Bugs In Winter ~ with Missoula's Natural History Center

Zootown Art students this week discovered that there are some bugs alive in winter! Where are they? Underground. Bugs have a chemical in their blood that keeps them from freezing! We searched for bugs and found so many we couldn't believe it. Did you know that ladybugs live together in the thousands to stay warm through the winter....a giant ball of ladybugs! After finding our bugs we drew them and then created print plates to do some printmaking. The final works were very vibrant and we created bug cards to give away, write on, or hang up! Thanks Montana Natural History Center for teaching us about bugs!

Bookmaking and Photography

We live at an increasing rate in a world where our relationships with computers and technology abound. It was recently pointed out that we even drive around in a computer! We often read and collect most information online. This week in Zootown classes, students are exploring the idea of bookmaking. Using leather, photography, and binding techniques students are creating a book of choice. Zootown artists will then be able to journal, write letters, draw, collect found images, write poetry and thoughts in a physical form. The hope is that the books will evolve into a mixed media sketchbook and collection of personal data.

Windpath Films --- Project Dragons

The following experimental film was produced by Dan Gainsford of Windpath Films. Windpath Films is based out of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Dan's feature film project titled, Searching for Dragons, is an in depth exploration into the human connection to the earth and our place within its nature. Aboard a GMC 2500 Rally Van with dog Moses, Dan is capturing a modern pilgrimage down the centerline of the North American continent to Panama. What is it that we as humans hold as sacred? With funding from the Canada Council for the Arts, Searching for Dragons is examining "how our North American society, with all it's speed and information, is losing touch with traditional ways of knowledge and truth. The dragons represent ancient wisdom, while the journey south is about finding silence, connecting to sacred places, and partially removing oneself from society in order to see the larger picture." Learn more about the films, art, and journey at www.windpathfilms.com.


Following a guest artist visit by filmmaker Dan Gainsford, Zootown Arts kids created dragons of their own. They learned about filmmaking. They learned about dragons. The students studied different cultures, stories, and themes. Some dragons became personal agendas that had specific powers; others were reflective of the more realistic dragonfly and rare komodo dragon living on the Indonesian Islands today. In Dan's journey, the dragons represent ancient wisdom. Zootown's dragon's represent the journey-like process of creativity and imagination. The young artists of Zootown produced beautiful dragons that lived in specific places. They created time-travel dragons, recycled object dragons, and metallic futuristic dragons...among other themes! Project Dragons was a direct result of Windpath Film's interest in community development, arts advocacy, and collaboration. Zootown Arts would like to thank Home Resources of Missoula for the donation of found objects and recycled parts that became the wonderous creations hanging in homes around the Missoula Valley. Thank you Dan, in all your versatility, for giving the gift of your time with Zootown Arts. Perhaps there is some ancient wisdom also reflected in the Zootown dragons that has or is yet to be discovered.

PROJECT DRAGONS a film
Created in collaboration between Zootown Arts & Windpath Films
Music by Lukas Ridgeway

Jackson Pollock Paintings

Jackson Pollock Action Paintings
Zootown Artists at Lewis and Clark, Paxson, and Rattlesnake Elementary studied artist Jackson Pollock last week. Pollock was an influential American painter and a major force in the abstract expressionist movement. He was married to noted abstract painter Lee Krasner. Students filled balloons with paint and then threw them at large pieces of paper. The works became beautiful explosions of color. Mats were donated to frame the works by Art Attic, Inc., Marie's Arteries, and LA Design of Missoula.

Photography and Technology in Art

Zootown profiled Missoula artist Joe Knoepfler this week at Rattlesnake Elementary School. The students created artistic photographs using an application called Photo Booth on a Macintosh Computer. Then, they transfered the photos to wood. Using paints, Zootown artists completed an abstract work that resembled the work of Knoepfler.