Sarah Jerde, an Americorps volunteer, contacted me about an idea to promote art and good mental health to Longfellow Elementary school students. The project we settled on was a self portrait project that gave each student the opportunity to make a representation of themselves. Ever since I read a study by Yale on the impact of portraits I have been trying to find the right venue for the portrait idea and Jerde was ready make it happen.. I started the day with a short presentation about how art can help make mental health better, then showed the students professional artists that make portraits. Finally I encouraged them to be creative and not be too focused on the portrait being perfect, but rather an expression of self with some clues added in to help the viewer get to know them. There were over 300 students so this is just a snapshot of the project. The portraits went into the downtown skyway in Rochester on 12 panels with 27 each. They will come back to the school on April 5th, 2024, where they will be installed at the Elementary for all to see.
Thank you to The Office of Family Engagement through Rochester Public Schools for your financial and physical support.
Thank you to The Office of Family Engagement through Rochester Public Schools for your financial and physical support.
As an art educator I have a very specific way I run my projects and how volunteers can help. Because it was such a big project that required so many volunteers I thought it would be helpful to make videos to show volunteers and students about what we were doing and how we were doing it. A special thank you to Helen Milbrandt for video and tech support.