SECOND GRADERS STUDY CULTURAL MEMORIES AS PRESERVED IN TRADITIONAL ART TECHNIQUES - THE AMERICAS

During the 2008-09 school year, the second grade students in Mr. Mayhew's class pursued a year-long study as to the ways that cultures around the world preserve their collective memories through traditional art forms. Led by Art Parent Kelly Costa, the students began the year with sculpting topographical maps of the seven continents from baker's clay.



From there, our globe trotting second graders studied various art forms of the Americas, beginning with the creation of a nine foot Totem Pole in the style of the Pacific Northwest Native Americans. The students learned how Northwestern indigenous groups created totem poles to preserve memory and represent mythic beings that were important to their community. Students listened to a story describing the process, sketched their ideas based on imagery from actual poles, and broke into pairs to draw their own mythical image on their 10” deep section of pole. The sections (plus protrusions such as wings and beaks) were mounted on a 12” diameter / 9 foot tall tube that enjoyed prominent display in the hallway throughout the year!




Students also created traditional Western Plains Native American"bone" breastplates with hand made paper beads, and decorated with leather, feathers and other traditional embellishments. The kids especially loved that this project was wearable art!





Last stop in the Americas was a lesson in quilt making . . . The story of the American quilt is the story of America itself, stitching together the history, hopes and heartaches of a growing nation. From colonial to pioneer quilts, Civil War to Victorian crazy quilts, Depression-era quilts to quilts of the present day, this American craft speaks volumes about the changing world around us and the memories of the lives of the quilt makers who have pieced it together. Made over the centuries by African American, Amish, Hawaiian, Hmong, and Native American cultures, quilts are visual representations of cultural identity. The time intensive process of making quilts has connected people one to another.

Room 103 students used needles, embroidery thread and scraps of fabric to create their own history quilt squares; drawing, cutting, and sewing onto a felt base an image of a memory deeply important to them.




Next stop on our second grade world tour . . . ASIA! Read on!