Ever hear students ask, “When are we ever going to use this?” This hands-on, arts-integrated workshop transforms the humble ruler from a classroom necessity into a powerful tool for architectural design. Students put measurement concepts into immediate action by drafting their own custom cityscapes, seamlessly blending precision math with creative visual art. Students will master real-world ruler skills, geometric precision, and spatial reasoning through architectural drafting, explore the impact of warm and cool color palettes to transform flat drawings into dynamic, expressive urban environments, and balance structural guidelines with creative choice as students engineer and style their own ideal city skylines. This session delivers an ideal balance of rigor and creative play. It directly reinforces STEM/math standards while giving students full artistic ownership of their work—leaving them with a striking portfolio piece and a clear answer to why math matters in the real world.
TEACHING ARTIST SESSION
Cityscapes (3-8)
Jan Fontenot
Jan Fontenot is an artist who lives in the Grand Prairie area and also teaches part time at a local high school. She loves to get children involved in all types of art making. Jan has a special passion for bringing art and imaginative opportunities to children who would not otherwise have the opportunity or resources to be creators.
