In anticipation of the 10 year mark since the beginning of this relationship project, the Pen Pal committee is inviting 20 young people from Grades 4-8 to sign up and be a part of an exciting arts project called The G.R.A.N.D. Project. Standing for “Grand River Arts: Neighbourhood Dialogue” this art project has grown out of the almost 10 years of relationship building that continues between our neighbouring communities.
About the Project
Beginning January 30, 2016, every other Saturday morning from 10:30am to 2:30pm at Chiefswood Tourism Building, young people from all sides of our relationship will come together to co-create reconciliation-themed artwork, in the spirit of mutual respect, friendship, and peace.
By the end of the project, youth will:
- Have participated in fun, multi-media arts training to develop technical skills, including Haudenosaunee traditional art practices, Euro-Western styles, and the elements and principles of design [1st term, Jan to Feb]
- Have applied planning and critical thinking skills to create their art composition to convey their personal meanings of Reconciliation, using the technical building blocks they have learned [2nd term, March to April]
- Work as a team to plan and curate their final exhibition. This involves viewing the big picture, collaboratively determining common elements, themes, and partnerships amongst the artworks themselves to determine what goes where. [Curating Term, May-June]
Who will be teaching the project lessons?
Art teachings will be taught collaboratively by a group of volunteers, guest artists, and high school youth alumni of the Pen Pal Program. This “community-teaching” framework ensures there are intergenerational voices present in the learning and teaching process. The final exhibition, to be interdisciplinary, will be presented at the Pen Pal Year 10 gathering on Friday June 17, and will travel to local municipalities throughout the following summer and fall seasons.
