Public School Residencies >

Antiviolence Project (6th Grade)

Developed for Kirkbride Elementary School in Furness Cluster to satisfy the service-learning requirement, this eight-week project uses art to explore how violence impacts people’s lives. Through making and studying artwork that addresses themes of violence, students learn about this issue in its broader societal context. The students study portraits from the Lost Dreams on Canvas Project, lent by the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, in which professional volunteer artists were engaged to paint the images of young people lost to acts of violence. Viewing this work gave the Kirkbride students an opportunity to address violence on a more personal level through the creation of portraits of people who are close to them. They also created illustrated books, based on the tradition of illuminated manuscripts that contain their personal thoughts and observations about conflict resolution.