Red Hook Initiative + K.I.D.S. = After School Art Explorations!

We have just begun an exciting collaboration with Red Hook Initiative, a community group that creates change from within by working directly with the Red Hooke Houses. RHI's outreach includes running an after school program at BCS, Brooklyn School for Collaborative Studies, in Carroll Gardens West.

This January we launched a pilot after school K.I.D.S. art-making program that runs for seven sessions. I volunteered to be the pilot instructor. I was excited to work with sixth grade boys!

The after school program I designed explores how color and texture create a mood. Emphasizing the Kentler Art Gallery's mission to investigate what it means to make a drawing -- and pushing the boundaries of our expectations of "drawing" -- each week we have explored a new approach to drawing in afterschool.



The first week we tested out how to create mood using textures. The students used everyday materials and materials found in a hardware store to create rubbings. Students made two textured drawings that included rubbings of washers, pennies, metal mesh (looks like a screendoor, but made of metal), plastic grid (normally used for weaving), and sandpaper. Students used graphite to create a somber mood for their first drawing. They used colored pencil to create a more festive, dynamic mood in their second drawing.

The second week coincided with the devastating Haiti earthquake. Already a bit tired of the topic from numerous classroom discussions, the students opted to not talk about it but express the mood though creating two drawings that were in contrast: one that depicted a city before an earthquake, one that depicted a city after an earthquake.

Students were asked to create drawings with flourescent duct tape, ribbons, rubber bands and thin foam pieces in a way that make it clear to the viewer which city was "before" and which city was "after". I wasn't sure what they would come up with, but I knew they would surprise me.

And they did!

The students discussed how bright colors might indicate a vibrant, lively city. One student mentioned that limiting the color or using black duct tape plus lots of chaotic piles of string could indicate the rubble found in the aftermath of an earthquake. Indeed!

The biggest surprise? Students started thinking of the jiggly rubber bands as indicators of earthquake tremors! They imagined that these were drawings that could hang upside down, with the bands dangling off the paper and when shaken could indicate an earthquake was on its way. A fun and unexpected use of materials!

Great work.

More about sessions 3, 4, and 5 coming soon...!


Meghan Keane
Teaching Artist, K.I.D.S. After School program with Red Hook Initiative