And Finally...A Work of Art is Born.

 (Click on a photo to see a larger image.)

After all the crafting sessions were done, I was left with the task of bringing all the materials together into a cohesive display for the school's expo. Here's a photo of the completed display and, as you can tell, it's pretty impressive. The leaves, the flowers, the title board -- everything the students made with me-- have all been incorporated into the final design. The design follows the general outline I created graphically very closely but it was still not a piece of cake. The photos I took of the students at work with the seniors had to be reprinted at a smaller size in order for them to fit without overwhelming the display and to allow room for the needlework headbands and bracelets and some student writing samples. I was even able to incorporate some butterflies the students decorated. I had given them foam butterflies and a full color brochure containing images of Kenya's butterflies to use as a source of inspiration. You can see the butterflies in the four corners of the display as well as fluttering across a sunset sky and up across a wall.


The installation of the display took all day -- not because there was so much to do ( it was all done at home) --  but because I couldn't get the maintenance crew to spare five minutes and a ladder to drive two nails. I waited three and a half hours until finally the teacher's husband who had come to lend his support decided to take matters into his own hands and scared up two nails, a hammer and a ladder. It took five minutes to mount and three and a half hours to wait for the proper materials. There's gotta be a better way.


The expo is a large, annual event that involves the entire school and every student in it. I'll post photos of the expo in a future post.



Ballo ergo sum
- Gitana, the Creative Diva
Design team member for About Art Accents

Crafting with Students Continues...

 (Click on photo to see a larger image.)

After the successful crafting event that took place between the PS 119 students and my crafters at the senior center a couple of weeks ago, JoAnne Biswakarma, the center director, and I visited the students in their classroom to continue working on the display materials. This time the groups were divided a little differently. The needlepointers continued working on their unfinished plastic canvas projects while I handled the rest of the class...nearly twenty 9 year olds...to complete the title board that would appear over the finished display. Actually we worked on two title boards so I would have enough work for all the children to participate. Because there were so many diverse parts to the creation of this board, I was able to have the kids participate in things that they liked to do or, as was the case at least a few times, not give them something that they didn't like to do. There was one young man who was determined not to have to cut anything with a scissor so I was able to have him file notches with a needle file into skewers that would eventually become spear handles .

These same children, who were so well behaved when at the senior center, were little hellions in their own environment. The boys were particularly rambunctious. I had my hands full keeping them occupied and on task but somehow I managed to complete everything I set out to accomplish within the time allotted. In spite of the noise and the running around, the end result was very pleasing. The kids managed to finish their respective tasks and bring it all together to complete some pretty impressive title boards.

Now that they have created all these wonderful items, it is up to me to bring them all together into a display that will make them proud. Although it isn't finished yet, the display is shaping up nicely. All the elements the students created...the flowers, the leaves, the title board...are coming together beautifully. The title board at the top is a representation of the flag of Kenya complete with stripes and Maasai shields. The shields and letters are popped up from the background, giving them a three dimensional look. Even the title board itself is raised away from the display board so it appears to float above it. The leaves and flowers are also three dimensional,  having been strategically folded to give them a more realistic look and  attached in such a way as to have parts of them stand away from the board. Now to add some photos, a little text, some other doohickeys and VOILA! One magnificent display coming up.


Ballo ergo sum
- Gitana, the Creative Diva
Design team member for About Art Accents

Intergenerational Crafting

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I was recently awarded a small grant to continue the work I have been doing at the senior center. One of the requirements of the grant is that the project must in someway positively impact the community. In my application proposal, I stated that I would arrange to have the work created by the seniors displayed at a local school as fulfillment of my community outreach requirement. After I was given the grant I began to think about how to get a school to turn over some display space for my senior projects. It was then that I realized that the best way to get a school to cooperate was to get its students involved in the crafting. Once there was a vested interest in displaying works created by its own students, I was sure I would be able to get some display space somewhere in a school.

As luck would have it, the universe conspired in my favor. Last year a group of elementary school students had visited the senior center so I contacted that teacher to see if she would once again be interested in having her students interact with the seniors. That's when I hit pay dirt. Not only was she interested but it turned out that her class was preparing to create display materials for a school-wide global studies expo in June. My original idea, which was simply to have seniors and school kids create some flowers together, grew into an interdisciplinary learning experience that directly tied into their global studies curriculum. The class was studying various aspects of Kenya which happens to be a large floral exporter . A little research revealed that chrysanthemums are among the most popular flowers exported from Kenya and, as it turns out, the flowers I had intended for the group to create looked like stylized chrysanthemums. I dug a little deeper and found some more Kenya-related facts that I could build upon for the project. On the day the students arrived, they split up among three areas to create flowers, tropical leaves and needlepoint work that imitated Maasai beadwork. The seniors who worked with the students helped them master the finer points of creating flowers while the other students worked on different projects. Good thing I had them to help out because I was jumping around to three different tables giving directions and taking photographs. The center director, JoAnne Biswakarma, was directing a fourth table of students engaged in the plastic canvas needlepoint.

Above you see a photo of the flowers and leaves the students were able to complete in the short time they were at the center. (Because of their age and to protect their privacy, I can't show you photos of the students themselves showing off their work.) I will soon visit the students in their classroom so they can complete the needlepoint and to work on more elements of the final display that will be on display the week of June 13th. I'll be sure to photograph and post photos of the completed display once it has been mounted.


Ballo ergo sum
- Gitana, the Creative Diva
Design team member for About Art Accents