A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
Guest artist, students combine art, knowledge, culture and high tech
Here, sixth-grader Nora Thaler uses layers within the Brushes App to create a drawing of a plant while guest artist Sarah Agaton Howes works with Lexie Warner in background. Megan Rewitizer is seated in the center.
Cloquet Middle School will soon be sporting some spectacular new signs featuring Ojibwe-style art by all 220 sixth-graders, along with words in both English and Ojibwe.
CMS sixth-graders recently worked with local artist Sarah Agaton Howes to understand Ojibwe floral designs, research plants and Ojibwe words, and finally to create a digital plant drawing using the Brushes App.
Even the sixth-graders who aren't currently in art participated.
"We stole them from their gym and music classes and worked so every kid could have the opportunity to work with Sarah directly," said CMS art teacher Andrea Cacek. "When they created, and did research, it was all there with Sarah."
Once the digital drawings were complete, it was Howes job to stitch them together using a more sophisticated computer program to compile and connect the plants into 22 different signs. Some of them are more utilitarian, with words such as "office," "cafeteria" or "library," while others are more ideas based on words such as "friends" or "kindness." Each sign will be about 24 inches wide and 12 inches high.
In the Rural and Community Art Project grant application, Howes and Cacek explained that students will "gain access and understanding of how Ojibwe people converge the worlds of the traditional and contemporary through language, technology, art, and history. For Ojibwe students, the value of having mentors, teachers, and visual representations of themselves bolsters self-esteem, sense of belonging, and their visions of who they could be."
Cacek said it was wonderful to have a local artist work with the kids.
"The really neat thing is having hands in both worlds: traditional design work paired with more temporary techniques, using the computer and apps," Cacek said. "It is a new way of creating, in more of a digital realm. At the same time, Sarah still does all the traditional work like beading, making moccasins and jingle dresses."
The signs will be on display at this weekend's Ziigwan Powwow Saturday at Cloquet Middle School, 1-7 p.m. on Saturday, April 27. Cacek said they will have two tables set up to show off the artwork, and some of the work will be hanging in the school entry and outside of the gym. All are invited. Grand marches are at 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. with a free feast at 4 p.m.
