I developed this program to participate with the artist JR and his worldwide initiative designed to spark conversation about the issues of immigration through his film called, “Ellis”. For greater community awareness, this program went beyond the Montclair Cooperative School and also involved the Montclair Film Festival, Montclair High School and Rutgers University’s online magazine, Newest Americans.
• Collaborated with James Earle, MHS Principle, Sue Hollenberg, Director of Education MFF to create an assembly for the global film screening of Ellis by the artist JR
• Panel of speakers at assembly included: Marisol Conde-Hernandez, undocumented Rutgers law student and co-founder of NJ Dreamers, Mario Russell, Director of Catholic Charities New York’s Immigrant & Refugee Services Division and Tim Rapheal, Director of The Center for Migration Rutgers University and the Global City.
• We applied stencil portraits, words and national symbols on reclaimed windows to created an interlocking “wall” of immigration stories from our community
• Conducted community workshops for students and family members to participate in the process
• Installed a 12’ by 20’ wall as a centerpiece of the Audible Lounge space during the Montclair Film Festival and launch party
• Individual windows were auctioned off with proceeds going to charity (Stephan Colbert bought one!)
Immigration Art Installation
20’ wide x 7’ 6” height (2’ pedestal) / 2nd floor wall 10’ wide x 8’ height
58 salvaged windows, 73 participants
46 2x4s, 160 2x2 corner braces, 60 mending plates, and 1,000 screws
In November 2015 the Montclair Cooperative School in conjunction with the Montclair Film Festival and Rutgers University’s Newest American’s on-line magazine held an immigration program at the Montclair High School. The program included a screening of the movie Ellis directed by JR and a paneled discussion about immigration in America.
Inspired by the discussion, the Montclair Cooperative School’s art teacher, Debbie Harner, wanted to keep the conversation going. This led to the immigration art installation, which was created to visually represent who we are as a nation. Utilizing street art techniques such as stencils and pasting’s, 7th and 8th graders from the Montclair Cooperative School and high school students from the surrounding area created imagery to tell of their own immigration history and words that tell of the American spirit.
Windows, like the debate around immigration, have two sides and two points of view and this is a concept that was leveraged for the installation. Additionally, the fragility of the glass is a great metaphor for the delicate nature of this national discussion. To create greater impact, the windows were joined creating a wall. This wall not only symbolizes the two sides of the immigration debate but also the wall that has been proposed to block immigrants from entering our country.
I developed this program to focus on the critical scientific, political, economic and social issues of climate change through powerful and provocative films, art, conversation, and social action. For greater community awareness, this program reached passed the Montclair Cooperative School and also involved Montclair Film, the documentary series, Years of Living Dangerously and Montclair High School in this partnership.
• To start the dialogue, MHS and Co-op students viewed Collapse of the Ocean, from the documentary series Years of Living Dangerously
• During an assembly at MHS, over 500 students engaged in a conversation with Ocean’s Director Martha Jeffries; marine biologist and policy expert, Dr. Ayana Johnson; and 17-year-old environmental activist, Iris Fen Gillingham from the Earth Guardians
• Created an Action Kit for teachers and students which provided accessible tools for social change - http://www.montclairfilm.org/sak2017/
• A conceptual prototype called WATER/AIR made from plastic bottles and bags was created by the Co-op 7th grade. The community was invited to attend a series of Climate Action Workshops to add to the artwork
• A photobooth was set up to send climate change messages through social media
• The final 30’ by 15’ ART/WATER piece was installed on the exterior wall of Montclair Film during the festival week
• An anti water bottle public service announcement was created by a small group of 7th and 8th graders which was uploaded onto social media platforms
AIR/WATER Installation, 2017
Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) - Petroleum Product
(Plastic water bottles and bags)
12 x 18 feet
Montclair Film, Montclair Cooperative School
& Year’s of Living Dangerously
This conceptual piece of art is made entirely from plastic, that in its raw state, is a petroleum product. Bottling water produces more than 2.5 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) each year, both air and ocean water absorbs CO2. These plastics are the tangible things that are being used to illustrate the problem of having too much CO2 in our air and ocean water. The innocence of these vernacular objects creates a powerful message when forced to understand its underlining reality. Large sheets of plastic water bottles have been tied together creating a visual of texture and reflection. The upper two thirds of the piece (made from plastic water bottlers) represents air and the lower third (made from single-use plastic bags) represents the oceans.
The original idea was generated by art teacher and art activist Debbie Harner with her 7th graders from the Montclair Cooperative School, the community than came together during a series of workshops to add to the size of the piece. The plastic water bottles become unrecognizable due to the sheer number of bottles diminishing its original form. Local artist, Sofia Bochravova, also collaborated in creating the jellyfish inspired sea creatures for the installation during the Climate Workshops. The creatures appear to gently swim amongst the sea of plastic as they hang suspended 15 feet above the viewer’s head. At first glance, the overall impression of the work is quite beautiful due to its reflective quality and immense size, however on closer inspection the reality of the problem this world is facing with plastics leaves the viewer repulsed. The art installation is scheduled to travel and evolve as communities and schools raise awareness and bring their own voice to this important issue of climate change.
As you are most likely aware, not only is the issue of media literacy now a recognized factor in the cultural and political landscape, it is also gaining traction as a critical component of public school education. Indeed, Media Literacy is a requirement of the New Jersey Student Core Curriculum Content/Learning Standards. Young people are flooded, on a daily basis, with information coming from a multitude of media sources. Not only do we have a responsibility to train students to be critical thinkers and more discerning about the influential messages to which they're exposed, but we are coming to recognize that such education is imperative for effective citizenship and a healthy democracy.
• During an assembly at the Montclair High School, over 600 students engaged in a conversation with Michelle Ciulla Lipkin, Executive Director of the National Association for Media Literacy Education and Dr. Vanessa Domine, Professor at School of Communications & Media at the Montclair State University and Kate Zernike, Pulitzer Prize winning reporter, New York Times.
New York Times.
• Created an Action Kit for teachers and students which provided accessible tools for greater understanding of Media Literacy and the materials for the Media Mash-Up project - http://www.montclairfilm.org/MediaLit/
• Media Mash-Up Project - In this lively competition, student teams deconstructed and exposed hidden messages from existing media (commercials, political ads, newscasts, music videos, etc.) by creating their own video “mash-ups." The winning video was played in theaters during the Montclair Film festival, the winning team also receive a special grand prize.
• Special screening and Q & A, with Retro Report producers, of the shorts created by Retro Report.
The People’s Art Project
Inspired by the artist JR’s large-format street “pastings”, I participated in the INSIDE OUT project which is a global art initiative that allows people to share their untold stories and transform messages of personal identity into works of public art.
• Co-op 7th graders made a formal presentation of the project to the Senior Care and Activity Center in Montclair
• Class generated a statement to raise awareness of environmental issues
• Photography and Photoshop tutorials to create portraits
• Large formatted posters were pasted on the exterior wall of the Senior Care and Activity Center and remained until they biodegraded
One Million Bones, Washington D.C.
The Co-op’s 7th grade participated with One Million Bones, a large-scale social arts project created by Naomi Natale to raise awareness of ongoing genocides. This three and a half year initiative resulted in over 1,000,000 fabricated “bones: displayed on the National Mall in Washington, DC.
• 7th grade class members contributed over 40 paper maché bones
• Class trip to Washington D.C to participate in the installation
• In collaboration with the Co-op social studies teacher, a presentation of the installation and programs was made to students about the issues of genocide
As co-writer, the Montclair Cooperative School has been awarded an art grant for the last 5 years to develop an art-driven STEAM program for our middle and elementary school students. This grant was awarded by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts in partnership with Young Audiences New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania Artists in Education Residency Grant Program. Elements of one of the projects included:
Kinetic Movement
• 5th-8th grade kinetic sculpture installation
• Inspiration field trip to see the kinetic artist George Sherwood at the Hudson River Park
• Learning the science of wind energy through turbines and simple machines
• Creating turbine blades and parts using the program Tinkercad and 3D printer software
• Kinetic sculptor techniques taught in collaboration with artist-in-residence, Ben Pragner
• Installation on the Co-op grounds along with a culminating presentation, Wind Day, where the students actively shared their studies with the Co-op community
• S.T.E.M. Gets an “A” blog - https://sites.google.com/a/montclaircoop.org/steamblog/
I co-developed this program to teach kids how to access, analyze, evaluate and create media in a variety of forms.
• Teach critical thinking using a journalistic approach
• Special guest presentation of other media literacy sources; Retro Report, News-O-Matic, plus individual media experts
• Create original media responsibly through camera techniques and editing of short film
• Presentation of short films to the Co-op community and submission of films to the Montclair Film Emerging Film Makers competition
I co-developed this program to build an on-going relationship between the Montclair Cooperative School and the Montclair Art Museum (MAM). Leveraging the exhibits, I introduced The Visual Thinking Strategy philosophy to help facilitate group conversation and better understanding of the work.
Over the years the Co-op students have been exposed to incredible exhibitions at MAM. Shows include: Willie Cole, Roy Litchenstein, Andy Warhol, the Vogal collection, Cézanne, Romare Bearden, Saya Woolfalk, MAM 100 Years, African American Quilts, Eric Carle, Conceptual art: Do It, and Philemona Williamson.
• Weekly visits to the Montclair Art Museum to study a key exhibition
• 7th graders act as Junior Docents for their Co-op reading buddies and for MAM’s Family Day
• Created art projects inspired by the selected show
• Collaborated with Co-op English teacher to write poetry and short stories inspired by selected exhibition
• Created art show for the Co-op community that displayed the artwork, poetry and short stories that were created during the process. The artists acted as Junior Docents for their own work.
Used the power of art to not only beautify our community but also to raise awareness and drive involvement around important social issues.
Projects include:
• Co-op Digital Photography Show at the Red Eye Cafe in Montclair
• Jazz inspired Mosaic at Ruthie’s BBQ in Montclair
• Street Art mural at the Montclair Cooperative School
• Day of the Dead inspired mosaic at the Montclair Cooperative School
• 2nd mosaic installation at Ruthie’s BBQ in Montclair
An important element of the Montclair Cooperative School art curriculum is that it is directly connected to the classroom studies and activities. Thus, creative expression and learning are intertwined. As the students learn about their course work they are also exposed to artistic technique, materials and art history.
The principles of art and the elements of design are at the heart of everything we do in the art program. The elementary and middle school art curriculum standards are used as a guide.
Selection of class projects: portraits: scaling and value, figure drawing/comic book page, observation drawing, shibori/indigo dye, felting, color study, sculpture, drawings 1 and 2 Point perspective, e-maki/manga/anime, Day of the Dead sculls, collage, automatons, applied use of perspective in a landscape, botanical garden: observation drawing, still life drawings…
An important element of the Montclair Cooperative School art curriculum is that it is directly connected to the classroom studies and activities. Thus, creative expression and learning are intertwined. As the students learn about their course work they are also exposed to artistic technique, materials and art history.
The principles of art and the elements of design are at the heart of everything we do in the art program. The elementary and middle school art curriculum standards are used as a guide.
Selection of class projects: portraits: scaling and value, figure drawing/comic book page, observation drawing, shibori/indigo dye, felting, color study, sculpture, drawings 1 and 2 Point perspective, e-maki/manga/anime, Day of the Dead sculls, collage, automatons, applied use of perspective in a landscape, botanical garden: observation drawing, still life drawings…
I was responsible for overall operations of the program including: developing the curriculum and finding teachers from the Co-op faculty, dedicated parents, special Co-op student and experts from the community to bring this program to life. Students were offered at least one service elective and one sustainability elective each year.
The program is intended to allow students to:
• Make choices regarding their learning
• Develop friendships with upper school students outside their grade groups
• Develop a student/mentor relationship with an adult who is both passionate and knowledgeable about a subject
• Try something entirely new in the safety of the Co-op Community
• To allow teachers to develop a project related to but outside the scope of the classroom curriculum
• Classes included: Graphic Novels, Darkroom Photography, Stopframe Animation, Cooking, Yoga, Digital Photography, Exercise at DFit, Drum Circle, Philosophy, Chess, Robotics, Pottery: Hand Building, Dyeing and Design, Meditation, Choir, Creative Writing, Architecture, Fashion, Knitting, Fitness, Gee’s Band Quilting, Duct Tape Design, Creative Music with Instruments…
