Art Changes People. People Change the World!

High School Art Students at South Kamloops Secondary really put their hearts into their recent class project. Starting with the belief: “Art changes people. People change the world,” a dedicated group of girls set their sights on women in poverty. After thoughtful research and dynamic class discussions, these junior art students believed they could create artworks to reflect, not just the problems girls and women face, but their belief in the strength of women and how they can be the catalysts of change. 

Students were encouraged to look at different regions around the world and research some of the specific hardships girls and women endure. Next, students looked at the positive actions taken by humanitarian groups/organizations, empowering women through education and financial aid. The students quickly recognized that A LOT of people are actively involved; empowering, supporting and inspiring women.

The next step was image development and the question of how to arrange images and colours to create a compelling message; how to reveal hardships and yet suggest hope. In the end, this project engaged the students to think creatively and to think with empathy. For the students, the more they believed in the message, the more they challenged themselves to improve their technical skills and understanding of the principles of art. They really believed in the images they created, and in the potential to communicate something bigger than themselves. For me, it was inspiring to see this; to listen to their dialogue and watch as they created twenty five, diverse and uniquely compelling artworks!


In January, the students committed to posting one artwork a day to our blog, Make Art For Change. They worked through the challenging process of titling and writing artist statements to support their artwork. Then, using facebook and twitter we tackled getting the message “out there”. As a classroom teacher it is often my goal to get artwork viewed beyond the classroom walls, but getting it out to the world through the Internet was really exciting. Thank you to everyone who has viewed it so far and helped to share our message of Hope.

Girls are Valuable

My art piece is focused on Egyptian women helping the world with its difficulties. It shows that one person can take the effort to try and get the message out there; that women everywhere don't have enough rights.  Or, that women are getting them taken away by governments controlled by men  -  "but forget about it and don't change anything." But we can make changes.  So I made this to remind everyone that this world can be a better place.


Genessa, Grade 9

Make A Change

My art shows that First Nations people stick together no matter what. Wherever life takes you, stand up for your self. Don't lay low and just wish it would just go away. Make a change and use your voice.

Jill, Grade 9

Helping Hands

My artwork is about how one person can make a difference and escape poverty. My artwork represents a woman leading young children out of the grey, horrible life they live and into one filled with education and jobs of their choice, and many other things. In this process I learned some of the horrible things people do to women in different regions of the world. I think Art Can Change People. People Change the World is true, because some people just listen and don't do anything to help, but with art it may help people to visualize what actually goes on and get a clear perspective on these types of issues women struggle with in our everyday life. It may persuade people to do something about it. People need to know about some of the issues women struggle with.

The Path to Success

My picture shows a girl that has been given the chance to walk down the path of education. It shows that education can open doors for young girls to have a chance at a happy life. Two thirds of all uneducated people are women. Girls who are uneducated are likely to  be discriminated against and continue to live in poverty. "For every year a girl spends in school, she raises her family income by up to 20%" (care.ca). My picture does not represent a certain country because I believe all girls need to be educated. Education opens doors to all sorts of other opportunities. Having an education empowers a woman to do things that she might have never even dreamt of before. I think that we have been presented with a chance to help people, and we are doing our best to show all that with our art.

- Jenny, Grade 10

Be Great!

"Be Open-Minded" Alex, Grade 10

I stopped what I was doing and looked across my classroom, an art room crowded with teenagers. Students gathered supplies, dragged stools into place and opened books. Across the room someone knocked a bucket of markers onto the floor. There were pockets of conversation, chatter about the weekend, and laughter at some joke told just beyond my earshot. Then, almost imperceptibly, the room became calm and uncharacteristically quiet as students began to focus on the task at hand.

For the past seventeen years, I have been a high school art teacher in Kamloops, British Columbia, a job I am passionate about! My days are busy, noisy and messy. I am surrounded by teenagers and inundated with tasks, activities, and questions. While some people may find this surprising, a room full of teenagers can be quiet—if they are focused and creatively engaged.

As an Art teacher, I teach students to draw, paint and sculpt. I offer strategies for creating aesthetically pleasing artworks and encourage students to recognize the beauty in the world around them. As well, I think it is increasingly important to empower students with the knowledge that their ideas matter, that their art can communicate powerful messages.

Working closely with teens, I am acutely aware of the pressures students are under. They are navigating family problems, health issues, financial stresses, school grades— the list goes on. By the time students reach high school, experience has already taught them that life is competitive, times stressful, and circumstances not always fair. So it is understandable that teens may become frustrated and react impulsively with negative attitudes and behaviours.

I came up with the “Be Great” project to challenge students to consider “strength of character” as a theme for their artwork. I encouraged them to think about ways in which positive behaviours impact their daily interactions with people around them. In groups and as a class, we brainstormed a long list of possible ideas. Individually, students were tasked with choosing one positive characteristic to represent in a visually compelling painting. Imagery, composition, colour theory and painting techniques were all necessary considerations.

It was only a short time into this process when I discovered that “moment of silence”, the moment when I knew everyone was fully engaged in the process, and creative problem solving had begun. All I had to do was wait for their visual solutions.
   
As this class celebrated positive human attributes, they began to see how people can choose to behave differently. Rather than being competitive, frustrated, disconnected, greedy, or bitter, individuals can be generous, resilient, engaged, innovative, and thankful.The students also recognized that by focusing on positive characteristics and behaviours, they can change not only their own experiences but enhance the experiences of others around them.
    
The students seemed to get it. By creating and sharing these artworks, they demonstrated that we can be optimistic about our future. Being positive and engaged in what we do is fundamental to success and happiness.

Wouldn’t it be great if more and more young people (and adults) were talking about this? And then doing something about it. As if it was the most important thing in the world.

Be Spiritual

The word I decided to try and represent was spirituality. To convey spirituality I decided to paint a girl with long, blond, flowing hair, pale skin and a halo above her head. I wanted her to appear almost angelic, seeing as many people believe in a higher power when talking about spirituality. I painted her hands to make it look like she's in a praying position to try and drive the point home. I decided early on to paint her with relatively cool colours. I felt it would emphasize her golden-yellow hair that appears to be spreading sort of like a bird's wing. To me, spirituality is an important characteristic to have, bringing almost a sense of optimism and contentedness. If everyone adopted this trait, I think the world would be a much better place. We might just be a little more conscious of how we treat others. Hopefully this painting will inspire just a few people to be a little more spiritual in their lives.

Aaron, Grade 9

Be Compassionate

If people practised compassion I believe that the world could greatly benefit.  Compassion is very scarce in our world today.  It seems as though people are always too stressed in their own lives to think about other people.  If we all practised  a little more compassion in our lives, people would be happier and potentially friendlier toward people of other nations.

-Keri-Ann, Grade 9

Be Kind-Hearted

My artwork represents being kind-hearted. In the middle there is a girl with energy flowing out of her heart. Inside the swirl of energy there are words that connect to being kind-hearted. In the background there's a light wash of warm colours, the girl is darker and outlined  making her more bold. She has a big heart which symbolizes kindness. I think being kind-hearted is very important.

Ruby, Grade 10

Be Peaceful

My water colour painting represents that it is important to be a peaceful person in our world. Being peaceful gives us an opportunity to escape from the world we live in and use time for ourselves. In today's society, being an individual is becoming less and less of a good thing. It is important to reconnect with who you really are and what you enjoy instead of being influenced by the "cookie cutter' world around us.

Alana, Grade 9

Be Unique

My painting is supposed to display the idea of being unique. It symbolizes stepping out into the world and being who you really are, rather than just who you think you should be. I want people to see that just being different can change your whole outlook on life. I showed happiness, in the face of the girl which is unique because the people in the background were not very happy. I want to show the world that it's okay to stand out; to be more than just another face in the crowd. If everyone embraced their uniqueness it could help to bring bullying to its knees, and help to make the world less critical and more accepting. I believe that even just a simple picture can show someone, anyone, that being unique is not a bad thing. In fact, it's a great thing! It can change lives and spark dreams. 

Ally, Grade 9

Be Grateful

In my artwork there is a girl with her arms outspread taking in the beauty around her. I wanted people to understand that it is important to take a moment to realize the beauty all around us. I represented gratitude. It is easy to complain about our problems and take things for granted, but very hard to count our blessings and be grateful. So I challenge all of us! Gratitude is one of the most powerful motivators, and it is important to feel for the things we are so fortunate to have. If everyone was grateful, the wonders of life would be appreciated and there would be more joy. From this process I have learnt that we all need to take more time from our days just to look around us and be happy for what we have, and to really enjoy it.

Heather, Grade 10

Be Imaginative

In my artwork, I am showing futuristic thoughts - what could possibly happen in the coming years, if we are all imaginative. Some examples are the flying cars, the robot and the rockets to the moon, which has buildings on it.  The lyrics are to help represent the drawings like the giraffe/zebra and the lollipops on the tree. These drawings show things that would probably never happen, but it shows how imaginative a young mind can be. There are also some symbols in my painting: the infinity sign symbolizes that there are endless possibilities when it comes to your imagination. The rainbow cylinder signifies a mind exploding with ideas. The brown stairs behind it corresponds to technology getting more advanced in stages. I chose the word imaginative because I always try to be imaginative in everything I do. I strongly believe if you use your imagination and are open to new ideas, you could be capable of more than you think you are. In this process, I have realized that the world is changing at a fairly quick tempo, and if people put their positive, imaginative foot forward, we have the chance to change the world in more ways than one.

Teghan, Grade 10

Be Spirited

Be spirited. All the stress in your life might be bringing you down and taking away your fun, but that is no excuse to not be spirited. We need people who can have fun and enjoy whats going on. fill your life with happiness and joy. You need to spread your spirit to all those who forgot they had one. All those dull people around you need some colour in there life so let it shine. Remember life has a purpose and that purpose is for us to live to our life to the fullest. So live large. Let your spirit fly.

Kelsey, Grade 9

Be Resilient

I chose the word resilient because it's important that people be resilient against problems big or small. In my art I have shown some large scale issues; like natural disasters, blackouts and pollution, with a girl holding them up.  She is stronger than the problems she faces. The problems in my art are problems that effect people around the world, but there are also other things we have to overcome. Resilience is key to overcoming many global issues.

Georgia, Gr. 9

Be Innovative

The word I attempted to portray is to be innovative.  I chose this word because our world is in constant demand of creative and ingenious new thinking.  These ideas could improve minor details of our daily lives or be a solution to a worldwide problem that would better mankind exponentially.  One example of symbolism in my artwork would be the light bulb to represent the beginning of the change or also the initial idea behind it.  Frankly, it only takes one person to make a change to our world and that person could be you! "The future is purchased by the present." -Samuel Johnson.

Samantha, Grade 10.

Sticker Book

In my painting I'm trying to show people how fragile the present is, and how our actions now can effect the future to an extreme. The hand and the sticker page are meant to represent the future and that children may not be able to experience the animals that we have today. My art is based on the Mountain Caribou, the Mountain Caribou is a critically endangered species. Within the last decade their population has dropped about 25%, from approximately 2200 in the late 1990's to approximately 1900 today. This species is linked to many other endangered species and if the caribou were to go extinct it may lead to the disappearance of 21 other species. The Mountain Caribou is globally unique to South eastern British Columbia so if we don't protect it, who will? The main threats to the caribou are habitat loss and fragmentation. Logging and back country recreation are the main causes of both of these. People need to take action and help support these unique animals.

Katie, Grade 9
For more information on the Mountain Caribou go to  www.mountaincaribou.ca/

The Canada Warbler

I painted a picture of three Canada Warblers flying around the world because, it represents that with all of the forests being cut down they will have no place to live. It also represents that they are flying around the world night and day looking for a new place to live, but can't find it. I made the Warblers big because even though they are not a very well known species they still have a large impact on BC.There are under 100 Canada warblers left in BC (wikipedia). The Warbler needs a place to live, they breed generally in dense secondary growth forests, red maple swamps, or high elevation alpine forests.

Amy, Grade 10

Surrounded

In my painting, you see a bird flying, and in the background, there are blotches of colour. The colour represents all the pollution that the bird can't ever fly away from. I chose to paint the Red Knot because it is one of the species that isn't super extravagant or attention demanding. The species that are more in the background are the ones that are more likely to go extinct because no one is overly concerned about them. I think we need to raise awareness about endangered species in BC, because whatever humans do will affect the lives of those animals.

Jillian, Grade 10

Rise Above

In my art three women are rising above a world of pain and misery as they clutch at the fragile tendrils of hope. I was hoping that when people see my work they will understand the difficulties that women in other parts of the world face each day, and how they can come to rise above their struggles with a bit of help. I aimed to represent Peru. I did this by using the same style of bright fabrics with detailed patterns. I chose Peru because women there are constantly being denied basic rights, like abortions, which are illegal there. Nearly half of Peruvian women are abused by fathers, brothers, or husbands, and 44.5% of Peru's population live below the poverty line. I believe that our art can change the world, because if it can inspire just one person, that person can have the power and ability to speak up and make a difference.

- Robin, Grade 10


Watch for more artwork to follow . . .