Summer institute with esperanza 2023
Art
Using the forms of drawing, creative writing, poetry, sculpture, dance, and painting students created artwork that reflected their deepened relationships with nature and community. Teachers from the Rock Dance Collective led students in a dance workshop where they developed a full group dance inspired by the movement of water that they performed in Joyce Kilmer Park. Students looked closely at Joyce Kilmer’s poem Trees and aspects of his biography, from which they created works in response. Our oldest group, the Leaves, created Golden Shovel Poems and the Roots and the Seeds came together with a movement piece and live recitation of the poem featured in the Week 2 sharing video. Students were introduced to a mural project going up in Joyce Kilmer Park in the near future. Culminating from all their other work, students created their own mural designs.
Advocacy
Throughout the institute students’ explored the advocacy theme “At One With Our Environment”. Our teaching artists led conversations and activities about students’ relationship to the Land, Water, and Air. Heather Fenyk of LRWP came in to lead the students in some activities around water flow and flood within the watershed around New Brunswick. Ideas the students used directly in their dance piece. As students learned more about New Brunswick resident Joyce Kilmer they were able to make strong connections to the natural environment of New Brunswick and realized the importance of forming those connections. In the final week, the students learned about socially engaged art and other mural art around New Brunswick that encourages connection to the environment and designed their own mural ideas.
Community
Over the three weeks of institute students considered; what makes them a unique individual, how they are different from others in their community, what similarities they share with others in their community, and finally what collective impact they are capable of when they act with and for their community. We spent a lot of time in the parks and green spaces around New Brunswick this summer. Students were able to relax, draw, play, talk, and create in the natural environment of their community. This time allowed them to see their community of New Brunswick in a new way, to focus on the natural landscapes as opposed to the overbearing built landscapes. The work they created demonstrates how students want to bring a sense of beauty into their own community, how they want to bring their community together with its environment and green spaces.
Sharing Days | Días de Compartir
Week #1
Friday August 11 2:00pm
viernes 11 de agosto 2:00pm
Friday August 18 2:15pm
viernes 18 de agosto 2:15pm
Friday August 25 2:15pm
viernes 25 de agosto 2:15pm
hybrid final sharing
In person at coLAB Arts Studio, OR on Youtube
En persona en la Studio de coLAB Arts OR el enlace de youtube
FInal Sharing Picnic
Teaching Artists and Guests
meet our teams
Students were divided by age into 3 teams throughout institute. Check out this team pride!
The Leaves
The Roots
The Seeds
Catch us in action
We spent some quality time in the beautiful parks around New Brunswick.
The students worked on a lot of art projects this summer, take a look at their individual galleries below!
We kept it moving this summer. In addition to their dance students played movement games and explored tableau work.
group Projects
Seed’s Sculptures
Root’s Forest
Leave’s Trees
student Artist Gallery
Browse the student galleries here, listed in alphabetical order, OR search your student’s name below for a collection of their work.
