Culture

Artist Residency with Wing Young Huie

Wing Young Huie spent a full week with South Ridge School 7-12th grade art students learning to identify and discuss implicit bias through photography. Below see Chalk Talk images.

Culture

How Do Photographs Form Us?
Wing’s dynamic slide show lecture confronts many divisive social issues, such as cultural bias, immigration, religion, and social disconnection. While sharing anecdotes and insights into his creative process—and his abilities to intimately interact with thousands of strangers—he also discusses the personal and professional challenges in his 35-year journey of becoming a accomplished artist.

What Do You See? Through a Zine published by Mr. Huie, students participate in a discussion of their impressions, bias and ideas concerning what they see in the photograph image. These discussion are able to be translated into real life interactions between stranger, friends and family.

A “Chalk Talk” workshop is where participants engage each other with by asking a series of open-ended questions. Working in pairs each student then chooses only one of the answers from each person, which that person writes on a chalkboard. How would you answer these questions?

What are you?
How do you think others see you? What don’t they see?
What advice would you give to a stranger?
What is your favorite word?
Describe an incident that changed you.
How have you been affected by race?
Workshop participants pair with someone in the room they are unfamiliar with, ask each other these questions, choose each others’ answer, and and then write that answer down on black construction paper with white chalk. (Option: participants can then photograph each other with their chalkboards.) This intimate and non-confrontational interaction addresses issues of bias, challenging preconceptions of the other and one’s self.

Contrasting points of views are engaged when Wing presents his photographs that are open to interpretation and asks participants, “What do you see?” He then facilitates a dialogue before revealing the stories behind the photographs that furthers the complexities of cultural and personal perceptions, creating a challenging yet safe environment for deep discussion.

How are we impacted by the daily consumption of countless images created by marketing forces, the media, and popular entertainment? How can we differentiate our authentic selves from idealized realities? Do we become what we see? In other words: How do photographs form us?

Shifting Identities  How do you present yourself in different setting? with different people?

Culture  What is your culture? What makes your life unique to your family, land, community?

https://www.wingyounghuie.com/

McKnight Names Wing Young Huie as Distinguished Artist 2018   “With his powerful photography and compelling public art projects, Wing Young Huie has been documenting Minnesota’s changing cultural landscape for more than 30 years in images that ask us to focus on people and places that are often overlooked,” says Kate Wolford, president of McKnight. “Whether he’s talking to a class of college students or turning entire city blocks into a public gallery space, Wing has a rare gift for challenging assumptions and inviting conversation through his unique artistic vision. We couldn’t be more delighted by the selection committee’s decision to honor a photographer who really has transformed our image of what being Minnesotan means.”

This opportunity made possible through the generous donations of the Northland Foundations and Teaching Tolerance/Southern Poverty Law. Check out Teaching Tolerance website for more information

https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/understanding-implicit-bias-through-photography

211 Conversations

South Ridge High School Printmaking and Painting students create collages for 122 Conversations which will culminate in 2018 at the Tweed Museum of Art – University of Minnesota in Duluth, MN. The final display will include the contributions of exhibition visitors in the five sister cities. The participatory element is an important part of the project, for it enables citizens to “validate” Labovitz’s impressions of their community as represented in the exhibited paintings. Individuals are invited to their own images and paper in an act of sharing and create an image or message. The individual collages will be collected into a book for each community, forming a community art piece. These books, along with the traveling exhibition bags, will be archived at the Tweed Museum.

  • October 6, 2018 | 1-3 pm | Family Day
  • October 14, 2018 |1-3:30 pm | Art Teachers Workshop & Reception
  • October 25, 2018 | 6 – 8:30 pm | 122 Conversations: Person to Person, Art Beyond Borders Public Opening Reception, (special guests, Anne Labovitz, Mayor Emily Larson, DSCI delegate, Koresh Lakhan) The UMD MAAD LAB will offer Live Streaming with some sister cities!
  • November 10, 2018 | 1:30 – 2:30 | Gallery talk with Anne Labovitz

https://theways.org/story/living-language

 

South Ridge art students are also participating. Create a visual representation of what peace in your community looks like. Using a 10″ square and materials provided create a work of art to be submitted to the 122 conversations exhibition. Collages will also be used to develop compositions for a self-portrait etching and painting in class.

 

122 Conversations

http://labovitz.com/122-conversations/

122 Conversations

Region 7A MSHSL Art Contest

South Ridge School participated in this year’s Region 7A MSHSL Art Contest which was held at the new Moose Lake School on April 3rd. Nearly 120 entires were submitted region wide with 12 categories. South Ridge students were awarded two “Best of Show” – A Johnson, “Neon Clown”, Digital Art and C Dufton, “Butterfly Barrette”, Craft.  A Johnson, “Neon Clown”, also was awarded our only Excellent rating receiving 20/20 points.  C Dufton, “Butterfly Barrette”; “G Gundy, Succulent Sculpture”; K Graves “Diamond Bee,Printmaking; I Dean, “Portrait, Digital Art; and A Johnson”Succulent Bowl” all received Superior Ratings.

Student from through the arrowhead region were able to spend time together painting on a mural (to be installed at the Moose Lake school), drawing henna designs on to their arms and hands, ordering (and watching) a silk screened Tshirt made for them, throw clay on the wheel or enjoy drawing with friends. Great work everyone! We had a wonderful time!

A Johnson “Neon Clown”, Digital Art, Best of Show/Excellent Rating

L Schmelz “Portrait of an Older Person”, Painting

A Johnson “Succulent Clay Bowl”, Ceramics

I Dean “Portrait”, Digital Art, Superior Rating

C Loumala “Powerlines”, Digital Photography

C Loumala “Snowy Owl” (Porcupine Quill on Birchbark) Craft

G Gundy, Succulent Bowl”, Ceramics, Superior Rating

C Wallace “The Wolf and the Crows”, Painting

L Schmelz “Claw” (Porcupine Quill on Birchbark), Craft

N Olson “Nick” Digital Photography

S Vlaminick “Start of Fall”, Painting

K Graves “Diamond Bee” Printmaking, Superior Rating

J Class “Fox in Snow”, Painting

C Dufton “Landscape Near the Coast” Painting

C Dufton ‘ Butterfly” (porcupine Quill on Birchbark), Best of Show in Craft/Superior Rating

GSA Smoke Free Banner

A banner was created by South Ridge School Gay Straight Alliance (GSA) with the support of Fond du Lac Reservation (FDL), South Ridge Art Dept., Statewide Health Improvement Partnership (SHIP) and Clear Way of MN.

South Ridge GSA works together to educate youth by raising awareness – learning how to be personally healthy, promoting healthy attitudes and choices in life. We support a safe and supportive community for all – whether a person is straight or gay, bi-sexual or transgender, queer or intersex – however students define themselves is supported.  Students are encouraged to be who they are – embrace love – not hate, embrace diversity and inclusiveness.

Students participate is a number of activities throughout the school year to share with their community what they are learning in GSA. We often focus on life choices. Studies show that queer and American Indian kids choose to smoke because of the added stresses these kids live with each day. They are more susceptible to substance abuse.  To preempt this South Ridge GSA and Fond du Lac’s SHIP joined together providing an opportunity to promote healthy lifestyle choice – to live smoke free.

Using a technique taught by Duluth artist Kirsten Aune, students cut words out of freezer paper creating stencils. Additional patterns and designs were again cut out of the letters and the stencils were ironed down on to a large sheet of muslin. Textile inks were then painted on top of the fabric. Areas where the original fabric remained were protected by the stencils.

Students worked for about a month to complete the banner which was unveiled Feb 28th when SHIP representatives visited school. They brought healthy snacks and shared simple breathing and stretching exercises (Yoga) students could do to relieve stress.

The stress of living in a society that is hostile to the people of color and LGBTQAI communities creates social stress that makes many of these young people at greater risk for substance use. Teaching students to be aware of this in their own life choices will better prepare them for a healthy future.

 

Quillwork on Birch Bark

     
     

HS Sculpture students worked with guest artists, Juanita Blackhawk and Kim Bollig, to create a piece of quill work. Porcupine quills were sorted by dismeter (not length). Then each quill was warmed in water and attached to birch bark using an awl and tweezers. Designs were chosen to go on either earrings, medallions, pins or barrettes.
Special thank to ISD 2142 American Indian Student Services – JOM parents, South Ridge Art Club and Essentia Health for the their support.

giminodimaadizikenin – we all make a good life

Historically public art, whether murals or mosaics, empowers folks. Often public art is the voice piece for those often unheard. South Ridge 8th grade created hand painted tiles for this 30′ long mosaic mural of the Ojibwe word giminaadimaadizikenin meaning we all work together for good.

Students studied and redrew flowering vegetables, wild flowers and fruits in the Ojibwe floral design style. These botanicals, which are based on flowering plants from our area in northern Minnesota surround the text.

In these days we need something to remind us of each other – how much we need each other. Good work benefits all of us. These days it’s a great reminder that we need to do our best – for all of us.

miigwech to Lowana Greensky and Sonny Greensky for sharing their knowledge and language with us.

Carl Gawboy and the Ojibwe Star Stories

© Annette Lee & William Wilson 20120813

South Ridge 7th grade students have been studying the Ojibwe and Greek star maps as they created their own Planetarium Umbrellas. They also created three new “personal” star constellations based in a creative writing lesson.

Students will retell Ojibwe Star stories as they have been shared with them by artist and historian Carl Gawboy at the public performance on May 3rd, 5 PM in the South Ridge school Forum.(MSAB Arts Learning grant with Frank Theatre)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


VTS_03_1 Carl Gawboy Shingebis and the Wintermaker from SouthRidgeART on Vimeo.


VTS_02_1 The Great Flood from SouthRidgeART on Vimeo.


VTS_04_1 Carl Gawboy Fisher Saves the Birds from Skyland from Media Art on Vimeo.