israel: a place to create
Before we departed for our trip to Israel, my classmates and I started to collaboratively build a curriculum for a five-day, environmentally-themed arts camp. There were many unknowns about the camp – we had questions about what the facilities looked like, how it heavily or little it was being advertised among the families of the village, how many children would actually show up, what resources were freely available, what supply stores were located near the village, etc – so we knew we had to be flexible with our preparations and planning. Once we actually set foot in Qasr Al-Sir and were faced with their reality, we had to throw most of our plans out the window! As a team, and with the great help of our professors, we were able to create an exciting arts-based curriculum focusing on the terms re-use, sharing, resource, and create.
During our planning stages we were informed that the school principal wanted a sports-themed mural. It was a happy surprise to have the opportunity to paint an outdoor mural for the school and community. I have painted indoor wall murals before and was very eager to have the chance to work outside on a very large "canvas." As true community artists, my fellow art teachers and I wanted the mural reflect the essence youth-centered recreation in Al Hawashla and involved the children in every step of the process. Even before we put paintbrush to wall, we had the children draw images of recreational activities and things that they like to do with friends. It was important to the teachers that the imagery be directly sourced from the children who would see the mural every day.
Without encouragement from the teachers, most children drew scenes that contained their houses, the desert, family members, and activities such as soccer, hopscotch, running, swimming, and biking. Looking at their drawings, I found it fascinating that all children who drew their home (except for one boy) depicted it as a typical square box with a triangle roof on top. Their illustrations of houses, with symmetrical square windows and big front doors, looked unlike any home in Al Hawashla. The one boy who deviated from a stereotypical house image accurately drew what all of the houses in the village actually looked like – a wide, horizontally-thrust, and flat-roofed rectangle building. The presence of houses in most of the drawings leads me to believe that family life at home and shelter are important aspects of their lives.
I was pleased to see some examples of creative expression on the walls of the classrooms and in the halls of the elementary school where our camp was held. Al Hawashla is not a rich village by any stretch and after walking around and observing how the people lived, and seeing the condition of the school, I thought it safe to assume that arts camps, classes and arts-focused school curriculum were not easily available to the children. Although art, specifically expressed through poetry, music, and weaving, is an important element of Bedouin life and culture, I am not sure how many opportunities the village children have to express themselves freely through various art forms. Historically and cross culturally, art has not been considered self expression, therefore presenting the children with minimally directed arts experiences was exciting (Leuthold, 2011, p. 241). They were always extremely engaged in whatever art experience we presented them with during the week and demonstrated impressive imagination.
One aspect of the trip that I was most excited about was the chance to get down and dirty in whatever art supplies we could get our hands on! However, when it came time to paint the freshly-primed wall, I decided to be a good role model to the children and avoid big messes (especially since it was oil-based paint!). I was really proud of the children for being such focused and tidy painters despite the intense heat we experienced outside at the wall. I hope that come fall, when students and community members start to regularly walk through the school grounds, the children who helped paint the mural will recall the fun we all had during the week of camp. Al Hawashla should be proud of its little artists and the masterpiece they created.
During our planning stages we were informed that the school principal wanted a sports-themed mural. It was a happy surprise to have the opportunity to paint an outdoor mural for the school and community. I have painted indoor wall murals before and was very eager to have the chance to work outside on a very large "canvas." As true community artists, my fellow art teachers and I wanted the mural reflect the essence youth-centered recreation in Al Hawashla and involved the children in every step of the process. Even before we put paintbrush to wall, we had the children draw images of recreational activities and things that they like to do with friends. It was important to the teachers that the imagery be directly sourced from the children who would see the mural every day.
Without encouragement from the teachers, most children drew scenes that contained their houses, the desert, family members, and activities such as soccer, hopscotch, running, swimming, and biking. Looking at their drawings, I found it fascinating that all children who drew their home (except for one boy) depicted it as a typical square box with a triangle roof on top. Their illustrations of houses, with symmetrical square windows and big front doors, looked unlike any home in Al Hawashla. The one boy who deviated from a stereotypical house image accurately drew what all of the houses in the village actually looked like – a wide, horizontally-thrust, and flat-roofed rectangle building. The presence of houses in most of the drawings leads me to believe that family life at home and shelter are important aspects of their lives.
I was pleased to see some examples of creative expression on the walls of the classrooms and in the halls of the elementary school where our camp was held. Al Hawashla is not a rich village by any stretch and after walking around and observing how the people lived, and seeing the condition of the school, I thought it safe to assume that arts camps, classes and arts-focused school curriculum were not easily available to the children. Although art, specifically expressed through poetry, music, and weaving, is an important element of Bedouin life and culture, I am not sure how many opportunities the village children have to express themselves freely through various art forms. Historically and cross culturally, art has not been considered self expression, therefore presenting the children with minimally directed arts experiences was exciting (Leuthold, 2011, p. 241). They were always extremely engaged in whatever art experience we presented them with during the week and demonstrated impressive imagination.
One aspect of the trip that I was most excited about was the chance to get down and dirty in whatever art supplies we could get our hands on! However, when it came time to paint the freshly-primed wall, I decided to be a good role model to the children and avoid big messes (especially since it was oil-based paint!). I was really proud of the children for being such focused and tidy painters despite the intense heat we experienced outside at the wall. I hope that come fall, when students and community members start to regularly walk through the school grounds, the children who helped paint the mural will recall the fun we all had during the week of camp. Al Hawashla should be proud of its little artists and the masterpiece they created.
references
Leuthold, S. (2011). Cross-cultural issues in art: Frames for understanding. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge.