The Art Department has hit a small milestone! We had our very first field trip! Last week 5th graders had the opportunity to view their coloring pages on display at the Texas Quilt Museum in La Grange, TX.
You may ask, how did these kiddos get their art up at the museum? Madison Vrazel, a Texas Quilt Museum coordinator, sent a friendly email back in December asking if the students would be interested in coloring some images to supplement an upcoming exhibition, Stories of West Africa, by Hollis Chatelain. Of course, the students and I jumped at the opportunity.
During the creating process, I introduced the students to the quilted work of Hollis Chatelain through use of her website and resources on the Texas Quilt Museum website. According to the sites, Chatelain had lived in West Africa for 12 years, and was later inspired to create drawings and eventually quilts from her time spent there. These quilts are currently on display at the museum, each one telling a story of her experience and sharing a glimpse of the culture within West Africa. The students filled coloring pages of these scenes from the quilts. The coloring books themselves were generously donated to each fifth grade student by the Texas Quilt Museum and the coloring book publishing company.
Some of the quilts were especially intriguing to the students, as they revealed images of other arts and crafts traditionally used in parts of West Africa, arts and crafts that we also studied in art class, such as pottery-making and weaving of textiles. The images of Chatelain’s quilts were beautiful on the projector, but nothing compared to seeing them in person. The students were genuinely in awe.
I have to send out a HUGE THANK YOU to Mrs. Lesikar, Mrs. Harris, Mrs. Kutac, Madison Vrazel, The Texas Quilt Museum, the coloring book publishers and any other people involved with making this exhibit and field trip a success. It is an experience that will last in the students’ memories for a very long time. And with that being said, I would also like to thank the students who participated. You guys sure do make me proud!
