Art Students Make Community Connections through Creation
CCC Students in Art 106 – Expressive Drawing enjoyed multiple opportunities using art to connect with people in our community.
OCTOBER – Empty Bowls, hunger fundraiser
Last October, students, as well as Cayuga Employees helped create and prepare bowls for an Empty Bowls fundraiser to help beat hunger in our community. They drew on bowls made by Jennifer Gandee (ceramics instructor) and a few advanced students. They scratched into and painted with underglaze on ceramic bowls.
Ceramics students then glazed the bowls, and in the end, the Studio Art & Design program donated 55 bowls for the event. Each person who came to the event, after eating a bowl of soup, went home with their own empty bowl to remind them of people who have empty bowls every day. It was definitely a group effort and to emphasize that point, each bowl was signed with “CCC” on the bottom.
NOVEMBER – Finger Lakes Center for the Living – art with nursing home residents
The Monday after Thanksgiving, drawing students got into the spirit of gratitude and giving by spending part of an afternoon with residents from the Finger Lakes Center for the Living. Small groups of students partnered with residents to work on a project that began with the students asking the residents to describe themselves in five words, and students then did the same. This often led to interesting and sometimes surprising stories and details that students learned about the residents.
The students made shaped stencils to draw around with watercolor crayons, creating negative shapes that served as a frame inside which the descriptive words were written. They then used water to spread the color around and fill the page with bold colors. In most cases, the residents weren’t able to do the art project alone and the students quickly jumped in to help and encourage them.
As their instructor, I was impressed, but not surprised by the students’ kindness, compassion and warmth. There was a lot of chatter and laughter in the room. Even the students who worked with people who voiced some of the sadder realities of living in a nursing home were able to help pull out some smiles from the residents. It was a great moment as an artist and an art instructor to see how art can connect people in such a human way.
One thing we all noticed was that in the end, the residents seemed to really want to keep track of their art work and make sure it went back to their rooms with them – we were happy to see that they wanted to keep it and that it was meaningful to them. The students then continued working on the project by later creating a portrait of the resident that they each partnered with on the project. Students also wrote about their observations.
“The nursing home was a very interesting experience. I really enjoyed it, and I love interacting
with the elderly people… I love going on these field trips, and especially the ones around the
community where you get to interact with people you don’t see every day because you get to see
how other people live, and what goes on in my community.”
-Excerpt from a student reflection
writing
DECEMBER –Faatz Crofut Home for the Elderly – more art with nursing home residents
A few students from the drawing class, also in the newly-formed Art Club, decided they wanted to create more art with nursing home residents. This time we went to the Faatz Crofut Home for the elderly, a.k.a. The Home, right down the street from CCC. The students made artistic ornaments and abstract monoprints with the residents.
-Melissa Johnson, Instructor of Art
