Art students are wrapping up the second week of glow weeks at Lisbon School.
Over the past week, students have been painting under the glow of black lights in art teacher Keri Speidel’s classroom.
It’s the second year for the unit in art classes at the schools.
“I block off all the windows and hang up black lights all around the room,” Speidel said. “Students use neon paint, oil pastels and paper to create their projects.”
Speidel has also bought neon painters tape and made lines all over the floor for kids to walk along as part of the week’s activity.
Speidel said the project was one she saw online, and thought it would be great for the students at Lisbon.
“The kids get the ability to try out multiple techniques, and have fun while doing so,” Speidel said.
Art projects have included jellyfish, lava lamps, underwater scenes, graffiti lettering and funky cupcakes.
The other part of the project Speidel noted has been the excitement students have coming to art classes every day.
“Their sense of wonder is so great,” Speidel said. “’My shoes are glowing!’ ‘Look at my teeth!’ ‘Look at my painting!’ They’re having fun and learning at the same time.”
Some of the doors the unit has opened to be explored by students are the ability to talk about phosphorescence, as teeth and fingernails can glow under black light because they contain phosphors.
“We also talk about the reasoning behind why certain substances reflect different UV wavelengths,” Speidel said.
The class previously completed a unit working with clay (more than 700 pounds of clay went into many projects), and the classes will be working on fiber arts projects next.
“We will sew and make sock puppets as part of the unit,” Speidel said. “I’m looking for clean socks and mittens to use as part of that project. We’ll also weave, tie knots and thread needles, and if we have enough time, we might explore some batik dyeing techniques.”
Donations of clean socks, mittens and items for the fiber arts projects can be made to the elementary school office.
Some of the monsters created by alternative kindergartners as part of the glow week art projects at Lisbon.