. “Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up.”

-Pablo Picasso.

Big Idea: Discovery/ Voice

Inquiry Question: How is student voice amplified through the Arts?

How will the arts change a person's perception or their views?

Overview:  Our art- making was blended with the Freshman Connection Program. Over the course of 4 weeks, self-selecting incoming Freshmen and Sophomores, engaged in hands-on and physical art activities.  Some of the activities were designed to work against one's idea of what might happen in a high school hallway-our staging area. For the four- week session, the instructors would see the students for one- hour incements before seeing the next group. After three days, that group would leave, and beginning the coming week, a new group of students would enter. This ultra-quick turnaround and small group work, benefited us in that there was no time for students to 'disengage.' They were open to creating. Each day featured another activity in this pop-up 'makers lab' we had constructed at North Grand High School. You might say, that it changed their perception of what a high school hallway could/might be--even if just for a brief moment. 

Manifesto Tie-In: Our manifesto offered a great jumping-off point for us to pivot and still focus  on art-making on a quick timeline. 

Students engaged in:

1. Vision Board creation

2. Progressive storytelling through comics

3. Theater games

4. Paper airplane making and design. 

"Images are the first language." Patrick Page, Shakespearean actor

Teacher, Melanie Ruiz, shows her example of a Vision Board before students make their own!

"I do regard spinning and weaving as a necessary part of any national system of education." – Mahatma Gandhi

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