DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.
DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.

Virtual Travel around the World through Art Service Learning

 

Anne Walker and Christine Plumer

walkera@notredameprep.com and plumerc@notredameprep.com

Notre Dame Prep Where Girls Become Women Who Transform the World

Notre Dame Preparatory School educates and empowers girls to become women who transform the world.

As a Catholic, independent, college preparatory school for girls in grades 6 through 12, Notre Dame Prep inspires students to pursue academic excellence, spiritual growth and the practice of justice.  Infused with the spirit of the School Sisters of Notre Dame and rooted in the teachings of the Catholic Church, the NDP  community strives to answer God’s call “…to act justly, to love tenderly, and to walk humbly with God.”  (Micah 6:8)

www.notredameprep.com                                 

Digication portfolio: https://ndp.digication.com/maea_ndp

Online Resources

The Memory Project – www.thememoryproject.org

“Art students create portraits for youth around the world who've been neglected, orphaned, or disadvantaged.”

 

Love Your Tree – http://eatingdisorder.org/love-your-tree/

Love Your Tree (LYT) is a creative arts campaign designed to help students develop positive body image, provide self-esteem, and enhanced media literacy skills, all of which can serve as protective factors against the development of eating disorders.”

 

Auburn University Rural Studio – http://www.ruralstudio.org

“Auburn University Rural Studio is celebrating its 20th anniversary during the 2013‒2014 academic year. Rural Studio was founded in 1993 by Auburn architecture professors Sambo Mockbee and D.K. Ruth. They took a group of architecture students to rural West Alabama to give them a hands-on, educational experience, designing and building for an underserved population to put into practice their philosophy that everyone—both rich and poor— deserves good design.”

Sambo Mockbee, founder of Rural Studio - http://samuelmockbee.net/

Citizen Architect – Sam Wainwright Douglas’s 2010 documentary film on Auburn University’s Rural Studio and Sambo Mockbee’s philosophy of architecture

The Rural Studio - http://www.ruralstudiofilm.com/launch.html  Chuck Schulz’s 1997 documentary featuring the Rural Studio projects

 

As We Forgive - http://www.asweforgivemovie.com/

Laura Waters Hinson’s 2008 documentary film on the reconciliation movement in Rwanda

Synopsis:

“Could you forgive a person who murdered your family? This is the question faced by the subjects of As We Forgive, a documentary about Rosaria and Chantal-two Rwandan women coming face-to-face with the men who slaughtered their families during the 1994 genocide. The subjects of As We Forgive speak for a nation still wracked by the grief of a genocide that killed one in eight Rwandans in 1994.  Overwhelmed by an enormous backlog of court cases, the government has returned over 50,000 genocide perpetrators back to the very communities they helped to destroy.  Without the hope of full justice, Rwanda has turned to a new solution: Reconciliation.

 

But can it be done?  Can survivors truly forgive the killers who destroyed their families? Can the government expect this from its people? And can the church, which failed at moral leadership during the genocide, fit into the process of reconciliation today?  In As We Forgive, director Laura Waters Hinson and narrator Mia Farrow explore these topics through the lives of four neighbors once caught in opposite tides of a genocidal bloodbath, and their extraordinary journey from death to life through forgiveness.”

 

Student Responses

The Memory Project

Caeley

I think that making a portrait meant a lot to me because I have a little brother who was adopted, so orphans are close to my heart. It was such an amazing feeling when we got to see the kids holding our portraits all the way close over in Vietnam.  It was really great that I was able to do something that I enjoyed and make another child smile.

Morgan

It felt awesome to be able to give this gift to a child.  It was even more amazing to see him holding his portrait.  That made the whole experience worthwhile.

Julianna

To me making a portrait for a little boy or girl is wonderful. The whole time I was drawing him, I was thinking to myself, "Oh my gosh, I can’t wait for him to receive the picture!"  It's so amazing that a little boy or girl will get my piece of artwork. When I finally saw the little kid holding the portrait, I could finally say, “It looks just like you!”

 

Love Your Tree

Rachel

The Love Your Tree project is truly one that has impacted me.  It opened my eyes to how art can be used therapeutically.  The deeper meanings of each individual piece are inspiring.  Also, Love Your Tree has helped me look at the individual aspects of people that they like about themselves and how they can learn to love themselves entirely.

Edina                     

Love Your Tree made me really think about all the people who feel uncomfortable in their own skin and who don’t realize how beautiful, unique and special they are.  Those people made me want to create something to show them that they truly are amazing and that they are supported.  I wanted everyone who saw it to feel joy and maybe even hope.  As cliché as it may be, people are all different and beautiful in their own way. I want them to celebrate those differences and not hate them.  

Carey

Love Your Tree was a very different project. The whole idea of your body being like a tree was a new concept. When I was told that we would be doing this project, I was so excited. There were so many different approaches I could take. However, my excitement turned to disappointment when I couldn’t come up with any ideas. Finally, I decided to work with my favorite tree, the birch. Birch trees look so flimsy, but are really very strong. This concept spoke to me as I am VERY tiny. I went with a simplistic theme with my poster: a white background with off-white magazine cut-outs for the birch tree. Over the magazine cut-outs I used a quill and made small marks with black ink to indicate the birch tree bark. The only pop of color is the leaves and the message,  “You are strong.” I really want this statement to impact people. Everyone is strong in their own way and often times we forget that. I hope that my poster serves a reminder that we are ALL strong. I really hope that I can help make a difference.

Umoja Center – a response to Auburn University Rural Studio

Taylor

The class that I grew the most in was Architecture.  I learned that there is no end to creativity.  It is you who decides how far you let your mind wander.  What surprised me was that when you achieve this, some of your greatest art is the result.  (Comments made after completing the Umoja Center project.)

DRAFT: This module has unpublished changes.