BuildaBridge 2015 Images of Student Artwork Our ar&sts do excellent work with children-‐ in-‐transi&on. Unfortunately the ar&sts do not o9en have the luxury of a semester or a year to work with a child living in poverty. Most of the artwork to follow was produced by brave children who at the maximum had 10 classes to complete a project. While these children are in transi&on, remarkably, they show amazing crea&vity and hope.
Artology: Earth Installa>on The two major projects of the Artology 2011 summer camp were public art installa&ons – one, depicted here, at the historic Cliveden House of Germantown in which the 6th-‐8th graders showcased soil layer pain&ngs and “glass vines”. .. (con&nued on next slide). and a second at the nearby Awbury Arboretum in which the 4th -‐5th graders built a “living wall”, installing their clay flower sculptures together with living flowers on ver&cal panels. These pieces brought together principals that Artologists had been synthesizing in their science and art classes, reinforced by field study trips. Both groups got a chance to showcase their work in a public forum, and to be celebrated as contributors to the community. Before this session, I looked at soil as something you put pants in. But now I see it as nutrients for plants and animals. -‐ Autumn. Artology means a lot to me because when I go back to school, I’ll always be pu@ng up my hand in class. – Kendra.
Artology: Earth Installa>on, cont. …and a second at the nearby Awbury Arboretum in which the 4th -‐5th graders built a “living wall”, installing their clay flower sculptures together with living flowers on ver&cal panels. These pieces brought together principals that Artologists had been synthesizing in their science and art classes, reinforced by field study trips. Both groups got a chance to showcase their work in a public forum, and to be celebrated as contributors to the community.
Self-‐Portrait in Silk Screen I visited Julie Rosen’s class on Wednesday to find an incredibly structured and peaceful class going on. The li_le gentleman with the big smile had done a silk screen of himself with a hat on and he was so proud of the results. He was also one of the more disrup&ve students when I visited her prior class. I remarked that he seemed to be having a really good day and his response was, "I always have good days." Enough said. -‐ Magi Ross, BuildaBridge Community Programs Coordinator
Julie Rosen’s silk screen class in a shelter May 13, 2011
The Owl: Principled Peacemaker ARTMAKING TO PEACEMAKING is a curriculum designed to teach peacemaking skills to middle school students using the arts: crea&ve wri&ng, dance, drama, music and visual arts. The curriculum uses art as metaphor and art as demonstra&on to teach basic peacemaking, conflict resolu&on and nego&a&on skills. The final exhibi&on was a drama&c & musical portrayal of an original tale, the Tale of the Ra_lesnake in the Night”. Its animal characters embodied the five typical responses to conflict. These masks & panels, created by the visual arts class served as the “costumes” and scenery backdrops, respec&vely, for the performance. Art4Peace, 2009-‐2013. Leah Samuelson, ar&st teacher & visual arts curriculum developer (See Lesson Plan Sample).
The Good Path Northern Cheyenne children ages 8-‐12 designed and pain&ng a mural on the wall of an outdoor shower during a BuildaBridge Arts for Hope Camp in Montana 2010. The image was developed with the children by ar&st BuildaBridge Ar&st-‐on-‐Call Ben Pepka, a Guggenheim scholar who works with Na&ve Americans in Montana. The camp also included indigenous art classes in flute making and doll-‐making, all of which incorporated tradi&onal cultural mo&fs and values.
Roots-‐To-‐Trees is the theme of the 2012-‐13 visual arts & dance classes for 7-‐9 year-‐old Bhutanese children, lead by dance master teacher Julia Crawford and art therapist Celeste Wade (orange shirt). The classes are part of a two-‐ year Philadelphia Refugee Mental Health Collabora&ve project funded by the Department of Behavioral Health to serve the Philadelphia's growing Southeast Asian Refugee popula&on. BuildaBridge is a member of the collabora&ve to provide culturally relevant art experiences aimed at fostering crea&vity, hope, & adjustment to a new country while honoring & remembering their former homes & families. Here the students are midway through the class, working with symbolic representa&on art ideas and paper media (Content Standards 1 & 3, grades 5-‐8) to create tree roots that represent both new and old "lives" that nourish the growth of the tree.
Crea>ng Safe Art Spaces with & for Children in Bogota The streets of this barrio are the only places for children to play. A BuildaBridge arts camp discovered much ar&s&c talent among the 77 children (ages 3 to 15) that a_ended the August 2012 camp taught by 12 BuildaBridge Ar&sts-‐on-‐Call and 12 BuildaBridge-‐trained Colombian ar&sts. It also helped them transform a corner dumpsite in order to declare a permanent "crea&ve space" for their community. Here, the drama class for 8 year-‐olds performs a short piece in front of the just-‐created Welcome mural created by the teen visual arts class under the teaching of BuildaBridge ar&sts Stevie Neale (drama) and Kelly Finlaw (visual arts).
Before
Haiku and Tree "Dancing the disco naturally taking its way the trees feel the breeze" Children in the 6th-‐8th grade class of Artology 2012 explore environmental responsibility and reflect on our natural resources through Haiku poetry & visual art (Art Content Standards 1,3 & 6). Painted “en plein air” on the banks of Philadelphia’s Wissahickon Creek, this finished watercolor art piece by middle-‐school student Ryan, followed a study of Cezanne and was displayed at the final celebra&on & art exhibi&on of the 5-‐ week summer art, biology & environmental science program. Artologist art work has been exhibited at the pres&gious Philadelphia Museum of Art for the last four years. u.
Adapta>on Fish Coralizita and Swager Fish are the crea&ons of the 6th-‐8th grade Artologists who a_end the 2012 summer Artology Program. The curriculum theme of Fire & Ice included a study of some of earth’s coldest places: the deep sea, and also a study of the concept of adapta&ons. Students created their own sea creatures with their own special adapta&on to deep sea living. Students’ imagina&ons conjured up coral with adapted appendages to aide its preserva&on (keep people off), and a fish with bio-‐illuminescence for a_rac&ng females, speed, and powers of mind control & ability to change iden&&es to aide its survival.
Weaving “Memories” BuildaBridge Discovery Program, May 2012 – Two 6-‐8 year old girls put the finishing touches on a colorful weaving that they & their classmates completed as a “community”. They were part of the a9er-‐school program at one of BuildaBridge’s partner West Philadelphia homeless shelters. The art work pictured was a special project that BuildaBridge teaching ar&st Julie Rosen created in light of the 16 yr old boy who was killed in the area. (He lived at this shelter.) The piece was a weaving of good thoughts and memories, things that the children wanted to share and express about the tragedy. The weaving was intended for the mother of the boy. BuildaBridge teachers are trained to be flexible & child-‐centered, adap&ng, when necessary, the art lesson to meet the needs of the children vs. the teacher’s need to “finish the lesson at hand”.
Home is Where the Heart Is Houseless but not homeless. This was the theme of the 2011 Discovery program, BuildaBridge’s a9er-‐school arts program in Philadelphia’s homeless shelters. A part of the City’s larger focus on homelessness, elementary & middle school children created art that expressed what “home” meant to them. This finished paper collage piece is one student’s vision of “home”, complete with garden. It was one of many works of art by “BuildaBridge Kids” exhibited on this theme as part of the BuildaBridge invited art exhibit at City Hall in March, 2011. The exhibit was hosted by the Philadelphia Office of Arts, Culture and the Crea&ve Economy, and was on public display for two months.
Moving Mural Where the Sidewalk Ends. Chalk Pastel on Butcher Paper, Tempura Paint on Cardboard, Stop Mo&on Anima&on (.mov File) This project was created by Artology’s 2013 Session 1 Artologists (6th-‐8th graders). A9er individually responding to Where the Sidewalk Ends, a poem by Shel Silverstein, through wri&ng and drawing, students worked together to create the large scale mixed media art piece. They combined both urban and non-‐urban eco systems imagery. Students gained skills in drawing and technology. They learned about and u&lized linear and aerial perspec&ves to create the illusion of both background landscape and foreground city skyline. Buildings were inspired by a sailing trip on the New York Harbor.
Community ‘Roots’ Refugee Projects 2014. Art as metaphor is a powerful tool in sharing life lessons. Woven through the art-‐making projects, BuildaBridge ar&sts working with refugee popula&ons understand the difficult transi&on group par&cipants bring to a class session. Each mistake, and each difficulty, in the art-‐making process can become an opportunity to teach a skill or encourage posi&ve reflec&on on life's challenges. The BuildaBridge Souderton Refugee Group of Central and East African refugee popula&ons is no excep&on. Weaving is a cultural tradi&on in Africa. Though these Souderton par&cipants are not all ar&sans, there is a poten&al natural and cultural connec&on for them.
The Journey to America Refugee Projects Fall 2014. As you walk through the lobby of the Na&onali&es Services Center in Philadelphia, a beau&ful and colorful mural on the wall catches your eye. “We want to tell our story. We want our grandchildren to know our story. We want that to be preserved.” This quote echoes the wish Bhutanese refugee elders have for their children and for the Philadelphia community -‐ sharing their history and culture through this mural. A few elders also expressed that they hope their mural will be an inspira&on to other refugee communi&es in Philadelphia to do the same through art -‐ communicate their history, cultural, journey and hope for the future.
Recycled Memory Box Refugee Projects Fall 2014. Over 75% of par&cipants were new to BuildaBridge programming this year and came from over ten countries. The art-‐making experiences in a community context allow par&cipants to build bridges between their culture and those of others; communicate their stories; share experiences and challenges and most importantly, find the resiliency and hope for for a new beginning here in the U.S.
Caterpillar to BuVerfly Refugee Projects Fall 2014. Since April of 2013, the Refugee Project has served 110 refugees, 91 of whom were children. Each child a_ending BuildaBridge groups learns key life lessons through art as metaphor, in addi&on to academic, ar&s&c, social and character development skills. Refugee children are also developing their iden&ty in this new culture through art-‐ making experiences that encourage: 1) the explora&on of individual crea&ve expression; 2) collabora&ve art-‐making, sharing of cultures and dialogue; 3) the child to love and accept themselves; 4) the affirma&on of the culture from which they came and the future they envision for themselves; and 5) the ability to express themselves through art without the use of words. Both the Bhutanese and Burmese refugee children's groups explored the life cycle of bu_erflies this year as a metaphor for transforma&on. The caterpillar to the cocoon, chrysalis to the bu_erfly, and the flight of the bu_erfly...one of the most vivid and clear illustra&ons of transforma&on for children to understand and apply to their own lives.