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YES Prep students do Art for Haiti

January 24, 2010 by Jeremy Jones

YES Prep Students do Art for Haiti 3 Like 9^th grade World History teacher Bonnie Rhoden (see Blog post “YES Prep Students Rock Band for Haiti”), I was horrified by the recent tragic events in Haiti. I also thought back to my own experience with large-scale tragedy. I was living and working in Manhattan on September 11, 2001. As I walked to work, I saw the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. That event changed my life in many ways. It had a huge impact on my decision to leave the career of advertising to give back through arts education. The arts can offer a powerful healing affect to those that experience a tragic event.

I was inspired by the compassion and dedication of YES Prep Southeast teachers James Sheridan and YES Prep Southeast students do Art for Haiti 2 Dymisha Richardson to encourage our staff and students to get involved in the relief effort for Haiti. This week in all of my art classes (6^th Grade, 7^th Grade, HS Art I, and HS Art II) we talked about the healing power of the arts. We first looked at and discussed art that children and adults made after the events of 9/11/01 and of Hurricane Katrina. We looked at images from Haiti, and we discussed their country and their cultures. In our art classes, we focus not so much on thinking about art as we make art, but thinking about life. On the students’ class syllabus there is a quotation from one of my favorite artists, Jean Michel Basquiat, “I start a picture, and I finish it. I don’t think about art while I work. I try to think about life.” We use art as a way to learn more about ourselves, our local community, and our global community. In art class, we revolve our learning around themes and contemporary artists that often relate to social issues. In 6^th Grade they are focusing on the theme of stories. We integrated our learning with the stories of the Haitians and the tragic events that recently unfolded.

Our art students are now working on art for the children of Haiti. 6^th Grade student, Miguel Cambranis said, “Haitians need us now more than ever.” Other teachers at YES Prep SE are also incorporating this Art for Haitian lesson into their curriculum. They understand not only the importance of giving their students a unique opportunity to give back in a very personal way, but there are also very relevant connections to what the students are learning in the classroom. “I feel like there's a strong link between the devastation in Haiti (current events) and the economic devastation during the Great Depression (my current unit of study),” Mr. Ray Green, U.S. History teacher at YES Prep Southeast.

To see move photos of Tara's students doing Art for Haiti, please visit: http://gallery.me.com/tatanicole#100496&view=grid&bgcolor=black&sel=9

Tara Alcancia Johnson teaches all levels of Art at YES Prep Southeast. Tara is a 2000 graduate of Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas where she studied Communications and Advertising. Tara earned her Master's Degree in Art Education from the University of Houston in 2007.