Over the course of the month, each student made a book of their photography (17 in all). Every week, we worked on a different genre of photography.
Week 1 was for narrative and story-telling
Week 2 was for still-life and abstraction
Week 3 was for portraiture and self-portraits
Week 4 was for book construction.
There were some auto-biographical writing exercises peppered throughout, and those also made it into the books.
Each book ended up featuring between 8-12 photographs and one or two pages for their writing. During showcase (yesterday) we had a display table set up outside the auditorium for students, parents, and staff to check out the work! I attached a couple pictures to show what the display looked like. To see the rest of the photos, go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/tapsummerphoto.
On November 29, 2011, Luis Lopez Flores, an Ojeda Middle School student, was tragically killed while walking home from school. My students were devastated by something so heartbreaking, so scary, so unexpected.
When I arrived at Ojeda two days after his passing, there was no question that the students needed a break from their film club projects. They needed a safe space to grieve, and I felt that doing something creative and constructive could be healing and a way for them to process this loss. So I collaborated with Miss Jennie Gray, who leads the Theatre Action Project (TAP) Art Club at Ojeda, in the construction of 1000 paper cranes in memory of Luis.
In my mother’s country of Japan, it is said that to create and give away 1000 paper cranes brings healing to the receiver. Cranes are a symbol of peace, of goodwill, and of hope. It is also a healing activity for the person folding the cranes. My students were in all different stages of grief. Some students were really close to him, others only knew him peripherally. But all wanted to participate in making something that would honor Luis and bring healing to themselves, to Luis’ family, and to their school.
We spent hours and hours writing messages to Luis on paper and then folding them into cranes. As time passed, many students and teachers at Ojeda, who also wanted to send their good thoughts, folded paper cranes to contribute to the project. We also received cranes from people in the greater community – other TAP teachers, Del Valle Middle School students, people who had never met Luis but wanted to honor him and his family.
We finished making all 1000 cranes in May. We hung them from a tree that was planted outside of Ojeda Middle School in his memory, and hope to give them to his family.
Here is a link to a short film we made about this project and our memories of Luis.
We would like to thank everyone who has supported us throughout the various stages of this project. Special thankstoDawn Sand for her ongoing support and for her donation of the beautiful oak tree from which we hung the cranes, to Stephanie and Kevin Noell for donating cranes, to Cassie Swayze for all her help in getting origami paper, and to Principal David Williams for his ongoing support of our program and our projects.
This past Saturday at Theatre Action Project’s 5th annual Youth Arts Festival, our middle and high school students got to share their work from the year in front of family and friends. From drawings, to theatrical performances to movies, these students showed us their many talents.
Ojeda Middle School created “Alebrijes”, which are 3-Dimensional wood carvings the Zapotec Indians of the Oaxacan Valley of Mexico. But instead of wood, these students created paper-mache and then painted intricate designs on their sculptures.
Artist: Sherri Wegleitner Title: Skittieluv the Cat Ojeda Middle School 6th Grade
Ojeda Middle School also created a short film via light box animation titled So We All May Live, which taught the theme of saving the ecosystem.
Lightbox animation by Ojeda MS Title: So We All May Live
This past year, Ojeda Middle School lost a dear friend named Luis Lopez Flores. The students got together to honor him by creating one thousand paper cranes to bring peace to him and the community. They also made this film, 1000 Cranes for Luis as a tribute to their lost friend.
Del Valle Middle School students made a short film about zombies called The Last Day of School (pictured below) and a documentary about science, space, and learning called Cardinal 1.
“Last Day of School” film by Del Valle MS
Check out more art from the Youth Arts Festival with photos on our Facebook and videos on Youtube.
by Patrick Torres, Middle School and High School Program Director
Theatre Action Project’s 5th annual Youth Arts Festival will be held this Saturday, May 12th from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at the Boyd Vance Theatre. This festival is our opportunity to share the imaginative work of our Middle and High School students you, our community. You do not want to miss this festival!
This year’s line-up represents a broad spectrum of creativity from the region’s youth, from a movie about vampires, a digital story inspired by a classic opera, a mural created to inspire a school community, to a play about the voices that try to control our choices.
These original works of art will inspire you as you experience the imaginations and bold voices of our students. The festival will feature work by more than 100 students from 12 middle schools in 4 school districts from the Austin area. Festival hosts and keynote performers will be from the Changing Lives Youth Theatre Ensemble.
Schools featured at the festival include, Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders, Bastrop Middle School, Burnet Middle School, Cedar Creek High School, Cedar Creek Intermediate School, Del Valle Middle School, Dobie Middle School, Garcia Middle School, Manor High School, Mendez Middle School, Ojeda Middle School, Webb Middle School, and the Changing Lives Youth Theatre Ensemble done in partnership with Theatre Action Project and SafePlace.
Come out on Saturday and support the work of our region’s youth!
The Youth Arts Festival takes place at the Boyd Vance Theatre at the George Washington Carver Museum, 1165 Angelina St. Austin, TX 78702. Admission is Free. For more information, click here,or call: 512-442-8773.
Mikala Gibson, TAP’s Artistic Associate and teaching artist extraordinaire, recently made a short film with her after school class at Ojeda Middle School in Del Valle Independent School District. photos courtesy of Edward Pierce
Cell Phone Zombies, a short horror film doubling as a public service announcement, is about zombies that attack students who break school rules and use their cell phones at school. While Mikala is proud to have facilitated the story and help put everything together, she can’t take credit, as it was 100% the Ojeda students’ idea. The Ojeda principal, Timica Patton, attended the premiere during the after school program on Thursday, October 30th. Applauding the students’ work, she decided to show the film to the entire student body during advisory period on Halloween. The students were ecstatic and can’t wait to begin work on their next film on perfect attendance.
There were some auto-biographical writing exercises peppered throughout, and those also made it into the books.
