Culture, Traditions + Heritage
Also see Arts + Culture and Equity+Diversity and Inclusion
Eradicating World Poverty through Gender Equity
In 2000 the United Nations developed eight goals (called the MDG-Millennium Development Goals) to help eradicate world poverty. Inherent in the goals is a need to build gender equity. Equity is a basic human right. The more that women are empowered in their home and work, the greater the decline in extreme poverty in that nation. Remarkable gains have been made since the UN MDG thanks to concerted efforts of national governments, the international community, civil society and the private sector. Still, more must be done and we must never give up. What is gender equity? What does it look like? Here is a mixed and new media art idea to explore the MDG goals, their impact, and just how the notion of gender equity influences the wellbeing of a nation. Enjoy a day of enquiry, discovery, mapping and planning for the future in a highly collaborative, creative, artistic way. Juniors + Intermediates ~ Charmaine Lurch, Samina Mansuri + Pria Muzumdar ~
www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/sdgoverview/mdg_goals.html
Global Garden Story Quilt (En/Fr)
Create a narrative quilt of varied world designs in textile, embroidery, sequins, beads, yarn, pencils and markers with Mosa Neshama McNeilly. This is a very special one day per class art project on cultural understandings, diversity and inclusion. Students map connections among each other by researching their personal histories and finding parallels. Each child shares a treasured object from home and features a portrait of the object as an encoded symbol in the quilt. Through stitching and knotting students describe routes between their quilt squares. Reflection focuses on individual and group discovery of the ecology of cultural diversity, mirroring the web of biodiversity in our ecosystem, while highlighting equity as critical to wellness. Ideal as a graduating legacy gift. Adaptable to all grades ~
Jane’s Walk (En/Fr)
Jane Jacobs was an American Canadian (Toronto resident) writer and activist concerned with making our urban centre more livable. Jacobs re-introduced the term social capital that speaks of the need to build trust and reciprocity in our dealings with each other, where we share a common good for our neighbourhoods, ensuring the best living conditions in all communities. Jane’s Walk is a movement of free, citizen-led walking tours inspired by Jacobs. The walks get people to tell stories about their communities, explore their cities, and connect with neighbours. Here is an opportunity to build your own local walk reflecting the social capital that Jacobs spoke of, a social cohesion and personal investment in your community. Adaptable to all grades ~ Sandra Iskandar, Charmaine Lurch, Samina Mansuri, Pria Muzumdar + Paul Walty ~
Jean Michel Basquiat Inspired Collage
We can learn how to create one remarkable interconnected design from 21st century African American artist Jean Michel Basquiat, whose work incorporates bold colours, the layering of words, drawing, painting and music, Students create a mixed media piece that illustrates the communities where we live, work, play and learn with artist Charmaine Lurch ~ Adaptable to all grades ~
My Clothes My World (En/Fr)
Consumerism is one of the greatest contributors to climate change, and yet the average person finds it difficult to create the incremental change required to help combat this global threat. Here’s an opportunity to learn about the life cycle of a piece of cloth, from the original root to the fashionable stores where we shop. In partnership with Fashion Takes Action, Canada’s premier non-profit organization that focuses on sustainability in the fashion industry, we offer this lesson in biodiversity, social responsibility, fashion and art that helps students gain insight in how we consume and how we can affect change, locally and globally. The take away for students is a personal, hand designed, up-cycle book bag and new awareness of where it originated and ideas on where it could go in the future. Ideal for grades 4 to 8 ~ In collaboration with Fashion Takes Action designers ~
Artistic Process + Short Film