Amulet Books with Sushmita Mazumdar

Students at James Mosher and Harlem Park are looking forward to their upcoming workshops with Sushmita Mazumdar. Sushmita is from Mumbai and is an artist/writer and a  docent at the Smithsonian's Freer and Sackler galleries. Sushmita creates handmade story books and will be making amulet books with students. This workshop will teach students about Buddhist traditions and deal with private and public hopes and dreams. We are very lucky to have Sushmita volunteer to share her skills with our students.

Indian Dance with Lakshmi Swaminathan

Both JMES and HPE/MS schools have been given funds by Access for All through Young Audiences of Maryland. With this grant we have are having artist-in-residence Lakshmi Swaminathan to teach Indian culture, storytelling and traditional Indian dance. Ms. Swaminathan came to JMES while I was instructing the first grade students. She took the opportunity to teach them the representational dance movements for the Indian animals they have been learning about. They were so excited as they flapped their arms and tried to mimic Lakshimi's movements. Lakshmi will teach 2nd and 3rd graders at JMES. Ms. Swaminathan and students from both schools will perform at The Walters Art Museum for our culminating activity on May 3rd. 

Portraits

Wow I was so proud of the time and effort the kids put into this assignment. This student has gone through a wild transformation and is one of my better and most enthusiastic students. The idea was to make a self portrait wearing Indian inspired clothing. The background is the Himalayan Mountains. 

Crocodiles Are Fast

Did you know that a crocodiles can run up to 7mph? Yeah, you can out run a crocodile but unfortunately if you are standing by the water's edge it isn't likely that you'll get the chance. A crocodile can strike before you know what is happening. The 1st grade has definitely learned not to taunt a croc. They have also learned how to tell them apart from alligators (this is difficult with Indian mugger crocs as they have broad noses) and the characteristics of a reptile. All this wonderful science while making their own mugger from egg crates and papier mache. The bodies are done and the feet are sculpted from play dough.  Now assembling them and adding teeth is all that is left.  

Holi Portraits

Seventh grade students at Harlem Park have been studying Indian holidays and celebrations. Students made collage portraits and then splattered them with paint in the tradition of Holi celebrations where revelers spray each other with colored water and powder. For more information on the celebration of Holi visit:  www.indianfestivals.info/holi.html

Child Labor

Students in the eighth grade at Harlem Park have been discussing the issue of child labor. Students created posters to express their feelings on this subject and their thoughts on solutions to the problem. Carina's image 'This Could be Your Child' has been entered in a competition in which one entry from each country in the world will be chosen for an exhibit in Geneva Switzerland on the theme of children's views on child labor. For more on this exhibit visit: Geneva World

Prosperity Hens

During Kristin's residency at Harlem Park we started working on Prosperity Hens. These birds created by the seventh grade students are in the style of the traditional folk craft from Northern India. We added our own twists with feathers and felt shapes but will be stringing them with beads and bells just as they are in India when some more are completed.

Holi

Holi the Indian spring festival of color is nearing. If you would like to see some first hand celebration go to India Forums dance festival.  Click on the image to see the whole flyer.

Marigolds

 

I finally got all of the materials together and the second grade planted marigolds.  Marigolds are important in India as they are used to create garlands that decorate religious statues, temples and for people at funerals , weddings and other special occasions.

 The kids saved their milk continers and we cut them down. The kids counted their seeds and predicted how many flowers they would get. Each day a "gardener of the Day" is going to water the classes plants and record the number of plants that show growth.  The students are also creating their own journals and artwork to accompany this science unit. 

Mask Making

At JMES I have been making papier mache masks with the school wide enrichment class. 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades meet with me on Fridays for 45 minutes to make sculpture. I told the kids they could make an Indian person, animal or a demon form the story Rama and the Demon King. Many of the kids make tigers. Although I had a couple of men, a demon and just because... Lil Wayne. 

Elephants on Parade

First and second grade students worked with visiting artist Kristin Helberg and Morag to create their parade of decorated elephants.Each elephant has it's own quirky charm and the students loved working with the sequins and feathers to embellish their work.

Individual Miniatures

Examples of the individual miniature paintings. These three were painted by Eboney, Deandre and Kevin and were based on their sketches for their mural contributions and painted on watercolor paper imported from India.

Completed Mural

Yesterday was our last day of work on the mural. Kristin Helberg our artist in residence has been at Harlem Park for the past month working with the eighth grade on the mural and team teaching other grades with Morag.  In addition to creating this communal art work students used the sketches from their mural contributions as a basis for individual miniature paintings. It was sad to come to the end of this year's projects with Kristin, the students have a great relationship with her and learn a lot from working with a professional artist. We celebrated with mango lassi and presented Kristin with an umbrella decorated with sari clad dancing ladies.

Traditional Shoes

Third grade students worked with visiting artist Kristin Helberg and Morag to created these mixed media shoes in the traditional Indian style.