Year two of our unique IDEAL after-school residency wrapped up May 9th with a fantastic student showcase, art exhibit, and reception for family and friends at the Chrysler Museum of Art. What a joy to witness the faces of students as they first saw their artwork displayed in the gallery…. and how gratifying to hear what they learned during their ten-week exploration of self-identity through poetry, music, and visual art.
Douglass Park Elementary, Portsmouth
Cameron: “It’s fun being an artist. Whatever you make is good. It’s a masterpiece. You can make anything, and it will still be a piece of artwork. If I accidentally make something bad, I can change it to something else good. I’ve learned from my mistakes.”
Serenity: “I learned I can do art. It’s great. It’s peaceful. When you draw, everything around you is so quiet. I’ve become nicer as a person. I didn’t usually help people, but now I really help people with stuff.”
Inaliyah: “I’ve learned more about who I am and what I want to become. I want to become an artist because I want to tell people how I feel through art. My teachers taught me how to make things more expressive. I think my mind has grown more and my ability to understand others.”
Point O’View Elementary, Virginia Beach
Hayden: “I’ve learned more about myself and my feelings and my identity. I’ve learned that I can express myself through art. I think I’m more confident. I’m able to make new friends more easily now.”
Walter: “The best part of this program is that we tried doing different things, things that we don’t always try. And I feel like I learned more trust in people.”
Jack: “I’ve learned that I can express myself through art and I could draw what I feel and I could have different feelings in my art. As an artist I’ve learned different skills about how to draw. I feel very proud of myself because I did exceptional in my art piece and I’m just very happy [about it being shown at the Chrysler.]”
Southside STEM Academy at Campostella, Norfolk
Jaela: “The art that I created showed me that even if I feel bad, I can be creative. I feel I can be more confident now and more friendly to others. I used to be really shy.”
Mauriyana: “I think I’ve grown more as a person and an artist. My art style is different and the way I communicate is better. I communicate better if I’m comfortable around people. We spoke aloud on how we made our art and how our art helped us and that made me more comfortable communicating.”
Many thanks to Justin C. Mitchell of JB Digital Photography for the wonderful photos.
You can view the IDEAL students’ artwork through June 9 at the Margaret Shepherd Ray Student and Family Gallery at the Chrysler. Admission and parking are free.
At the conclusion of the Community Creators in STEAM residency in Newport News, we talked with students about their experiences. Words that came up repeatedly were “teamwork,” “friends,” “fun,” and “help.”
“The fifth-grade students at McIntosh Elementary School along with residency steward and teaching artists have spent the last nine weeks using the artistic and engineering design process to address a social issue in their community.
It was also important to the students that art was displayed around the house to give a sense of comfort and ownership. Throughout this project the students made intentional design choices from the color of the walls to the design layout. They wanted those facing this insecurity to feel welcomed.
As part of an innovative after-school residency, 5th graders in Newport News have unveiled 3D artistic creations that are the result of weeks of brainstorming, teamwork, and hands-on design. Four teams of students at George J. McIntosh Elementary School created prototypes that address social issues, presenting their models to educators, community leaders, Arts for Learning staff and board members, and their peers in the residency.
Led by A4L teaching artist 
