Vision Quilt and ArtEsteem have come together because they believe that through the act of art-making and public expression Oakland youth can both heal from the trauma of gun violence and contribute to its prevention.
Thank You, ArtEsteem Exhibition 2019
Identity, Strengths & Weaknesses
The ArtEsteem program is moving full steam ahead at Hoover Elementary School! The current project focuses on themes of identity. The youth are designing masks that reflect different aspect of their personality, and in essence, how they see themselves. This process has brought some thought provoking discussions to the classroom. Students were challenged by being asked critical questions such as, “What have you learned about your identity?” and “What are your strengths?”
This project will go on throughout the school year, and we’re excited to show you the completed pieces on May 18th at ArtEsteem’s 21st Annual Exhibition! The event is happening right here at AHC, catch the details on our event page.
Masks from different cultures, for inspiration.
From left: Mask inspiration, Mr. Eddie helps out, student writes down her strengths.
Students work on developing their narrative, and help each other along the way!
Student thinks about her identity.
Maze Cut Bookmaking: Honoring LGBTQ and Black Communities
The celebration and honoring of the LGBTQ community and Black community has been stiched into our art project this week at Tenderloin Community School (TCS) in San Francisco. Along with their mentors, our participating students learned and celebrated the LGBTQ and Black community during regular school hours. ArtEsteem stopped by TCS to support in the capturing of that knowledge and materialize it
into a book for the students to keep and share.
The handmade book integrated modern and classical symbols from all over the world that represent various gender identities. In addition, in honor of Black History Month students familiarize themselves with the classical Adinkra symbols from Ghana that centered around respected characteristics like strength, knowledge, honor, etc.
Mr. Eddie and Ms. Nan assisting students in the bookmaking process.
In all, it was a fantastic day of learning, celebrating and honoring the LGBTQ and Black communities in addition to learning a new art medium that will not be forgotten shortly.
-March 14, 2019
Three students pose with their freshly-made books.