Popular Holiday Themed Bulletin Boards for May

May has a lot of great holidays, and these bulletin board ideas are perfect for popular May holidays. This article will discuss how to create popular holiday themed bulletin boards for the month of May.

May Day

On May 1^st we celebrate May Day; this holiday marks the beginning of spring, and it is great for creating bulletin boards. For this idea you will need green butcher paper, blue butcher paper, spring themed coloring pages, crayons, scissors, glue, and yellow construction paper.

Provide students with the coloring pages, crayons, and scissors. Let the students color the popular spring themed sheets. While they are doing their part, you should get the bulletin board ready. Do this by covering the top half with blue butcher paper and the bottom with green butcher paper.

Then cut a large circle out of yellow construction paper. Also cut out several long narrow triangles. Glue the triangles to the circle and add the sun to your bulletin board. After the students have cut out the spring inspired images add them to the bulletin board in celebration of May Day and spring.

Cinco de Mayo

May 5^th is Cinco de Mayo, and this holiday allows for festive bulletin boards. For this bulletin board idea you will need butcher paper tissue paper, glue, scissors, crayons, glitter, and sombrero themed coloring pages. Provide students with the coloring pages and let them color the sombrero however they like. Then help them write their name with glue along the band or the brim of the sombrero. Cover the glue with glitter and allow to dry.

While the hats dry, create flowers using the tissue paper. Start by helping the kids cut out several circles from the tissue paper. Then place the circles on top of each other and glue the layers together. When the flowers and hats are dried attach them to the bulletin board. The flowers make a lovely border but they can also be placed anywhere on the board for a pretty look.

These popular holidays provide you with bulletin boards that will really standout. Students enjoy creating these May themed ideas, and it is good way to teach students about popular holidays in the Month of May.

The Great Artists of the Romantic Movement

 

One of my favorite art movements is Romanticism. This type of art flourished from 1800-1840, and it was inspired by the "dark ages" where "barbarianism, superstition," "gothick, sublime", and "miracles" were popular culture (Gardner, 2001. p.864). Romanticism started in "1770", and it is still alive today; it has even inspired the soundtrack to the epic film Star Wars (Brians, 1998).

This movement was based on the idea that all that was artificial and false should be banned and honest emotion should prevail. This movement was so unique and interesting because it was about rebelling against the common values of society. Imagination and emotion was revered over reasoning and rules in this art movement. Individualism and creativity were highly valued during this time in art(Gardener, 2001). The heart was revered over the mind, and many preconceived ideas on art and beauty were thrown to the wind. It is interesting to note that Neoclassicism was happening before Romanticism, and it was a type of art based on rules and modeled after art from the Renaissance. It is intriguing to see the pattern of art movements, and I realize that the movement based on reason led to a movement based on imagination.

William Blake was an artist of the Romantic Movement that was appealing to me. He was said to be "inspired by dreams," and his engraving titled Ancient of Days is beautiful and inspiring (Gardener, 2001, p. 865). The dramatic use of light and dark in the contrast of the bright yellows and orange of the sky and sun opposed to the dark brown and black of the background and landscape worked very well and added strong emotion to the piece. I also enjoyed the linear aspects of the light and stance of the figure. This piece embodied the Romantic style with its use of emotion and passion.

Henry Fuseli is another great artist from the Romanticism period. His painting The Nightmare embodies the work of the Romantic Movement. This painting depicts a woman sleeping or possibly dead with a demon crouched on top of her smiling; in this picture there is also a dark spirit of a horse or similar creature lingering in the shadows (Gardener, 2001). This painting suggests the idea of dreaming and the darkness of nightmares. Many of Fuseli's paintings portray gargoyles and creatures of the night, and they have a dark almost menacing theme to them.

The Romantic Movement was an amazing and very inspiring movement in art. The raw use of imagery and emotion combined to leave the viewer in awe and wonderment. I love the humor and clever themes. Romanticism was a great time for art, and it is important to know and appreciate the work of many of the artists of this time.

References:
Brians, P. (1998). Romanticism. Retrieved June 9, 2009, Web site: http://www.wsu.edu/~brians/hum_303/romanticism.html

Gardner, H. (2001). Gardner's art through the ages. Orlando, FL: Harcourt College Publishers.