Parent Class
There were many hiccups in getting things going with Parent Class: scheduling issues, a late start, missing supplies, inconsistent classroom locations. Nevertheless, our class pushed on, gathering in whatever classroom we could find. Mr. Knowbody and Mr. Jordan took two different approaches, following their own strengths and sharing them with the class.
Mr. Jordan's Class:
For our class, we were planning on continuing the work we had been doing during the school year - screen printing a collective design depicting South Shore on tote bags. This, however became impossible. Our classroom has been converted into a storage room for janitors and we didn't have access to our materials. We used this as an opportunity to pivot. During our first meeting, our class walked around the neighborhood, researching the identity of the blocks surrounding New Sullivan to inform more specific elements of our tote bag designs. Parents told Jordan stories and memories. Jordan shared a new perspective as an outsider. It was the first time our class expanded beyond the classroom.
Our class stopped to look at the artwork installed on a building across from St. Michael Church on South Shore and 83rd. We were astounded by how similar the aesthetic was to what we had been making. The parents had never stopped to look at the artwork, because it was in between destinations.
We discussed the materials used to make the works - reused metal, paper, paint, etc. One of our next steps in the upcoming school year is to find the artist who made these.
St. Michael Church.
We talked about the supremely bizarre mural on the dentist office that some of the parents used to take their kids to. The neighborhood presented us with a lot of opportunities to reflect on art.
During another class, Mr. Jordan has just been teaching New Sullivan students about how layers work in digital art making programs. Since our Parent Class didn't have access to computers to try out the programs, we decided to try creating compositions using layers of transparency papers. Our class was spent improvising and rearranging physical "digital" layers.
Parents were curious about what New Sullivan students were doing, so we took any opportunities we could to engage with student activities. On one day, we were able to visit the 3D printer and observe it in process, as it knit a student's work from the ground up . We decided that 3D printing was a medium we'd like to work in during this upcoming year.
Checking out the 3D printer in action.
On a day when Jordan brought his record player in for students, our class spent time listening to records while learning the art-making game, "Visual Telephone". It was a hit! It was a great opportunity for everyone in the class to use their individual strengths to help each other as different people struggled with different parts of the game. Each round ended in uproarious and supportive laughter as we shared the results of the round.
On our last day, Jordan realized that the Smart Board in the student classroom had saved every tab opened during the summer semester, so he showed all the parents each of the computer programs that students had used. Parents took photos of websites/ programs they were interested in and got to try their hand at some more of the things New Sullivan students had been working on all year.