EPIC Arts

McMeen Elementary School

Hope is Our Superpower! Students at McMeen Elementary (K-5) have created art related to the big idea of Hope. They have reflected on questions such as: What does hope mean to you? What are your hopes for our community? How can artists use their voice to affect change in their community? Each student has selected an artwork they have created that represents their ideas about hope.

Joliet Learning Center

“Students have been spent the majority of this semester working with sewing. Our current circumstance of social distancing has us relegated to our homes for extended periods of time we haven’t likely seen in generations. These nesting periods of time prompted me to consider how we are revisiting everyday activities at home in new and interesting ways. We’re cooking more. We’re gardening, building, and playing… Sewing seems to be an activity particularly removed from our everyday experiences. Students don’t typically make their own clothes any more, or learn about sewing in a home economics class, or are taught how to stitch a sampler with their grandmother. One thing I do know, students LOVE to use sewing machines. They also love to stitch. So, our classes dove into modern takes on the traditional craft of sewing. We specifically studied quilting. We investigated artists such El Anatsui, a Ghanan professor working in Nigeria who creates assemblages from bottle caps that resemble large flowing metal blankets. We studied Chris Roberts Antieu, whose folk style applique and embroidered “fabric paintings” tell us playful stories of nature and revisit cliché sayings. We also explored artist Faith Ringgold’s and her story quilts, and Bisa Butler’s portrait quilts. Each of the artists used images and design in their own stitched sensations that represent their lived contextual experiences. If you ask them about what their images represent, they will tell you, “These are the things I like.” Please enjoy the things in the world that these three students like. I would argue that they love these things, as daily, they energetically explore and share their love and interest in these topics that drive their artwork.” -Vanessa Hayes-Quintana

Berkeley Tidwell, Grade 9, Low Relief Metal Foil & Applique Anime

Iris Chasansky, Grade 9, Rainbow Quilt

Arts Street

Your Vote Counts! A team of Arts Street youth artists created designs for a series of "Get out the vote" posters. Youth were given carte blanche to create their designs around issues that are important to them and to encourage others to vote. Youth artist Selena, age 20, explains, "Young voters account for half of the voting population, we hold a lot of power and we can very easily sway the election, but our generation doesn't always vote. That's why I think it is so important for us as the future leaders of this country to vote because our voices matter, we have to be the change we want to see." - Selena, age 20

Selena

Emily Strand

Bibiana

Alex

Ai

Abby

Kunsmiller Creative Arts Academy

Kunsmiller presents a selection of pieces, including a (6) minute excerpt from the performance She Kills Monsters Virtual Realms by Qui Nguyen. Also included are images from 5 different instructors with over 2 dozen images. The collection includes digital renderings, poems, and sketches.

She Kills Monsters Virtual Realms

Teacher: Joshua Burke

Students: Alexa Gonzalez, Alexandra Flores-Plata, Celia Rios, Dazhay Aguirre, Eloisa Trujillo-Carillo, & Jatzari Adame-Romo