Lower School Visual Art educator, Melissa Parks, shares the impactful and transformative experience her students had when taking part in a special project inspired by Nick Cave's Soundsuits.
With a diverse school population, our school places importance on building respect and understanding of our differences while removing the labels, so incorporating the concept of Nick Cave’s Soundsuits lent itself as an easy artistic way to forge this understanding for the students in my second grade classes. The students relished the variety of colors and textures available to them to create their soundsuits and expand their freedom of expression. The choice of art medium was expansive and the students were thrilled with their choices of buttons, pipe cleaners, paper, glitter, toys, stickers, yarn, paint, markers, and more to embellish their lawn bags.
Making art fulfills a child’s need for self- expression. The value of the activities should not be measured by the finished product, but in the pure enjoyment and learning that takes place along the way. The joy of creating something produced from their imagination is exciting. Once children gain confidence and knowledge, they begin to feel secure enough to be inventive, to take risks, to express individual ideas, take pride and gain satisfaction in their creativity. This transformation was exhilaratingly evident in my recent Nick Cave Soundsuit inspired project.
Nick Cave and his work are described by Jack Shainman Gallery (www.jackshainman.com/artists/nick-cave) as, “Nick Cave is an artist, educator and foremost a messenger, working between the visual and performing arts through a wide range of mediums including sculpture, installation, video, sound and performance. He says of himself, "I have found my middle and now am working toward what I am leaving behind." Cave is well known for his Soundsuits, sculptural forms based on the scale of his body. Soundsuits camouflage the body, masking and creating a second skin that conceals race, gender, and class, forcing the viewer to look without judgment.”
After the students created these amazing works of art, we collaborated with the dance teacher in residence, Bobbie Lucas, where she guided and encouraged the children as they mapped their own celebratory movements and chants. Each class created its own unique rhythm and personalized march/dance program. Each child took ownership of their performance while taking turns to share their special contribution. This was not only impactful for the students but on all who viewed these performances. The young students giggled and laughed as they excitedly showcased their own visual and performing artistic creations to parents, faculty, fellow students and to each other.
My goal for each child to see themselves as a creative force was realized beyond my expectations. It made adults and other children pause and reflect on the message. It was an authentic way of sharing a bigger idea that was more than a single art project. To my mind, a classroom experience that enhances the ability to be creative and expressive while showcasing the sweetness, color, and joy of our human experiences, is certainly a lesson to cherish.