Art for Social Change
"I definitely believe that art is the best way to produce social change."
— Pedro Reyes, Mexican visual artist
Grade 4.mp4Film narrator: Whitney N.
Photos by: Rylan C.
Interviews by: Henry K., Patrick B., and Landon P.
Videos by: Cilla Kay B.
Grade 4 students brought poetry and activism to life through mural making. Students were inspired by local artist, Fabián Rey, to design outdoor murals for St. Andrew’s that reflect social justice and sustainability messages. Rey is the artist who was commissioned to hand paint the bombo drum that is used to cheer on the crowd at Austin FC games and is now working on a mural at Q2 stadium. He first visited the class of 2030 as a guest speaker on December 14, 2021, where he shared his process as a muralist and how he responded when a client wanted the mural Rey showed to include only English, rather than both English and Spanish text.
The artist’s support on Mural Painting Day, February 1, 2022, was the culmination of a Language Arts and Social Studies unit where students analyzed poetry and readings by social activists such as the poets Richard Blanco, whom former President Obama named the fifth inaugural poet, Francisco Alarcón, and Carlos Cumpián, who met with the fourth grade class via Zoom on November 29, 2021. Cumpián explained how he became interested in writing poetry and read a poem from his book, Latino Rainbow, in which he writes about social activists such as Joan Baez and César Chavez.
Overall, the teachers deemed the unit a success!
