In
collaboration with Wingtip Press and the Idaho Historical Museum, students in Jill Fitterer’s, fall semester ART 309-409 Studio in Printmaking course, worked on
the Dia de los Muertos Steamroller Event. This event created an opportunity for students, artists, and community
members to come together collaboratively though artistic expression. Through
their work, students developed a deeper appreciation for community involvement
and authentic learning experiences. Boise State University student, Kylee Koenig explained, “This was not just an educational
experience that I could have obtained by sitting in a classroom, this Service
Learning course created new relationships with community members and
educational providers, opening future possibilities for me as a student and a
local artist”.
As a part
of their collaboration, students from ART 309-409 worked with students from area
high schools, middle schools, and elementary schools, as well as artists from the community, to create a total of 55 printing
blocks. Blocks were carved with
traditional hand tools and electric carving tools. The blocks were then rolled
with paint and printed on large sheets of fabric, using a steamroller press. An
ART 309-409 student shared, “One of the things I cease to realize from
time to time is the way young view the world with such excitement. During
the Steamroller event, everything from the blocks, to the ink, and even the
prints, were the most brilliant inventions…for that moment - through the eyes
of youth.”
The
prints were carried in the Dia de
los Muertos procession held on November 2nd, and exhibited
around Boise to further showcase the community works. Students were challenged
to connect their academic instruction to their experience, “In the
process of performing my project responsibilities, creating my work, and
participating in class discussions, I was challenged to think critically about
the Mexican culture, and find ideas that I could identify with and apply to my
own artwork.”
What did the ART 309-409 students learn from this
experience? One of the ART 309-409 students explained, “We learned to
work together to bring art to the community to make something greater from the
sum of its parts”. Students shared their experience through the Service Learning Student Exhibition. Click on the following links to see two examples of ART 309-409 poster submissions.
- Jill K. Hettinger, Boise State University Service-Learning
- Jill K. Hettinger, Boise State University Service-Learning
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