‘Pioneer Legacy’ shown at Waynesburg
WAYNESBURG – Art – bright, quirky and fun – fills the walls of the Stover Campus Center Gallery at Waynesburg University. It’s a kid’s-eye view of the world, caught with iPads, digitally manipulated and now matted and framed as an art show that will be held at 6:30 p.m. Friday.
“This is our Pioneer Legacy,” West Greene elementary art teacher Adrienne Day said as she clipped the last piece to the wall outside the gallery door.
Inside the gallery, iPads were being mounted on tables so that those who come Friday get to see how it was done. They will also get meet some of the fifth-graders who just spent this school year documenting their world that will soon be history – Graysville and New Freeport elementary schools slated to close soon.
It’s the end of an era for these rural grade schools tucked into the hills and surrounded by playgrounds full of old-fashioned swings and slides, and classrooms filled with the spirit of community that is the grace note of a neighborhood school.
When Day became the art teacher who traveled to these schools, she recognized an opportunity to teach her fifth-graders something about history by giving them the tools to document their world that was about to change.
“I got the idea to have my fifth-grade classes create a photo documentary project, focusing on how they see their schools, their district and their homes and preserve their opinion of all the major changes we are seeing. I wanted them to become primary sources for this very unique time in history, in our small corner of the world. I wanted to teach them how to speak through photography and how to tell a story, basically creating a visual time capsule.”
Day came up with the idea for a two-year project that would allow her fifth-graders to use iPads to photograph their world, learning to describe what they saw in words and sharing it with the rest of the world online. Fifth grade was the perfect age because “that’s when the capability for abstract thought begins to develop.”
Day wrote a grant describing her project, submitted it to the Community Foundation of Greene County, and in the fall of 2012 was delighted to receive nearly $17,000 to purchase 22 iPads, wireless printers, keyboards, a teacher laptop and more, through the foundation’s own EITC program.
Having a showing of the work that’s been done was part of the grant and now, an exciting moment for the students, their parents and hopefully the public awaits Friday. But if you can’t make it, don’t worry. This art show is now online, Day is happy to report.
“I made an iMovie of all the art in the show and the kids chose the music and I showed it to the school board and the other teachers so they could see what we’ve done. If you go to You Tube and search “a pioneer legacy,” you can find it. Next year, we’re going to work on using video and working in groups with an anti-bullying theme. I’m hoping we can involve teachers and students from other school districts who might be using iPads, too.”