Artist in Residency Grant - Round 3
ACHF Arts Access
Upon the completion of this residency each student will have a series of watercolor paintings that reflect a series of days they have had in their lives. On these paintings will be short phrases that are a memoir of these days. In doing this project students will be able to (l) Create paintings with words that reflect special days in their lives, (2) Learn that the idea of illustration can add so much to carefully chosen words and produce a powerful painting and (3) Come to appreciate the artistic creation and writing of classmates who will also create special drawings.The students will be able by the end of this residency to create memoir paintings that combine their written thoughts on special days in their lives. In doing this we are bringing together the power of words and watercolors to reflect on special occasions and events in student lives. This residency also brings together a very special component as the many students who come from 14 different ethnic backgrounds reflect on their lives. This takes on a special meaning for the Somalian students at Talahi who in a number of cases are recent immigrants from Africa and have faced some very difficult experiences in their former war torn country. Another aspect of evaluation will be to see how the 85 children of prisoners at the Saint Cloud State Correctional Facility recall unique days in their lives. The teachers at Talahi view this aspect as one that will be most beneficial for these children who have faced some of the toughest situations in their lives.
This residency took on a new direction when the original artist canceled due to a health emergency in her family. The replacement artist, Malia Burkhart, conducted a residency on creating clay masks. Students were encouraged to be very creative and the outcome showed this to be so true. The majority of the masks were of animals and the facial expressions that the students created were a delight. What was unique is that with the special ethnic makeup of Talahi the students created masks that showed many cultural traits. The true evaluation came when the students took their idea and transformed their ideas into actual masks over the two week time frame of the residency. Malia really challenged the students and they created masks that were special.
Other, local or private