By Sarah Sanders
In February 2020, I worked with my mentor, Gehan Habashy, to design a final visual art unit to be carried out through the end of the academic year as I assumed a long term substitute role at The International High School for Health Sciences. This unit would explore the concept of Empowerment and challenge students to develop skills to be advocates for themselves and others in and outside of the classroom.
The transition to virtual learning in late March shifted the direction of this unit to focus on how students could support one another and their communities in processing the effects of the pandemic and advocate for change through art making with available resources at home. Weekly brainstorming sessions with professor Jessica Hamlin, daily progressions of national and global events, and constant check-ins with students led this unit to transform into creations beyond originally planned.
Students curated “Empowering Playlists” accompanied by cover art designs inspired by contemporary musicians and illustrators, providing a visual means to share media they had been consuming – songs, literature, films, etc – while coping with the crisis in the confines of their home. Individual playlists were merged to create two team playlists which were shared and experienced by school community members – students, teachers, and administration.
Following this project, students began creating stop motion films responding to common themes presented in the playlists and cover art as well as exploring how they could convey messages for action to be taken regarding current social issues of interest. As students explored stop motion artists such as PES and Wes Anderson, they gained facility with use of images, text, and sound to convey their ideas.
As students moved into their final film projects, they researched issues highlighted by the pandemic such as healthcare, food security, and immigration / deportation as well as movements such as Cancel Rent and Black Lives Matter. Students’ final films captured moments of their personal lives and desires for change. Upon completion, students shared their creations with their communities advocating for specific actions and reforms by posting to social media and sending emails to local organizations such as DRUM NYC and the NYC Department of Health and as well as council members such as Francisco Moya, Daniel Dromm, and Eric Ulrich.
Email headlines read “Together, United! We will never be defeated”, “ #BlackLivesMatter”, and “Ways to prevent COVID-19” among others. Messages included informing immigrants of their rights, advising maintenance of health protocols to prevent the spread of COVID-19, urging legislatures to waive rent payments for those facing hardships due to the pandemic, and bringing awareness to social injustices. The final presentation of films can be viewed here on the “IHSHS Artists for Change Film Festival” Youtube page.
Finally, at the end of our last class, students were asked to reflect on what they learned throughout the school year. Students responded, “I learned that simple materials around us can be used to make creative projects, I can advocate or empower people through artworks, we can raise our voice through arts, we can share our opinion through arts and I have also learned to make different arts on various purposes,” and “I learned that as a community how can we still stay together and stand by each other even in a difficult situation.” One response encompassed the entire yaer referencing my unit as well as the ones Ms. Gehan introduced earlier in the year, “ I learn about myself. Before was so hard to know myself and with the portrait and things that I did in art… I know myself now. I know how feel empowerment and give empowerment to others and that’s amazing.”
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