Arts Explorer 10: Community Arts Project

The social justice issue that we are passionate about is low income families/priority neighbourhoods. “Despite Canada’s considerable wealth, many families face the challenges, and even the stigma, associated with poverty in a context of relative affluence and economic prosperity” (Cheal, 2010, p. 147). A lot of programs are already out there to help homeless children, youth, and adults. For example: Food drives and shelters. However neighbourhoods like Flemingdon are priority neighbourhoods that need more support in terms of providing clothes (Toronto Star, 2010). To raise awareness of this matter we have created a one week challenge as our big idea. We will introduce this one week challenge first to teachers who will then introduce it to the children. The idea is to work collaboratively with the teachers at the school and get children to bring in pieces of clothing that they own at this assembly. We will get the teachers to tell the children before hand what they will have to do with these clothes (I.E: Figure out different ways to wear it for the week). It is important for us to be working very closely with the teachers in this matter. After the teachers have talked to the children, we will conduct an assembly in which children are to bring their two pieces of clothing. Teachers and organizers will then model examples of how to do this. Example of this is having a Sari and modelling different ways of wearing that. I.E: Skirt, Shawl, Head scarf, Scarf and a dress. Having a sari as our example shows inclusiveness for the various different backgrounds. Our first launch of assembly will be held at Grenoble Public school and will carry on with the other elementary, middle and high schools. 

We will be using the schools newsletter to pass on information to parents about the one week challenge. As our next step, we have used Facebook as a means to communicate our project information to the youth and we have also made little cute pins to create awareness. We made a Facebook event as well as a Facebook page.
The links to the following are below:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Like-This-Page-to-Raise-Awareness-About-Homelessness/209496235744907

 The presentation went very smoothly; it was organized and had all the necessary information. At the end of the presentation, we did not receive any questions, however when we had originally presented this idea to our professor, she thought it was flawless!

Arts Explorer 9: Guerilla Art

Art Word of the Week: Design or Composition

The way something is designed or composed and then carried out, definitely has an impact on the overall end result. It either attracts the attention of the public or it doesn't.

For this specific blog entry, my friends and I decided to stick up positive, happy messages on the tinted mirrors of the POD Building at Ryerson University - right where you enter into the building from. This area is visible and open to the public, thus we figured what better place to present our Guirella Art Project then here!

For this particular assignment, we got together in the cafeteria and got down right to business! We had come up with another idea where we were going to use pennies and make something out of them, but then we realized we didn't have enough! So we went back to the original idea of writing up positive messages on Post it notes and then making a HUGE heart out of those (ie. sticking them up in a heart shape)! And in the middle of the heart, we decided to write the message : Take One and Pass it On! Messages included You are Beautiful, You Make My Day, You have Beautiful Eyes, Know... That You Make a Difference in My Life ... and the list goes on!

While we were sticking up Post its, two girls came up to me and asked me what this was for, they seemed really interested! They asked if they were allowed to take the Post its with them! :) We had many bystanders, and people who were passing by us and curiously looking at us trying to figure out what we were doing.I have to say, this assignment was by far the best one I have done and I feel like I had a lot of fun doing it as well - it could be because the weather was soooo beautiful today as well! I really enjoyed this assignment. I remember when it was first assigned I was frustrated and angry, but after doing it today I realized it was such an amazing experience! I also came to realize that this was because I did it with four other people, I know I would not have been able to do this on my own!

For children, having fun and being spontaneous is all that matters. Let them be, and see the amazing things they are able to produce.

Below is a link of a video showing the process and product we went through!

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/7894443/gorilla%20Arts.wmv

Arts Explorer 8: Pretend Play and Magical Thinking

My name is Lappy. I am three years old, turning four in October. My favorite color is blue, and occasionally I like black as well. I love my Mommy, she is very nice. She takes care of me a lot, and is always with me. When she goes away from me for even a little bit, I feel sad; but when she comes home to me, I get very happy and excited to see her! She is the best! I like to sleep, but there are times when I am sleep-deprived. I get to take a quick nap in the night, but that's not enough for me to function properly. My whole system needs rest, but it's not always possible.

I am my Mommy's baby, and I don't like it when she gives attention to someone else instead of me; I feel like she doesn't care about me anymore. But I also know, that she can't live without me because she loves me too much. My favorite food is electricity! I love it when the charger is plugged into me, that way I can work to my best ability. I also don't like when Mommy is mad, because then she starts hurting me. I don't know if she realizes it, but when she types really hard, it hurts and I get a Boo Boo. But I know she doesn't mean it, because then she comes and says Sorry to me and tells me that she loves me. I heard her saying she can't live without me. There was a time in the December Break when I got really sick so I had to go to the hospital. And Mommy was really sad, she was crying. She stayed up the whole night and stayed right beside me. She gave me medicine although I did not like it, but then I got better! And the medicine gave me energy and I was running, and Mommy was happy too!

"In play, a child is always above his average age, above his daily behaviour; in play, it is as though he were a head taller than himself." – Lev Vygotsky

Fantasy play helps children in separating meaning from objects for which they stand. Play is a vital preparation for the later development of abstract thinking.

References

Schirrmacher R., and Fox, J.E. (2009). Arts & Creative Development for Young Children. US: Thomson Delmar Learning.