Propaganda/ Legacy
Delaware Center For Contemporary Art has had an an interdisciplinary art program in conjunction with Delaware Public Schools, exposing students to the connections between art and other core subjects, for twenty-nine years. This is a twelve week program, with additional planning meetings with the coreteacher, budgeting proposals, a field trip and tour of the DCCA, and and exhibition opening uponcompletion of designed projectI was placed at Stubbs Elementary, in the east side of Wilmington. The students of my fourth grade class were working on a long-term research project on American Presidents and their legacies. In Literature they are studying the role and purpose of the author, as well as intent and meaning. I believed that these subjects would translate very well into introducing contemporary art issues of propaganda, appropriated imagery and ownership. Keeping inline of the umbrella focus of “literacy” my project focused on the power of words and images to sway groups of people and individuals. I showed example of both historic (French Revolution, Socialist Realism…) In addition to the politically charged works of Altos (Arizona based immigration reformists), Banksy, Jenny Holtzer and Shepard Fairy.
The students found a powerful quote of the president they are working with on their long term in class project, and were provided with an appropriated image from the National Portrait Gallery. They first primed their boards, and then use large format stencils and rulers to place their quotes on their boards. They then used tracing paper to “threshold” their images of presidents into a graphic icon, which they transfered onto their boards. They then hand painted in their panels, using red, black and white acrylic paint. When these individual panels were finished, they were assembled into apermanent grid installation at Stubbs Elementary.
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