First JumpstART Friday

Visitors to Casey's third grade hallway will find photos of Farish Street posted on the brick walls. Third grade students, teachers, and parents visited Farish Street through a field trip on Monday. Before visiting each classroom as part of the JumpstART grant, Mr. Miles and Mr. Shambé (artist partners) consulted with Mrs. Wilson (third grade teacher) about what students had already done related to the project and discussed what their visit that day should try to accomplish.

Once in the classroom, students asked the artists many questions about art and being artists. This was the first time that they had met Mr. Shambé who will also be working with third grade students on the JumpstART project. He told the students that he works with many different mediums as an artist including drawing, sculpture, collage, painting, and wood-burning. He also has his own t-shirt business featuring his own graphic designs! One observant student noticed that Mr. Miles was wearing one of these t-shirts because she also saw the design in Mr. Shambé's portfolio. The design on Mr. Mile's t-shirt was of legendary musician Jimmy Hendrix.

Mr. Shambé's portfolio, a small photo album that holds 4 x 6 photographs, was passed around by the students. They wanted to know how he started being an artist. Mr. Shambé said that he got his start copying cartoon characters and superheroes. Now he is inspired by musical artists, history, and by the natural world around him. He currently likes to work with wood-burning because he enjoys using natural materials.

Mr. Miles shared two photographs from his Backyard Mississippi series. In 2005, he traveled to the Delta and captured images of a little girl in her backyard. He likes to use natural light and tries to photograph things as they happen rather than trying to stage scenes. He was snapping a photograph of the girl when a group of turkeys came running into the yard. He snapped away and got an amazing series of shots. He reflected that this scene in Greenwood, Mississippi, reminded him so much about the past because of the simple surroundings. "It had an old-timey feel," said Mr. Miles. "It was like stepping back into the movie, The Color Purple."

Some of Mrs. Wilson's students had written amazing reflections about the field trip, and they shared these with Mr. Miles and Mr. Shambé while they listened to blues music from a vinyl album on a record player. Mrs. Wilson pointed out that the students were making good use of the connecting/transition words that they had been studying that week. Students in Mrs. Wilson's class are looking at the "past" for the JumpstART project. They plan to incorporate vinyl albums into their mixed-media art creation along with pieces of Jackson's history through newspaper clippings about the Flood of 1921, Trumpet Records, and blues artists of the times.

For different reasons, Ms. Gee and Mrs. Pepper have both been absent from school for the last few days. Both of these classes had substitute teachers on Friday morning, but this didn't stop the children from engaging the artists and their art and from wanting to talk about their thoughts and visions for their pieces of the art project which will focus on the present (Ms. Gee's class) and the future (Mrs. Pepper's class). Ms. Gee's class will use collage and photography while Mrs. Pepper's class will work with mosaics to create hopes for the future.

In all classrooms, the students introduced themselves to the artists. Students in Ms. Gee's and Mrs. Pepper's classes also shared a little about themselves such as a hobby or what they want to be when they grow up. Casey is producing many future basketball players and many future artists! Can you believe that there are more future artists in the third grade than any other profession?

While the morning was intended to be a mixture of getting to know one another, reflecting, and brainstorming, much more happened. Both Mr. Miles and Mr. Shambé impressed upon the students the idea that they are responsible for making sure the re-furbished Farish Street does not ever lapse back into its current state of abandonment and disrepair. "You are the future citizens of Jackson who will need to care for this city and the people in it," they both said.

About the artistic process, both artists reflected on finding creative ways to transform and incorporate mistakes or accidents into something new. If the Farish Street project is anything, it is this-- taking the mistakes our city has made through years of neglect and transforming empty lots and piles of bricks into something beautiful, functional, and new. I am thrilled that our students can share in this community revitalization through their writing and art.

And finally, while many ideas were exchanged (and laughter and smiles), there was also a poignant exchange of art. Mr. Miles had been watching a boy who had been doodling and drawing during the class. He leaned over to me and said, "That little boy is me. That is exactly what I would have been doing." A few minutes later, the student gave Mr. Miles his drawing and told him that it was an "expressive" piece. Mr. Miles offered thanks through a fist bump and gave the boy one of his photographs. It was a moment of hope and joy. As a parent, I am thankful for this moment and all of the recorded and unrecorded moments that will happen throughout this JumpstART project. Who knows what short and long term effects this project will create?

Have you asked your child about Friday morning's visit with Mr. Miles and Mr. Shambé? Have you read what he/she may have written about the field trip? Have you encouraged your child to draw or record his/her ideas for the multimedia art project?

The artists will be meeting with each class on Friday mornings for the next few weeks. Once the supplies arrive (hopefully by next Friday), the students will be diving into the hands-on art portion of the project. Parents are welcome in the classroom. And, if anyone would like to volunteer to photograph and/or write reflections, please let me know. I welcome and encourage other parent voices on this blog.