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Lisa Gillett
Retrospective

lndo/Hispano Art:
Making Connections Through Hands-On Activities

Throughout the school year I was able to implement most of my curriculum unit. I had to split the lessons up between classes because the students were at different maturity and skill levels. The Art 1 students, who are freshmen for the most part, completed the printmaking and the coil pot lessons. The Jewelry students, who are mostly juniors and seniors, carried out the overlay, the bead weaving and the tin lessons.

The Art 1 students loved working with clay. I introduced the coil pot method to them by showing them a video on Maria Martinez. The video was a little slow for their taste, but overall I think they were intrigued. Most of the students had difficulty making their pots over six inches tall, but there were a few students who were very successful with the structure of their pots. Some students managed to give them interesting shapes as well.

Printmaking had similar results. Some students loved it and some students didn't like it at all. They had a hard time carving and they didn't like the fact that they couldn't fix their mistakes in the linoleum block. They depend so much on their erasers when they draw, so it was difficult for them to use a carving tool freely. I asked them to choose Southwest architecture as their subject for printmaking and for the most part they did. The students produced images of churches, pueblos, crosses, etc... One student who did a print of a church received an award at a gallery show.

The first assignment I gave to the jewelry students was the overlay pendant. It is a good beginning project because it teaches them the basic jewelry techniques that they will use repeatedly throughout the year. They learned how to create a design, saw interior and exterior cuts, file, solder, sand and buff. Prior to making their designs, I showed them examples of Hopi overlay jewelry. We discussed symbolism and the importance of positive and negative space. The results were terrific.

After the overlay pendants, the students did the bead weaving project. It was a good project to do after the pendants because it gave the students a break from the metal work. Many students had a hard time sawing and soldering the overlay pieces and they were very frustrated. The bead weaving project made them feel successful. I introduced bead weaving to them by discussing Native American bead weaving. I showed them pictures and we talked about repetitive patterns. As always, I stressed the importance of design. Before they could begin their project, they had to complete a design on bead graph paper.

The project some of jewelry students are working on now is the tin project. Instead of doing a retablo, I decided they could do a water color painting of a saint, or an image that is meaningful to them. When they complete the painting, they design a tin frame for it. We discussed traditional tin design, as well as contemporary styles. The students have to add texture to their tin. So far, the results are amazing. I have never done this project before and I am truly pleased with the enthusiasm and skill of the students.

I feel that my participation in the ATI seminar, lndo-Hispano Cultural Legacy, truly enhanced my teaching methods and techniques. I was able to offer my students a wide variety of art lessons. All lessons can be modified to meet the students' individual needs. I feel the students learned about their history and their culture through art activities. It was a pleasure to watch them participate in and carry out the projects. In the future I'd like to take them on field trips and have visiting artists. I would love to teach an advanced course at the high school level called "Indo-Hispano Art: Making Connections Through Hands on Activities." I think the subject matter would be more coherent. I often felt like we were jumping around from subject to subject, and I would like to teach this curriculum sequentially.