Today, Miss Renfroe and I had the wonderful opportunity to take upper school to the Springfield Art Museum to see its current offering “Mend” by Yoko Ono along with the general collections and student work; some of which was supplied by our very own students! “Mend” was a fascinating, hands on installation which is based on the belief that things can be beautiful after they’ve been broken. Students and volunteers were presented with broken ceramic pieces and implements with which to “mend” them and the results were truly fantastic! The students thoroughly enjoyed both that and the other DIY installation that gave them an up close and personal look at art and its creation. I heard comments such as “that was really fun” to “I could stay here all day.”
The general collection offered all manner of art to inspire. Just a few of the styles the students were able to take in were: Portraiture, Ceramics, Abstract, Modern, Social Commentary, and Landscape, just to name a few. Students were also able to learn about how to enjoy art through concepts like proper aesthetic distance and light.
This upcoming week in Language Arts class, I plan to build on the art and the inspiration it provides by using it as the basis for their next mini unit on poetry so that they can gain a deeper understanding of how different forms of art can inspire each other. It was so much fun seeing the students open their minds to new possibilities through art. I’m hopeful that we can continue with it.
A very special thank you to our parent volunteers who drove and chaperoned the trip. You were amazing!
“Mend” will be at the Springfield Art Museum through July 10th.
