Residencies
INTERARTS Residencies
The Art of Invention
Through hands-on engineering and architectural projects, students become acquainted with the trials, errors and successes of the creative process. The work of Leonardo da Vinci, quintessential artist-inventor, is introduced. A discussion of weight, load and force leads student teams to designing and building a weight-bearing tower using only paper and tape. After a review of simple machines (lever and fulcrum, gear, wheel and axle, incline plane and pulley), teams of students invent and design very complicated Rube Goldberg-type machines to perform a simple task. Students design and operate "machines" that use their own bodies and basic structural principles to execute mechanical functions. A combination of the principles of design and engineering are implemented as groups design, construct and test devices meant to safely cushion an egg dropped from a height of six feet. Materials are limited to newsprint and six inches of tape.
Goal
To demonstrate the relationships and similarities between artist and inventor, how the thinking process for both is a combination of intellect, intuition and experience, and trial and error.
Concepts to be Learned
Architecture/triangulation; simple machines and sources of power; organic geometry; and engineering.
Integrated Arts Activities
Literary Arts: Written description of a thought process: detailed instructions for the use of a new invention; and, extensive vocabulary development.
Visual Arts/Design : 2-dimensional into 3 dimensional: drawing an idea on paper, making the idea into a 3-dimensional object.
Performing Arts : Choreographing a dance based on organic geometry.
Materials Used
A combination of art supplies and "found" objects which may include: paints, wire, string, scissors, white glue, pencils, construction paper, paper plates, foil "take-out" tins, boxes, eggs, rubber cement, newspaper, oak tag, and dowels.
Folk Art of the Americas
The INTERARTS Folk Arts of the Americas residency is comprised of a series of workshops that are directly drawn from the cultures of the peoples of the Americas. The INTERARTS faculty, whose own backgrounds include Native American, Latino, Caribbean, African, Brazilian and Celtic heritage, share their own experiences and traditions with the students. The concepts covered in this residency can be directly related to the social studies classroom curriculum. Topics covered include: United States - East Coast: Students learn about the history and purpose of hex signs seen on the barns of the Amish. Additionally, through demonstration and participation, they learn how square dancing evolved from English and Irish county dancing.
United States - Moving West: As students hear and create legends and tall tales, they understand how the need for larger-than-life folk heroes in a larger-than-life landscape affected a European storytelling tradition. They become aware of the commonalties among mythic figures in different cultures.
Canada: Totem poles, which we tend to view as decoration, had religious significance for their creators. Students learn why and how this indigenous art form was nearly wiped out.
The Caribbean and South America: Students are introduced to drums used as "newspapers" for both entertainment and religious purposes. They learn the differences in drums and drumming from one culture to another, and how the wood and skins used are based on what is indigenous to each area. Students are encouraged to look into their own backgrounds and cultures and bring to the class their families' own artifacts, stories, songs, dances and rituals.
Culminating activity
Students create and present "family books" that relate to where their families came from and what they brought with them.
Goals
To demonstrate how the history, geography and social structure of a culture is influenced by, and in turn, influences the arts of a people.
Concepts to be Learned
That geographical, historical, social and cultural influences and traditions have generated artistic accomplishments throughout the ages; that our culture says something about who we are; and, that "forbidden" cultures, languages and traditions can be preserved through many different art forms.
Integrated Arts Activities
Literary Arts - Creating a written folk hero; writing individual and/or group "tall tales;" and reading the poetry of Langston Hughes.
Visual Arts/Design - Drawing original folk heroes; communal "quilt" making based on hex signs; creating "clan cloths" with personal representative symbols; designing patterns that, like hex signs, radiate from the center; creating Native American "quill" work; and totem pole construction (time permitting).
Performing Arts - Acting out legends and tall tales; improvising, using sound effects; square dancing to teach patterns; Cajun music, and Call and Response singing based on Follow the Drinking Gourd; and, Brazilian and other South American dances.
Materials Used
A combination of art supplies and "found" objects which may include: brown paper, string, scissors, white glue, pencils, construction paper, felt, paper plates, foil "take-out" tins and covers, recycled materials, boxes and plastic coffee stirrers. For totem poles, large heavy cardboard molds are used for making concrete pipes.
Lessons in Tolerance
An examination of the causes and social costs of the Holocaust, genocide and persecution, followed by the development of positive artistic and intellectual responses to these behaviors. Students discuss and brainstorm about such subjects as "Words That Hurt" and "What I Would Stand Up For."
A discussion ensues regarding threatened cultures and the costs of genocide: European Jewry, Native Americans, people of Tibet, Celtic peoples, and African peoples.
The Diary of Ann Frank and Zvlatin's Diary (Sarajevo) are introduced. Students observe "2 minutes of silence" before beginning their own reflective writing.
A different kind of intolerance and destruction are explored: endangered habitats (grasslands, mountains, forests) and the consequent destruction of entire species.
Students make a commitment to (1) practicing the ideals of tolerance while the INTERARTS faculty is present; and, (2) modifying future behaviors.
Goals
To use the arts and humanities as a vehicle for seeing the ways in which we are the same, while we embrace one another's differences; to develop the capacity to put oneself in another person's place; and, to investigate material that is unpleasant or difficult to handle and use that experience to create art that communicates a social message.
Concepts to be Learned
The bases and underlying social causes of prejudice; the use of art as propaganda; the benefits of being tolerant of others who are different from ourselves; and, the development of self-management skills.
Integrated Arts Activities
Literary Arts : Diary writings based on Ann Frank; a "graphic novel" in the form of a comic based on Zvlatin's diary; and, letters to humans from endangered animals.
Visual Arts/Design : Murals; collages based on the writings of the children of Terezin; art created from almost nothing; totem poles - forbidden because of religious persecution; propaganda posters; and, mandalas (Tibetan sacred circles).
Performing Arts : Body percussion - used when drums were taken from African slaves; uses of folk songs to inspire, (e.g. songs of resistance); dances of laborers; and, preserving a culture through song, Cajun singing.
Materials Used
A combination of art supplies and "found" objects which may include: clay, paints, wire, brown paper, string, scissors, white glue, pencils, construction paper, paper plates, foil "take-out" tins and covers, recycled materials, and boxes.
Global Villages
An in-depth examination of the evolution of the dynamic and intricate components of a community and/or civilization. Variations: Primitive/Tribal Cultures; Future Civilizations; and, Native American Nations. Students create and name a tribe, clan or people and select personal identities that derive from the name of the tribe.
As they develop a creation myth and a history, students ask themselves questions like, "Who are we?" "How did we get here?" "Who are our heroes and heroines?" and decide as a group what the answers will be.
A way of life evolves out of class brainstorming: where they live; the climate and terrain; type of work and recreational activities; clothing; communications; and, transportation.
A group codifies discussions of right and wrong in a Book of Laws: "Who makes the rules?" "How are they communicated and enforced?" and, "How are conflicts resolved?"
Others design and create maps, flags, murals, masks, songs and dances that represent their tribal life, culture and values.
Goal
To demonstrate how a society develops, how laws and traditions evolve, and how artistic expression is often an outgrowth of activities of daily living: work, play and life cycle events.
Concepts to be Learned
That all humans have similar needs, hopes and fears; and, that our commonalties are greater than our differences.
Integrated Arts Activities
Literary Arts : Writing a history and creating oral legends and poetry. In the process, students learn new vocabulary and definitions that will help articulate tribal stories and facts.
Visual Arts/Design : Map-making; flag design; drawing/painting historical scenes or murals; architectural design; artifacts; and clothing.
Performing Arts : Composing work songs and chants and dances and "ritual" movements, accompanied on traditional or "found" instruments
Materials Used
A combination of art supplies and "found" objects which may include: brown paper, string, scissors, white glue, pencils, construction paper, paper plates, foil "take-out" tins and covers, recycled materials, and boxes.
Legacies
Students reflect on themselves and their community at a given point in time and select and create art objects and artifacts that will most accurately represent their beliefs.
The INTERARTS faculty leads a discussion of the ways in which the students and their families are the same as or different from people who lived in their community 15, 25, 50, or 100 years ago. Students think about what they would want future people to know about them and the messages they wish to send to these people.
The classes' ideas are conceptualized into objects that would best represent their community. Objects are created and collected; each student's background and heritage is incorporated into the project.
A final product is produced by the students to leave behind for others. This may take the form of a mural, garden, wall, time capsule, memorial walk or other permanent piece.
Goals
To use the arts and humanities to teach children to look beyond themselves and examine what it means to be human; and to create a collection of art and artifacts that represent the students' highest ideals and principles, in order to leave something of themselves for those who will come after them.
Concepts to be Learned
Understanding where we fit in a larger society; and how art is a representation of who we are and what we stand for.
Integrated Arts Activities
Literary Arts : Interviews with family, school or community elders; research and writing about a relevant obscure historical figure (e.g. a local hero or heroine); and, individual short poems about life in today's world, sometimes combined into an epic poem.
Visual Arts/Design : Banners, quilts; indoor or outdoor murals; tile-making; garden design; and, performance video produced for inclusion in a time capsule.
Performing Arts : Songs and dances based on "Our Community is...," and poems set to original or existing music.
Materials Used
A combination of art supplies and "found" objects which may include: brown paper, string, scissors, white glue, pencils, construction paper, recycled materials, boxes, as well as durable materials such as concrete, plaster, PVC pipe, fabric, wood, needles and thread.