Roll with the Punches

As I went to the Middle School in West Philly today, I was prepared to show them my ideas as inspiration for the next project. I had planned for them to create installations regarding the upcoming holidays, such as, Valentine’s Day and President’s Day. I met with the coordinator to discuss our classroom activities for the day. However, all of my plans came to a halt when the Physical Education teacher approached us. She wanted the Visual Arts team to help her display images of sneakers that her kindergarten through elementary students had to color as they partnered with The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia. This was a wonderful opportunity for the students to learn how to work with a “client”. I was very excited that the Physical Education teacher had seen our projects and installations and wanted our help. Hopefully now the students would have a better understanding of Visual Arts. For the last couple of weeks the students and I worked alongside with the Student Council. The coordinator and I explained and emphasized to the students that the Visual Team always takes art to the next level and we may work through seasonal changes, holidays, events, and clients.

In class, we tried to discuss some potential ideas and found inspiration from previous projects. It was difficult to try to get everyone to participate and listen because I was never trained to do so. Some of the kids feel as if they are not good enough at drawing and would rather sit. I try to engage with them as much as possible. For example, one student told me he was a bad sketcher but together we came up with a good idea about incorporating sports into the installation. As of now, the students and I are thinking about collecting and placing all of the colored sneakers into a shape of a giant sneaker. Next class we will further our design by creating elements such as texture and color. This sneaker project will be installed at either the facade/entrance of the school or near the gymnasium.

I was really scared when I realized that the coordinator and I would have to improvise to move onto the sneaker project instead of sticking to our original plan. In the end, I believe that everything happens for a reason. I am excited to work with the students to represent the partnership with the school and The Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia. I think that this will be a great opportunity for the 8th graders to help and give back to the community as they are preparing to apply to High School.