Lady Liberty Gets A Make-Over: Collage Art Lesson

I got this lesson idea from the summer '07 issue of Arts and Activities Magazine. Writer/Art teacher Debra Sweeney created a great project that tied American history with personal history. Her lesson involved researching family trees but I decided to stick with the pure art possibilities of this amazing monument.
First step: draw Lady Liberty in black marker. Start with the letter "U" for the face, add in the crown, points, neck, shoulders and finally face and hair. Before the class, I took the classified section of a newspaper and sprayed it with a watercolor solution (green and black liquid watercolor diluted in water). This is best done outside unless you want green carpet or floors.
Using a light box (which is really neat), the students traced their liberty faces onto the green paper. They included the face, neck and shoulders only. Then the newspaper face is glued over the original drawing.

The students were instructed to think of scenes that symbolize America or New York City. Broadway, fireworks, American Flag, skyline, etc. The different ideas were wonderful.
Using markers (prismacolor markers are the best) the students colored in any section they wished. Some kids used oil pastel with watercolor washes, tempera paints and even translucent paper to create amazing affects for their background.