STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. – NEW BRIGHTON – Lucky third-graders at PS 31, along with some children from fourth- and fifth-grade classes at the New Brighton school, embarked on an exciting exploration of African art, crafts, and music last October – thanks to the creativity and enthusiasm of Emily Ellison, a West Brighton resident who is employed by Sundog Theatre to teach art and music.
“Once a week, we make art and music, sing songs, dance, and study some of the culture of the vast, varied and beautiful continent of Africa,” Ms. Ellison said. Her rich, Africa-themed curriculum continues until the end of the school year.
Ms. Ellison is hopeful that these creative classroom activities will inspire in her young students “a life-long interest in African culture and customs.” She also wishes that what they learn inspires them to enjoy future opportunities to visit the continent and see everything for themselves, first-hand.
AFRICAN MASKS
The students visited the Brooklyn Museum in October, on a tour that focused on the African masks exhibition.
“They investigated wood and fiber masks from Burkina Faso, Liberia, and other countries,” said Ms. Ellison, “and learned that artisans use readily-available materials – wood, fiber, and paints and pigments from plants and minerals. Some of the children designed masks of their own on paper that day.
“Back at school, each class spent three art-periods designing and creating their own African masks out of paper, yarn, fabric, raffia plant fiber, and glue,” she reported. “They cut out the eye-holes themselves, and made important design decisions, such as ear shape, mouth placement, and opting for symmetrical or asymmetrical masks.”
Last week, Jordan Montgomery, 9, proudly pointed out the mask that he had designed. It symbolizes “the combination of a guerrilla, a bird, and the teeth of a cheetah,” he said.
Raniyah Lockley, 8, explained that her mask – fashioned with pipe cleaners, yarn, and feathers, in a palette of blue, purple, pink, red, and orange – was designed to represent “a person from Africa.”
Another intricate, colorful mask by Max Butler, 9, was crafted to incorporate “a guerrilla, antelope horns, tiger whiskers, and a lion’s beard,” said Max, who noted that his father, Julius, “is a sculptor and an artist.”
WEAVING
The students also created textile pieces, “inspired by Kente cloth from Ghana,” Ms. Ellison said. “They learned about weaving, embroidery, and dying fabrics.”
She taught one class first to weave on paper, “and then I moved them on to creating beautiful weavings on plastic looms that I built out of discarded, corrugated plastic campaign signs from local political races.”
Two classes of students traveled to the Newhouse Center at Snug Harbor Cultural Center and Botanical Garden in Livingston to watch, up close, weaving of Kente cloth from Ghana.
Inspired, the students produced striking fabric-strip weavings from scraps of material that Ms. Ellison provided. “I gave them lots of strips, and they had to plan and work in groups. This was not easy,” she said.
The students were also instructed to title their works, which are destined for permanent exhibition at the school.
The pieces include: “My Little Sister’s Birthday Cake from my Dad,” a creation of Jahda Page and Bernard Faulkner; “Red Clothes” from Karmel Blake and Darsee Joe; and “Blue Sky,” a design of Richard Joya and Luis Soto.
EMBROIDERY
After learning about embroidery from South Africa, 23 third-graders worked on projects last Thursday morning, at Ms. Ellison instruction to “continue with or edit your design.” She explained that the students could choose to use metal or bobby-pin needles, and any sewing technique they preferred, including chain and cross-stitching. She distributed chalk to students who wanted to reconfigure initial design schematics.
Each student’s individual embroidered burlap squares will be combined into a class quilt, Ms. Ellison explained. And then she challenged them:
“What kind of design represents you the best? What if someone found our quilt 500 years from now? What will your design say about you? Pick your designs and colors carefully,” she advised.
The youngsters paid attention, and got to work. Alissa Walton, 9, from New Brighton, had chosen a piece of red burlap. Her design? “A heart with the word ‘love’ inside it, and I’m going to embroider flowers around the heart,” she said.
Her classmate Jadalise McGee, also 9 and from New Brighton, was designing “a rocket ship, because I like space,” she said. “Space is interesting because it has all the planets.” Her favorite planet is Mars – “because it’s so rocky and red,” she said.
The students learned about African-American quilt-making during a visit to Sandy Ground, according to Ms. Ellison. That art form derived “from needlework and quilt traditions in Africa,” she said.
Ms. Ellison is hopeful that the months-long experience will stick with her young charges for a lifetime. “I hope that the children will continue to pursue any of the wonderful arts and crafts they learned, and grow as artists, dancers, singers and musicians,” she said with a broad smile.