Before beginning our studio work this year, we came together to imagine what this year might look like. What would the needs of the students be? How could the arts provide new pathways of thinking through ideas during the pandemic? We came up with a loose concept based on our interests. Jack chose to explore with intermediate students the interior world, the self and the mind. Rebecca chose to continue her nature studio work with primary students concentrating on the natural world. So we thought of this duality between inside and outside, the interior mind-scape and the exterior land-scape as an interesting jumping off point.
We began our programs in parallel and after working with 3 divisions each, we came back together to speak about how our work might intersect and what we discovered was quite interesting. We found that what seemed to fascinate the students the most were the in-between spaces, the what could be spaces, the someday spaces.
Another topic that proved fascinating was the theme of transformation. With Jack's group using collage as the medium, the students were able to explore and find relationships with their classmates. They were also able to re-imagine what their future may hold. With Rebecca’s students, as the walls of the new school were going up and the school grounds were transforming, we imagined what the new school could be. We titled the project, "The Future School" and students were given the freedom to imagine and design the kind of school they would like.
The whole world is in the middle of this extended moment. We are no longer at the beginning, nor at the end of the pandemic, but in the midst of it, inhabiting in-between spaces. The arts allow us to pause in this unique moment to take stock and try to understand what this time period holds.
With the Grade 4 and 5 students, I wanted to use collage as a way to explore identity and the things happening inside the students’ minds. I worked with the students over five weeks to create life-sized collages that represent their passions, interests, and roots. The vision for this project was to share with each other the elements of our identity that are meaningful and to learn about our fellow classmates.
This project culminated in an on-site exhibition of over 70 student-made collages in the lunchroom area, which has been under-utilized this year due to the pandemic. The resulting exhibition brightens up this communal space within the school, where students of every age group line up to wash their hands after recess. School unity was strengthened as each class was able to marvel at the work of the other classes and build connections on a school-wide level.
All Our Relations: Interconnectedness
The theme at the outset of the project was to explore the interconnections of the natural world, and locating ourselves within it. Through the practice of looking closely and creating observational drawings of specimens borrowed from the Beaty Museum of Biodiversity, students began to find relationships between human and non-human, plants and animals, living and nonliving things such as water, wind, rocks, etc.
We considered the spectacular location of Vancouver nestled between the ocean, rivers, and mountains of the Salish Sea which hosts an amazing display of the diversity of life. One fascinating inquiry was into the spaces of connection within the landscape. The Grade 3 students worked with paint on a large collaborative piece to consider where the ocean meets the forest. They focused on how they are in relationship with one another through the animals that travel in between the ocean and the forest, such as salmon.
In addition, students considered how the landscape has been shaped by this interconnection. For instance, the salmon carcasses provide vital nutrients to the trees enabling them to grow monumental in size. In turn, the trees provide nutrients and oxygen-rich freshwater that returns back to the ocean making the Salish Sea a particularly special ecosystem.
STUDENTS QUOTES
One grade student asked “Is the ocean alive?”
A classmate replied, “Yes, I think so, it is part of Mother Earth.”
“I just realized that being an artist, it could be a job.”