Artist Statement

As we started our service learning projects I was very nervous as I was encountering the children, especially since there was a cultural, social and language barrier between us. I growing up in a small town of six-thousand and the only Hispanic people I encountered worked on the local farms in our community making this a whole new experience.
When putting together my PowerPoint presentation I wanted to encompass everything I was experiencing in the project, from where I was spending my time to what we were doing. Initially, we were told not to have pictures with children in them making this harder than initially anticipated. I started by collecting an array of pictures that showed the diversity and multiculturalism that was taking place in Escuela from the multicultural flag to the dual language welcome signs. Since I was spending my time in the gym and the game room I wanted to show a slice of what these looked like. Then there was the Easter Party picture, which I chose because it showed the diversity of the school and if other students didn’t get the chance to attend that night, they could still see a bit of what it looked like.
The text was more difficult; because I was doing a PowerPoint presentation and talking throw the entire thing. The text I decided to write was more or less a reminder for myself and brief descriptions as to what was being presented in the photo. Moreover, the last slide I came to the decision to write a conclusion that stated what I learned and what I wanted to achieve in my experience. Also, the background I chose their “motto” since it was all over the school, I wanted to bring that to life and remind everyone that it was there.
By learning the different ways of using the camera as an instrument to explore and explain what I was looking at and trying to get across was rather hard, when you were starting with no idea as to which direction you wanted to go. My decision was to show what I was experiencing throughout my time at the school from what I was looking at to what I was doing from day to day.
In my short time experience, I’ve learned a lot and come to enjoy going and putting in my hours. I’ve built relationships with some of the others through Boys & Girls Club and mainly a few children, who I’ve been with each and every time. The community is a very loving, friendly, personable and close-netted community. Everyone was very helpful and eager to make friends with you, get to know you and making sure you got what you needed out of the experience. I would definitely be open to an experience similar to this in the future and go into it as I did this experience with an open mind and open heart.

Service Learning Powerpoint

http://www.scribd.com/full/29613432?access_key=key-wj1cu6674t58zjf3y08

Easter Party

(Picture taking with the Easter Bunny)

I was very excited for the Easter Party this week and interacting with the children and get a chance to speak with the parents. As I signed in I started to get nervous, because I was going to be face painting and even though I have drawing abilities face painting is somewhat a bit more challenging.

We arrived a few hours before the parents to set up and go over the game plan and activities for the night. Once, in our stations “we” at face painting began to practice on each other and on blank paper. After painting on numerous people and on the table, I found that my talents would be utilized better in egg dying. I found it to be less stressful and more enjoyable, because we were able to interact with more children and at a faster pace. I was able to create small talk with many parents and enjoyed the fact that only a few have dyed eggs before.

(All the eggs in the kitchen that were ready to be dyed)

The event was winding down and less and less people were coming up to the egg dying; so we started to clean up and dye our own eggs. I found this to be rather fun, since I can’t remember the last time I dyed an egg.

Overall, the event went very well and the children were happy with the results of the night. From face painting to dying eggs to getting a picture with the Easter bunny the children and their parents had fun with the end result being a major success.

(Photo of me at the face painting station)