My favorite student project of 2023 was the 800-student collaborative Action Art painting we created for Peace One Day. The school’s art room was transformed into an art factory where students stood and worked in small groups over a large canvas that was laying on the floor. Each group was given a minute to action paint and then the next group would come forward to work. This took place, non-stop for over 3 hours. Our 6th Grade leaders assisted with the process, crowd control, and even gave the instructions to each group. The resulting work is layers thick with latex paint and includes 9 images of famous activists MLK Jr, Harvey Milk, Mahatma Gandhi, Malala Youfsafzai, Cesar Chavez, Dolores Huerta, Rigoberta Menchu, Wangari Mathaaland Nelson Mandela. What I loved about this project other then it’s scale and the fact that each and every student participated, was the joy of seeing the students using their entire being and bodies to actively do something in the name of Peace. The world is not at peace and it is frustrating to watch. There is a sense of helplessness and inability to do anything about it, but through the creation of this art work we were all in the moment doing what we could to bring Peace and Beauty to this world.
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy” MLK Jr.
You must be logged in to post a comment.