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