Found Art Project

I did my found art project on the evolution of women's rights. I wanted to show how women have gained more rights in the United States from the 1970's to the 1990's.

My group decided to use real artifacts to make the viewer feel like they were in that time period and facing the same struggles of women in the 1970's-1990's. We used a lot of quotations to show how women felt and pictures of women who were influential to the women's rights movement. One item we used was a point shoe to show that women were given the right to play sports because of Title IX. We also used covers of CD's and movies to show that women gained their rights to be a part of the entertainment industry.

We got our items by equally assigning the items we wanted to use to every member of our group. We used household items and quotations and pictures from the internet.

If I were to do this project again, I would have brought more three-dimensional items to make our project more interesting. Other than that, I would not have done anything else differently.

To next year's class, I would reccomend that they start in advance and make sure that everyone is on the same page about the project. I would also reccommend that the group meetings held outside of class included everyone in the group so that the work can get done faster. I really enjoyed this project, and I think it is a good substitute for a final exam.

We Are...The Evolution of Women

My group chose to create a box illustrating the evolution of women and their rights through the ages. Women have played a huge role in our world, but they are rarely recognized as heroic figures. So, we felt it was appropriate to stress the importance of the roles women have played.

We involved many factors that were extremely important to this theme. We used items pertaining to the feminist movement as well as specific rights such as abortion laws and Title IX. Some examples include a coat hanger to resemble abortion rights, because women used to be forced to self-abort their babies with coat hangers; we also used a rocket ship, which represented the first women in space, Sally Ride. Other items we used were sports equipment such as a soccer ball and basketball to show the importance of women involvement in sports.

To decide which items would be most fitting for our project, we brainstormed for a few days. We established items that first were around the house, because these were most easily accessible. Then, we were able to ask neighbors or friends for various items as well. All the tangible items we used are found in common places and did not cost our group any money.

There really is nothing I would do differently. My group did a fantastic job putting the items together, and tying in each element. Also, our brainstorming and teamwork was impecable.

The most important piece of advice I would give to classes that would do this project next year is to always be on time with layouts and item gathering. Falling behind during this project would be extrememely stressful and it is important to have all or most items the day that Ms. Sanderson allows an entire period for work. If your efficient enough, there is little work at home besides gathering the items. Also, good luck!

-Shelly