Happy eARTh day!
(Yes, that's my car.) Happy eARTth day! Last month I had the pleasure of attending a workshop panel and presentations with an international group of researchers called Speak Out: Art and Eco Activism. This was at the National Art Education Association...
Wade in the water
The Anacostia River, a Kindergarten Project. The idea hatched from Kindergarten teacher Alysia Scofield's relationship with it, crossing it daily, venturing near it, on it, learning to love it. This major body of water running through DC is part taken for granted...
“…they scatter memories behind them like breadcrumbs…”
Sometimes life can feel incredibly complex to break down into small digestable bits. Many rich projects have been occurring in the studio during this time of my playing hookie from blogging. This causes me to feel overwhelmed on what to include. (I mean I’ve been told...
Some wisdom for 2012
Birthdays, solstice, anniversaries and New Years are such wonderful triggers for reflection, memories and storytelling. While many make resolutions, I tend to think about experiences that have inspired my thoughts and actions. Returning to these memories or ideas...
Not afraid of the dark
The darkness of this time of year, is actually our guide. How do I greet and introduce this shift of our natural world with my young children that I share the bulk of my time with in the SWS Art Studio? It is all to easy to shut out the natural occurrences with modern...
“Light is more than watts and foot candles”
Just a few weeks to winter break, and more than anything it is the change in light that seems so important. Light and dark literally change life in Washington DC in December. Street lights are on by 6:00pm, and the playground is deserted. Dinnertime is dark and...
“This”
I believe that theory and practice are indeed the pedals on the bicycle and you need both to move forward. (Loris Malaguzzi coined this phrase) It is a goal to share this belief within my blog. It is important. Today, however, I want to show ...
Marking time in the territory they are in
"I have found that my (art) work tells me what I'm interested in. It tells me what I'm doing in the territory I've landed in." -Carrie Mae Weems speaking at The Corcoran in conjunction with the 30 Americans exhibit, November 12, 2011. These words really resonated...
The Honor to Witness
This blog post is a collaboration between myself and Kindergaten Teacher Jere Lorenzen-Strait. In a whirlwind of adrenalin fueled by immediate happenings, we furiously and joyfully created this documentation. It is my hope you feel the energy of our shared dialogue....
Grit
Intent. Studio work has so much of this, in so many forms. There is poetic languages and memories made and found that offer new possibilities through creating, however, behind it all is intent. For my Kindergarten students working on planning, designing and...
The possibility of flight
A strange thing happened this September...no Monarch eggs or caterpillars were to be found on the Milkweed plants in the Peabody school garden. Every year, this is an important ritual. In fact most of the SWS teachers are part of the International Monarch Teacher...
Noticing the note of each bird
The year started, well...big. First there was an earthquake (in DC!?) and then there was a hurricane. Then it rained. Not just rain, but RAIN, for a week. I believe that this all happened within the first 2 1/2 weeks of school. The rain flooded the landing to the...
Some of the Ordinary Things
Last summer at this time, I was in Peru. This summer, I am home. What I decided to do was to name this summer “The Make Sacred the Ordinary Summer.” So let me tell you about some of the ordinary things: I attended a wedding in Boston and danced with my...
Seeing
"Seeing is like dreaming, and even like falling in love. It is entangled in the passions-jealousy, violence, possessiveness, and it is soaked in affect, in pleasure and displeasure and pain. Ultimately, seeing alters the thing that is seen and transforms the seer....
The Day the Kids Made God, and other urgent stories…
The end of the school year brings such urgency, for the children, the staff and myself. For some children, some type of recall memory emerges. The project they started and forgot about long ago, sudennly, MUST be completed in the last week of school. These children...
What makes me smile? What is important to me?
The Kindergarten Children with a community of support, finished their textile quilt at the end of May. It will be displayed for the month of June at The Textile Museum in Washington, DC. From there, it will be a gift to the school from the Kindergarten classes...
You Move Me
and Sasha (below) PS Here are the links to the above references: Creativity - Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention Sparks of Genious: The 13 Thinking Tools of the World's Most Creative People Washington Post article...
Everything in the World
Provocations
Wow, this is the first time in my blogging history that I let so much time pass between the last post. This fact creates stress because so many meaningful, powerful and surprising things have occurred since my last post. Where do I start? Chronological? Thematic? Most...
Marveling
"If aesthetics fosters sensibilities and the ability for connecting things far removed from each other, and if learning takes place through new connections between disparate elements, then aesthetics can be an important activator for learning." Vea Vecchi Since...