Hammond Elementary
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.
6th Grade
The young artists of Hammond were introduced to artists who create work using iconographic images and symbols to describe their upbringing and family history. Some used foods, others uses clothes and traditions, overall these artists were describing their identity using such imagery. Being inspired by the work, the young artists created small collages using images of foods, musicians, brand logos and drawings that would describe their identity. Either basing it off clothes they like to wear or foods their mother cooked, all were representations of themselves. Artists learned the process of silk screen printing to then print their designs into shirts, bags and scarfs as a way to wear their own identity gear. By the end of the sessions our young artists had a clothing line of printed material to their liking.
5th Grade
In this art class, the young artists were starting off a section of art history in Mexico by looking at the Mayan Ruins. These young artists were introduced to artist Jean Charlot and his painting of Chichen Itza, the Mayan pyramid located at the peninsula of Mexico. Observing different inscriptions and images painted onto the stone of the pyramid, the young artists had learned that the Mayans drew important leaders, traditions and scripture. The young artists began to create images and collages that would describe their important leaders and traditions using magazine collages, ink and markers. These drawing then became silk screen prints on geometrical shapes, mimicking the shapes used on Chichen Itza. In the end artists had created their own fabric piece that would then come together to create a larger mosaic 'pyramid’ of their class.
