Community Links High School
National Museum of Mexican Art: Nuestras Historias Artist Residency
During my time at the NMMA as their Art Residency Coordinator, I had the privilege of working with many CPS Teachers and Students in leading an eight session long artist residency that surveyed Mexican & Mexican-American Art History from the NMMA’s Permanent Collection, Nuestras Historias. Part of this residency I worked along with a CPS Teacher in creating hands on workshops of a specific art technique to bring arts integration into the classroom.
Activist Patches
In this class artists were preparing for college ready-ness. Part of their learning was to write about what makes them different and important to build strength and resilience while attending a new college and environment in the future. Artists were introduced to activist printmakers who use their art making to contribute their voice in the community and created inspired designs about issues in their neighborhood. Artists created a multilayered screen print on fabric patches to share around their work and passion for friends and family. By doing so, artists were given agency to talk more about who they are in the world that they live in, along with the people and families that they are surrounded by.
Family Traditions Block Print
In this History class, artists were starting a segment surveying family traditions and values around the world. Artists were introduced to South Texas painter and drawer, Carmen Lomas Garza. Garcia is well known for her bird’s eye view paintings of traditions usually practiced within her family as a young girl. Artists were inspired to create similar scenery of traditions they practice with their loved ones. By learning the technique of block printing, artists created small 4 layer block prints. Artists utilized carving tools such as a carvers block, carving tools and printing ink to create these beautiful intricate prints of their family and the celebrations they practice.
Protest Poster
Community Links’ Spanish Class had been learning Spanish through Latin American history and politics. This class surveyed many moments in history that had deeply effected countries in South America and activists that fought against injustices such as Madres de Plaza de Mayo. Artists were shown many activists who had created posters for distribution in rallies and protests. They later drew out a concept and design of a protest image and blurb that they felt passionate about, inspired by their community and family. Artists learned the process of silk screen printing and printed their own posters to share.
Rasquache Guitars
Artists in their physics class were learning about sound waves and had teamed up to create small guitars using old tin cans, wood and guitar strings. Part of their inspiration for the class came from the Latinx artist movement, Rasquache, meaning making art from everyday and common objects. Artists gathered images and objects that came from their everyday life to inspire the colors and painting of their Rasquache guitar. By the end of the class, students had their own functioning two string custom guitar.
