More Students Join IN!

We had a good work week at Ideal and the mural continues to come along...(see photos) - Students from the High School helped us to work on the design of the installation. Next week we  create the collages around the frame of the door using the students art that they worked so hard on in our workshops at the National Museum of African Art...Time to begin adding the black and white outlines that are characteristic of Ndebele wall painting - off to the paint store!

Mural News

This week we will be painting the final back boards for the houses that we will decorate with our geometric patterns. Wednesday is the day! Hope to get students on this blog to give their POV about the project, art, and community...check back soon!

Beaded Ndebele Dolls (uphophi)

Mama Freemman brought in two of her special Ndebele dolls called uphophi -
These dolls are created with a cloth base and then very fine imported seed beads in multiple colors are strung to fashion the dolls in beaded clothing from head to toe. These examples are from the mid-20th century and display the popular beaded aprons that are worn by Ndebele woren. We don't know the artists' names who created them, but they are very fine indeed. The students used them as 3-D models to create their own drawings using various lines and color to create a 2-D rendering of one of the dolls. Notice the geometric designs that mirror the ones on our wall paintings that we are studying. Object-based learning and storytelling are part of the process...more on that later.

Our workshops were fun!

Art Workshops at NMAfA

The first Art Workshops began (one for each/ grades 1-5). A map of Africa to color and find South Africa! We had a lively discussion of the Ndebele peoples of South Africa - one of our docents, Dr. Nokwenza Plaatjies, was a very special guest who wore the beautiful traditional dress, beadwork, and hat of her family group. We all were rivited by her beautiful style and she taught us many of the 'click' sounds in the Xhosa language.

Our mural project began with the students being introduced to the art and techniques of wall painting in Africa. Students, teachers, and administration explored the idea behind creating a mural in their own school, and agreed on the theme of Community and Accomplishment. The goal is to create a welcoming space on the large expanse of interior wall at Ideal Academy Public Charter School. (see photo)