Woodrow Wilson, Africa, & High School Students

" You are not here to merely make a living. You are here to live more amply, with greater vision, and with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world. You impoverish yourself if you forget this errand."

Woodrow Wilson

Today was the first day back after the winter break with my students at David Brearley High School in Kenilworth. I am there doing a printmaking residency. The first half of the 20 day residency the students did some really wonderful drypoint etchings of restaurants and food stores from their town. The intention is to create a visual record of the town through food and tradition. These prints will be part of a community cook book along with recipes collected from seniors as well as family members. For the next part of the residency, Janice Marsili - their art teacher and I are interested in getting the students involved in art as social action. We showed our friend Eileen Foti's award winning documentary, which she created with Patty Piroh, titled "A Ripple in the Water."
This film is about Kim Berman and her work as an artist, teacher, founding director of the Artist Print Studio in South Africa. http://www.rippleinthewater.com/

We will be talking next week about ways that we can create work that will have a ripple effect....Most of the students seemed interested... as you can see by my drawing in my sketchbook- not everyone!