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Meet red. He’s a crayon whose inner self is not reflected in the label it came with. The outside says “red”, but inside he knows that he is really blue. And when a new friend helps him find the courage to be his true blue self, Red is able to scribble his path to happiness.
Red is the main character in Red: A Crayon’s Story, an award-winning picture book by Michael Hall. Red is also one of the literary heroes of Art & Lit 2021, a program that uses books and art to help local students celebrate their true selves at a time when nobody felt like partying too much.
“We have been trying to find ways we can help during the pandemic. We asked many of our partners: ‘What do you see? How can stories connect us and help us help us right now? ”Said Amanda Bonds, program director at local literacy organization Words Alive, which has partnered with nonprofit ArtReach San Diego to bring Art & Lit 2021 to local students. and bring their families closer.
“We heard that young people are isolated and lonely. You feel upset and it’s not your fault. None of this was her doing. We wanted something to support the mental health of young people during this extraordinary time. “
In pre-pandemic times, Words Alive’s Art & Lit program brought guest artists to participating schools and organizations to work with students on projects inspired by the selected books. Since the project started in 2014, the students have interpreted literary topics using media such as ink and paper art, sculpture, stop animation and printmaking.
But 2021 was not a traditional year.
With most schools still teaching online, Words Alive needed to find a new way to keep the Art & Lit flame burning. The organization has partnered with ArtReach, a 14-year-old nonprofit that inspires young people through visual arts and community connections.
When schools in San Diego closed in March 2020, ArtReach turned to online teaching as staff and volunteers found ways to deliver art supplies to students for projects that were engaging and comfortable. After Words Alive had selected the “Art & Lit” 2021 book list, ArtReach staff developed an accompanying art project with materials that could be easily and cheaply delivered to the participants. Kits containing selected books from the list and art materials were distributed to 1,200 participants in San Diego.
For the literary part of the “Art & Lit 2021” project, the book friends from Words Alive dealt with the challenges young people face in times of zoom classes and selected five books for different grades, each dealing with the topics of identity and resilience and courage.
In addition to “Red: A Crayon’s Story”, the selection of “Art & Lit 2021” included the story of a girl who discovers that a simple point can be the beginning of something big (“The Dot”); the story of an artist Gorilla and the baby elephant that makes his life (and his art) better (“The One and Only Ivan”); and a youth novel about two loners who end up sharing a life-changing bond (“Aristotle and Dante discover the secrets of the universe”).
For the arts portion of the program, ArtReach selected identity circles. Inspired by the work of pioneering black artist and teacher Alma Thomas, the Identity Circle art project enabled participants to create two identity circles. One contained responses to Words Alive’s prompts based on the books they wrote in a concentric pattern around the paper circle. The others presented designs made from their own fingerprints.
“When we read the books, we really noticed that they are all about self-discovery and identity. And nothing is more individual than your fingerprint, ”says ArtReach Managing Director Sarah Holbach.
“And the really cool thing about writing in circular patterns is that it turns your words into design. It made people loosen up and say more than if they just wrote a paragraph on a flat piece of paper. It was a great way for the students to be honest and talk about their struggles during this time of separation. “
The 2021 version of “Art & Lit” was released earlier this year, with materials being sent to the partner schools and communities of Words Alive and ArtReach. Both organizations also posted instructions online and opened this meditative project to anyone who wanted to grab a marker and take the plunge.
More than 200 works of art have been returned to Words Alive and ArtReach, and many of them have been incorporated into Art & Lit 2021, which will be on display at Mission Valley Library through October 16. Words Alive will be a virtual version of the. present the exhibition as soon as it comes down.
Like the participants themselves, each identity circle is a unique project. But they all speak for the human need to go beyond our screens and our pandemic pods to leave our mark.
“I hope people see the exhibition and be inspired to read the text and express themselves through art in one way or another,” said Anna Laroque, ArtReach Community Engagement Manager.
“It’s not just for kids. What we came up with definitely carried over to all age groups. We just want people to keep creating, regardless of the form. “
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